How to use nested data attributes in Puppeteer selectors?

Other Questions Puppeteer
1

I’m working on a React app and we’ve added data-test-id attributes to our components, including nested ones. I’m trying to select an element inside a component using Puppeteer, but I’m having trouble.

Here’s what I’ve tried:

const result = await page.$eval('[data-test-id="MainNav"] [data-test-id="NavItem"]',
  el => el.textContent);

This doesn’t work. Puppeteer can’t find the element.

But when I use a simpler selector for the child, it works fine:

const result = await page.$eval('[data-test-id="MainNav"] button',
  el => el.textContent);

I’m new to jQuery and Puppeteer. Can someone explain how to correctly use nested data attributes in Puppeteer selectors? Thanks!

2

I’ve encountered similar issues before. In my experience, specifying a direct child relationship using the > selector can help Puppeteer identify the correct element. For example, try:

const result = await page.$eval('[data-test-id="MainNav"] > [data-test-id="NavItem"]', el => el.textContent);

If that still doesn’t work, check if waiting for the element to be present resolves the problem:

await page.waitForSelector('[data-test-id="MainNav"] [data-test-id="NavItem"]');
const result = await page.$eval('[data-test-id="MainNav"] [data-test-id="NavItem"]', el => el.textContent);

Finally, verify that the data attributes in your DOM match what you expect, as sometimes the rendered output can differ slightly from the component’s code.

3

hey mate, had the same prob. try using page.evaluate() instead. it’s more flexible for complex selectors:

const result = await page.evaluate(() => {
  const el = document.querySelector('[data-test-id="MainNav"] [data-test-id="NavItem"]');
  return el ? el.textContent : null;
});

this way u can use any JS selector logic. gl!

4

From my experience with Puppeteer, the issue you’re facing might be related to the rendering timing of your React components. Sometimes, nested elements aren’t immediately available when Puppeteer tries to access them. To address this, you could try using the waitForSelector method before attempting to evaluate the element:

await page.waitForSelector('[data-test-id="MainNav"] [data-test-id="NavItem"]');
const result = await page.$eval('[data-test-id="MainNav"] [data-test-id="NavItem"]', el => el.textContent);

This approach ensures that Puppeteer waits for the nested element to be present in the DOM before trying to interact with it. If you’re still encountering issues, consider using the page.evaluate method to run your selector within the context of the page, which can sometimes yield better results with complex selectors.