Can puppeteer execute React component lifecycle methods when props are passed?

Other Questions Puppeteer
1

Can puppeteer trigger React lifecycle methods with props for screenshots? Example:

class AltWidget extends React.Component {
  componentDidMount() { /* perform DOM modifications */ }
  render() { return <div>{this.props.info}</div>; }
}

const browserInst = await puppeteer.launch({ headless: true });
const pageInst = await browserInst.newPage();
const markup = ReactDOMServer.renderToStaticMarkup(<AltWidget info='demo' />);
await pageInst.setContent(markup);
await pageInst.screenshot({ path: 'img.png' });
2

puppeteer only loads the static html. react lifecycles like componentdidmount won’t run since you aren’t mounting in a full react env so props changes also dont trigger lifecycle events.

3

Using Puppeteer in the scenario you described results in only static markup because lifecycle methods such as componentDidMount are not triggered via server-side rendering. ReactDOMServer.renderToStaticMarkup simply produces HTML without running any hooks or mounting procedures. In cases where dynamic behavior is required, including device-specific DOM manipulations upon mounting, a full client-side React application must be rendered within the browser context, which can be accomplished by serving a complete React environment rather than static output.

4

In my experience, using Puppeteer in this way means you only get the static HTML output and the React lifecycle methods such as componentDidMount are never executed. This happens because React’s server-side rendering method transforms your component into plain markup without initializing the component itself. To truly mount the component and trigger its lifecycle, you need to load a full client-side environment where React is running normally, such as rendering the component directly on a page with ReactDOM.render after the page has been loaded.

5

hey, using puppeteer setContent with reactdomserver output wont trigger componentdidmount. you gotta mount the app in a real browser environment if you want the lifecycles to run. otherwise, props just stay static.

6

In my experience, using Puppeteer with server-generated markup does not trigger any React lifecycle methods because the rendering is static. I once attempted to automate a testing workflow that required componentDidMount and other hooks by rendering the component directly in the browser. This required bootstrapping a full React environment where the component was mounted on the page. Thus, to observe and test real lifecycle behavior, it is essential to load and render the component in a way similar to an actual user session rather than relying on server-side rendered output.