Trace-based demo rendering
Playwright trace files become narrated, shareable demo galleries. Captions are generated from recorded clicks and assertions without AI in the standard workflow.
Specreel
Specreel turns Playwright browser flows or deployed-app scenarios into narrated, shareable demos that can be re-run as end-to-end checks. It serves developers and product teams that need demos to stay current, with a local open-source CLI and a hosted Cloud workflow.
Browser tests that produce shareable demos
Specreel is a browser-flow testing and demo publishing tool for teams that want product demonstrations to stay aligned with the application. It treats an end-to-end test and a recorded demo as the same artifact: a browser flow that can be replayed, checked, and shared.
The open-source CLI runs locally or in CI and can render Playwright traces into narrated galleries. Specreel Cloud instead starts from a deployed URL, discovers candidate flows, runs them in a hosted browser, and provides a hosted gallery with scheduled checks and break alerts. In either workflow, a changed or failed flow provides a signal before an outdated demo is shared.
Features
Freshness checks in CI
A GitHub Action can republish the gallery to the same URL after every passing build, keeping the published demo aligned with the latest green build.
Change and failure signals
The renderer marks flows that changed but still pass with an amber “updated” badge, while a broken flow makes the build red instead of publishing an incorrect demo.
Flow discovery and scaffolding
The recommend command crawls a running app, ranks flows worth showing, and scaffolds runnable Playwright scripts. The hosted scanner can create editable scenarios from a deployed URL.
Portable demos and exports
The local tool can create a self-contained gallery.html, publish galleries to a URL, embed them with an iframe, and export an MP4 with real screenshots, captions, and voiceover.
Hosted automation interface
Specreel Cloud provides an MCP server and JSON API for creating projects, configuring sign-in, adding scenarios, running checks, and retrieving gallery results from compatible AI tools or API clients.
Use cases
Keep release demos current
Enable tracing in an existing Playwright suite and publish the resulting gallery after passing builds. The demo becomes a visible companion to regression coverage instead of a separately recorded asset.
Create demos without an existing test suite
Point Specreel at a staging or production URL to find forms, search, and navigation flows, then edit the generated scenarios in plain English and run them in a hosted browser.
Distribute product walkthroughs
Use a local bundle, a URL, or an iframe to share a product walkthrough in documentation, sales material, or internal reviews. MP4 export supports contexts that need a video file.
Automate demo and check creation
Connect the hosted MCP server or JSON API to an AI coding tool or automation client so it can scan an app, configure access, run scenarios, and return the gallery URL and failed-flow results.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Connects recorded browser flows with end-to-end checks rather than maintaining separate demos and tests.
- Supports both a local open-source CLI and a hosted workflow for deployed applications.
- Provides several distribution formats, including hosted galleries, bundled HTML, iframe embeds, and MP4 export.
- Can discover and scaffold flows when a team does not already have a Playwright suite.
- Surfaces changed-but-passing flows separately from broken flows, helping distinguish UI updates from failures.
Cons
- The local workflow depends on Playwright traces and Chromium installation.
- Hosted flows that require authentication need a suitable test account, session, or test-login route; sessions can expire and require refreshing.
- The hosted pricing page was not available at the documented /pricing URL, so plan details should be confirmed in the Cloud product.
FAQ
Can Specreel work with an existing Playwright test suite?
Specreel can use an existing Playwright workflow. Enable tracing so test runs produce trace.zip files, then run the renderer against the test-results directory. The CLI can also scaffold flows from a URL when no tests exist.
How is the open-source CLI set up?
For the local workflow, install the specreel and Playwright packages, install Chromium, generate or run flows, and render the resulting traces. A bundled gallery can be produced as a self-contained HTML file.
Can Specreel test an authenticated application?
Yes. The hosted workflow accepts a deployed app URL, scans it for flows such as forms, search, and navigation, and creates editable scenarios. Authentication can be configured with a dedicated test account, a saved session, or a test-login URL; public pages can also be used without sign-in.
What does Specreel produce?
The local workflow can create a gallery, a single-file HTML bundle, and an MP4 with a voiceover track. Hosted runs provide a shareable gallery URL, while the local gallery can be published to a URL or embedded with an iframe.
What is the difference between the CLI and Specreel Cloud?
The open-source CLI runs on the user's machine or in CI. Specreel Cloud runs the browser workflow from a hosted service and can schedule checks, send break alerts, and provide hosted galleries; the available hosted capabilities depend on the selected plan.
Quick Facts
- Category
- Developer tool; browser testing and demo publishing
- Local engine
- Open-source Python CLI with Playwright and Chromium
- Hosted engine
- Specreel Cloud at app.specreel.dev
- Primary inputs
- Deployed app URLs or Playwright trace.zip files
- Local outputs
- Narrated gallery, self-contained HTML bundle, and MP4 export
- Distribution
- CI-published URLs, iframe embeds, or hosted gallery links
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