How to use nested data-test-id 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 use Puppeteer to find a specific element inside a component, but I’m having trouble.

Here’s what I’ve tried:

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

This doesn’t work, but using a simpler selector does:

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

I’m new to jQuery and Puppeteer. Can someone explain why the first approach doesn’t work and how I can correctly use nested data-test-id selectors in Puppeteer? Thanks for any help!

2

I’ve run into similar challenges with Puppeteer and nested selectors. One approach that’s been reliable for me is using the ‘xpath’ method. It’s more verbose but gives you precise control:

const result = await page.$x('//div[@data-test-id=\"MainNav\"]//div[@data-test-id=\"SearchBox\"]');
if (result.length > 0) {
  const text = await page.evaluate(el => el.textContent, result[0]);
  console.log(text);
}

This XPath selector looks for SearchBox anywhere inside MainNav, regardless of nesting level. It’s been a solid fallback when CSS selectors get tricky. Just remember to handle the case where the element isn’t found to avoid errors.

3

hey lucasg, i’ve had similar issues. try using the ‘>’ selector instead of space. like this:

[data-test-id=“MainNav”] > [data-test-id=“SearchBox”]

this tells puppeteer to look for a direct child. if that doesn’t work, maybe the SearchBox isn’t a direct child? let me know if u need more help!

4

I’ve encountered this exact scenario in my projects. The issue likely stems from how Puppeteer interprets CSS selectors. Here’s what worked for me:

Try using the >> combinator, which is specific to Puppeteer. It’s more forgiving with nested structures:

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

This approach searches for the SearchBox anywhere within the MainNav, regardless of how deeply nested it is. It’s been a game-changer for my test scripts, especially with complex component hierarchies.

If that doesn’t solve it, the structure of your components might be different than expected. Consider using page.evaluate() to debug and inspect the DOM structure directly in the browser context.