[openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website] Replacing Selenium with a more reliable alternative (Issue #6768)

[Pablo Brasero]

pablobm created an issue (openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website#6768)

With relation to my work at https://github.com/openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website/pull/6497, @firefishy raised the valid question of whether we should be moving on from Selenium.

I'm not sure, but I thought I'd go and ask around. This is what I got.

First: important to note that Rails uses Selenium by default. Going for a different option would be a diversion from Rails standard convention. Still, Selenium can get very annoying, so many Rails teams choose different tools. In my limited survey, popularity of tools appears  to be as follows:
- Cuprite might be the most popular. It integrates well with Capybara, but only works with Chrome/Chromium. This is because it uses the CDP protocol, which Firefox deprecated in favour of WebDriver BiDi.
- Playwright comes second. Migration from Selenium appears to be less simple, but not out of the question.
- Not much support for Cypress and no mention of Puppeteer.

I got a particularly insightful comment that I'm going to reproduce here:

> More broadly, the browser automation space _is_ in flux. Selenium isn’t dead, but it’s no longer the cutting edge—it’s the conservative, compatibility-first option, which explains why Rails still defaults to it. CDP-based tools (Cuprite, Playwright, Puppeteer) offer better performance, richer browser control, and fewer protocol translation layers, at the cost of being more Chrome-centric.  
>
>Firefox moving toward WebDriver BiDi is a signal that classic WebDriver is showing its age. BiDi aims to close the gap with CDP by supporting true bidirectional communication, but ecosystem support is still catching up. For now, CDP has momentum, better tooling, and real-world stability.
>
>In practice, you’re choosing between:
>- Selenium/WebDriver: broad browser support, slower evolution, more flakiness
> - CDP-based tools: faster, more reliable, Chrome-first
> - Future BiDi-based tools: promising, but not fully there yet

Personally, I wouldn't be thrilled to drop Firefox as test browser, but it's not a strong opinion and I would like to know what others think.

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