Skip to main content

​
Background

You might want to authorize/login with Google in your tests, but doing so in your an automated web browser can have issues may be blocked by Google (as they might think this is bot traffic). This method exists to login in a way that won’t trigger such a response by Google.
On rare occasions, Google may still prompt for a one-time passcode (OTP). You can handle this by generating a code from your otpSecret.

​
context.authWithGoogle(options)

Signs in a Google test account and applies the authenticated session to the current browser context. After this resolves, subsequent pages in the context are fully authenticated — no need to drive the login UI manually.
You can also use authWithGoogle stand-alone (pass your own context) if you import it directly:

​
Options

​
email
string
required
Google account email address.
​
password
string
required
Google account password.
​
otpSecret
string
required
TOTP secret used to generate the Google 2FA code. This is the 32-character base32 secret Google shows when you click Can’t scan QR code during authenticator setup. See Setting up a Google test account below for how to obtain this.
​
forceRefresh
boolean
default:"false"
Force a cache refresh server-side. Use this if you need a fresh session.
​
apiKey
string
Optional Stably API key override. Defaults to the configured API key.
Your credentials are sent to Stably’s servers to perform the Google sign-in. The authenticated session is cached server-side for reuse across test runs.

​
Setting up a Google test account

Before using authWithGoogle, you need a Google account with 2FA configured using an authenticator app. The key requirement is obtaining the OTP secret — the 32-character base32 string Google provides during authenticator setup.
More detailed instructions are below in Detailed walkthrough
1

Get your Google secret

In Google account security settings, start authenticator setup and click Can’t scan QR code to reveal the secret text.
2

Generate the verification code

Paste the secret into the Stably OTP helper and copy the displayed 6-digit code.
3

Finish in Google

Return to Google’s verification screen, paste the 6-digit code, and complete setup.
4

Store the secret

Save the OTP secret as an environment variable (e.g. GOOGLE_TEST_OTP_SECRET) for use in your tests.

​
Detailed walkthrough

1

Access Google Account Settings

Sign in to your test Google Workspace account at accounts.google.com.
2

Navigate to Security Settings

Select ‘Security’ from the left sidebar menu.
3

Scroll to 'How you sign in to Google' and click 'Authenticator'

4

Click 'Add Authenticator' (or 'Change Authenticator App')

This will invalidate your previous Authenticator app setup.
5

Access OTP Secret

When the QR code pop-up appears:
  1. Click ‘Can’t scan QR code’
  2. This will reveal the OTP secret in text format
You’ll also want to store this to use as otpSecret with the authWithGoogle SDK method
6

Verify OTP setup using Stably's Util

Open Stably’s OTP util in a new tab.
7

Paste the OTP secret into the Stably OTP Util

8

Copy the generated OTP

You’ll see an OTP with a 30-second timer. Click ‘Copy OTP’ to copy it.
9

Finish authenticator setup in Google

Go back to the Google Accounts pop-up, click ‘Next’, paste the copied OTP, and click ‘Verify’.
10

Enable 2FA and validate second steps

Go back to the Google Accounts page, turn on 2FA, and under ‘Second Steps’, make sure only the Authenticator is enabled (you might have to sign out of the Google Account on mobile devices).
11

Use this Google OAuth account in your tests with the generated OTP secret