Katalon Compact Utility for Katalon Studio

Important:

• For Chrome: Katalon Studio version 8.2.5 onwards.
• For Microsoft Edge: Katalon Studio version 8.3.5 onwards.
• A Chrome or Microsoft Edge Profile. Find more information at Google Help Center: Share Chrome with others, and Microsoft Support: Sign in and create multiple profiles in Microsoft Edge.

In restricted environments, unpacked extensions are disabled as a security feature. In that case, when you use the Spy, Record, and Smart Wait with Chrome, Katalon Studio might prompt this error message: "Loading the unpacked extension is disabled by the administrators."

The Katalon Compact Utility (KCU) packed extension is an alternative to the default unpacked extensions in Katalon Studio. The extension is available on Chrome Web Store and Microsoft Edge Add-ons.

This article shows you how to install the KCU extension and configure your browser profiles to use the Spy, Record, and Smart Wait in Katalon Studio.

Note:

• This utility is linked with your Chrome/Microsoft Edge Profile, which means you can only have one active session at any given time. Make sure you log out of all your Chrome/Microsoft Edge sessions before executing.

Install Katalon Compact Utility

Before you install, make sure you are using the Chrome/Microsoft Edge profile that you want to use Katalon Compact Utility with.

1. Go to the extension page:
   • Chrome Web Store: Katalon Compact Utility Chrome extension
   • Microsoft Edge Add-ons: Katalon Compact Utility Edge add-on
2. Download and install Katalon Compact Utility. Make sure the extension is active.
   You can find further instructions on managing your extensions below:

   • For Chrome: Install and Manage Extensions
   • For Microsoft Edge: Find, add, or remove extensions in Microsoft Edge

Your Katalon Compact Utility extension is ready for use.

Configure KCU with Chrome profile

To use Katalon Compact Utility, you need to link your Chrome profile with Spy, Record, and Smart Wait functions by updating the desired capabilities settings in Katalon Studio.

1. Go to Project > Settings > Desired Capabilities. Under Desired Capabilities, select Web UI > Chrome.
2. Click Add to create a new capability named args and set the type as List.
3. In the Value cell, click the ... button to open the List Properties Builder dialog.
   
4. In the List Properties Builder dialog, click Add to input the two elements from the table below. When you're done, click OK.

   Type	Value
   String	For Windows: user-data-dir=C:\Users\<your_username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data For macOS: user-data-dir=/Users/<your_username>/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome
   String	profile-directory=<your_profile_name>

   

   Tip:

   Find your Chrome Profile in the User Data Directory

   There are multiple Profiles in a given User Data Directory. To find the name of a Chrome Profile, do as follows:

   • Open Chrome with the Profile you previously used to install Katalon Compact Utility. In the address bar, type chrome://version and press Enter.
   • The line Profile Path displays the path to your active Profile. For example: C:\Users\your_username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\your_profile_name.
5. Click Apply & Close to save the configuration.
   You can now use the Spy, Record, and Smart Wait features with the default Chrome option.

   Note:

   • Using Katalon Compact Utility with Chrome version 103 sometimes my cause the error: unknown error: cannot determine loading status from unknown error: unexpected command response. This issue is addressed in ChromeDriver release notes, and it will be fixed in Chrome version 104 onwards. You can still close the error dialog in Katalon Studio and save your script as normal. To learn more, see ChromeDriver documentation: Current Releases.

Configure KCU with Microsoft Edge profile

To use Katalon Compact Utility, you need to link your Microsoft Edge profile with Spy, Record, and Smart Wait functions by updating the desired capabilities settings in Katalon Studio

1. Go to Project > Settings > Desired Capabilities. Under Desired Capabilities, select Web UI > Edge.
2. Click Add to create a new capability named ms:edgeOptions and set the type as Dictionary.
   1. In the Value cell, click the ... button to open the Dictionary Properties Builder dialog.
      
3. In the Dictionary Properties Builder dialog, click Add to input the name as args and set the type as List.
   1. In the Value cell, click the ... button to open the List Properties Builder dialog.
      
4. In the List Properties Builder dialog, click Add to input the two elements from the table below. When you're done, click OK.

   Type	Value
   String	For Windows: user-data-dir=C:\Users\<your_username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data For macOS: user-data-dir=/Users/<your_username>/Library/Application Support/Microsoft Edge
   String	profile-directory=<your_profile_name>

   

   Tip:

   Find your Microsoft Edge Profile in the User Data Directory

   There are multiple Profiles in a given User Data Directory. To find the name of a Microsoft Edge Profile, do as follows:

   • Open Microsoft Edge with the Profile you previously used to install Katalon Compact Utility. In the address bar, type edge://version and press Enter.
   • The line Profile Path displays the path to your active Profile. For example: /Users/your_username/Library/Application Support/Microsoft Edge/Default.
5. Click Apply & Close to save the configuration.
   You can now use Katalon Compact Utility extension on Microsoft Edge and run your Record and Spy test script as normal.

   Note:

   Workaround for KCU Chrome extension on Microsoft Edge based on Chromium

   In some cases, due to Microsoft Edge background processes, the following error returns when you run a new KCU session:

   DevToolsActivePort file doesn't exist

   To fix the error, you can either:

   • Go to Microsoft Edge Settings > System and disable the Startup boost function. By turning off Startup boost, you don't have to close all background processes every time you start recording.
   • Or, manually close each process using the following command:

     taskkill /f /im msedge

Disable XPath visibility

• Katalon Studio version 8.2.5 onwards.

You can enable/disable the XPath visibility while recording actions on your app under test.

1. Open Chrome/Microsoft Edge browser.
   1. For Chrome: click the Extension icon, then click the More icon of Katalon Compact Utility and choose Options.
   2. For Microsoft Edge: click the More icon and choose Extension > Manage Extension. Click on Details of Katalon Compact Utility.
2. Click the XPath Visibility toggle to enable/disable XPath visibility.
   

Known issues

For web pages saved as HTML local files, Katalon Compact Utility cannot spy and capture objects, while unpacked extensions (from the native Spy and Record utility) can do that.