Choosing an Interface

Specwright ships three interfaces that all drive the same 10-phase pipeline. Pick the one that fits your workflow — or use more than one.

Three interfaces overview

Plugin + CLI

When to choose this:

• Running tests in CI pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, etc.)
• You prefer the terminal and want full control over when each phase runs
• You want to chain commands in scripts or Makefiles

How it works: Slash commands in Claude Code (/e2e-automate, /e2e-plan, /e2e-run, etc.) invoke specialized agents directly. Each command maps to one or more pipeline phases.

Quick start:

# Inside your project with @specwright/plugin installed
claude
/e2e-automate

Desktop App

When to choose this:

• You want to see all 10 phases displayed visually as they execute
• You are demoing test automation to a team or stakeholder
• Non-terminal users on the team need to trigger or review test runs

How it works: A three-panel Electron UI shows the phase grid on the left, live agent output in the center, and a final review panel on the right. An Approve button gates the generate phase so you can inspect the plan before tests are written.

See the Desktop App docs for installation and usage.

Claude Desktop (MCP)

When to choose this:

• You already use Claude Desktop daily and prefer natural language over slash commands
• You want to trigger runs by describing what to test in plain English
• You don't want to switch to a terminal or separate app

How it works: The @specwright/mcp server exposes pipeline tools that Claude Desktop calls automatically. The e2e-desktop-automate skill orchestrates the full pipeline by sending tool calls to each phase in order. Each phase runs a subagent inside your project.

Setup requirement: Install @specwright/plugin in your project first, then add the MCP server config to Claude Desktop's claude_desktop_config.json. See the Claude Desktop docs for the exact config block.

Can I use multiple interfaces?

Yes. All three interfaces read from the same instructions.js and .env.testing files in your project. There is no per-interface state. Switch freely between terminal, Desktop App, and Claude Desktop — the pipeline behavior is identical.

Quick pick flowchart

Are you in the terminal?
  └── Yes → Plugin + CLI (/e2e-automate)

Do you want to see phases visually?
  └── Yes → Desktop App

Do you already use Claude Desktop daily?
  └── Yes → Claude Desktop (MCP)