CLI vs Cloud

Assrt ships as two complementary surfaces: a local CLI that drives browsers on your machine, and a Cloud editor that runs tests on managed infrastructure. Most teams use both. This page explains how they fit together and when to reach for each.

When to use the CLI

• You want tests checked into the same repo as the code they cover.
• You need offline authoring against a local dev server.
• You want full control over the Node environment and browser binaries.
• CI already has capacity and you would rather run tests there than pay for managed compute.

When to use Cloud

• You want non-engineers to author and review tests in a visual editor.
• You need cross-browser and cross-region runs without maintaining runners.
• You want scheduled runs, flake tracking, and a shared history without building it yourself.
• You want every run captured with a replayable trace out of the box.

Using them together

Tests authored in either place use the same format, so you can start in Cloud and pull tests down to the repo, or push CLI tests up to Cloud for scheduled runs. The CLI can also trigger Cloud runs from CI with --cloud, which is the common setup: tests live in the repo, CI triggers them, Cloud executes them.