The most reliable way to configure Applitools Eyes with Selenium in IntelliJ IDEA is to open Applitools’ official Maven sample, provide your Applitools API key to the test process, confirm Chrome and ChromeDriver have matching major versions, then run the sample test and review it in Applitools Test Manager. IntelliJ handles editing and test execution; Maven resolves the project dependencies.
Prerequisites
Applitools’ current Selenium Java quickstart lists these requirements: an Applitools account and API key, IntelliJ IDEA or another Java editor, JDK 8 or higher, Maven, current Chrome, and a corresponding ChromeDriver. IntelliJ IDEA includes Maven, so you do not need to install Maven separately just for this setup. See the official Selenium Java quickstart for current setup guidance.
- Use a ChromeDriver whose major version matches your installed Chrome major version. Browser and driver releases change, so check the versions installed on your machine rather than relying on an old version number.
- Make the ChromeDriver executable available on your system PATH. The quickstart gives
/usr/local/binas an example location on macOS and Linux. - Keep your API key private. Do not put it in source code, commit it to a repository, or include it in screenshots.
Start with the official Maven sample
The sample provides a working project structure and declares its dependencies in pom.xml, avoiding the need to guess SDK coordinates or versions. Clone or download Applitools’ example-selenium-java-basic repository, then open the project in IntelliJ IDEA.
- In IntelliJ, choose the option to open an existing project and select the downloaded sample folder.
- Allow the IDE to import the Maven project and resolve dependencies declared in
pom.xml. If dependency resolution does not complete, open the project’s Maven tool window and reload the Maven project, or runmvn installin the project directory. - Check that the project’s JDK is set to JDK 8 or higher. The exact IntelliJ menu labels can vary by version; confirm both the project SDK and the test run configuration use the intended JDK.
The visible quickstart does not specify current Maven coordinates or a fixed Eyes SDK version. Use the sample’s pom.xml or Applitools’ current documentation when adding the SDK to an existing project; do not copy an old dependency version into a new project without checking it.
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Set the Applitools API key for the test process
The test reads the API key from the APPLITOOLS_API_KEY environment variable. Setting it in a terminal does not necessarily make it available to a test launched by IntelliJ: add it to the environment for that test’s run configuration as well.
Set it in IntelliJ IDEA
- Open the sample test,
src/test/java/com/applitools/example/AcmeBankTests.java. - Create or edit the run configuration used to run that test. Add an environment variable named
APPLITOOLS_API_KEYand set its value to your Applitools API key. - Save the configuration and run the test. IntelliJ’s exact configuration labels can differ between versions; the required result is that the test process receives the named environment variable.
Set it in a terminal
On macOS or Linux, export the variable in the shell where you will run Maven:
export APPLITOOLS_API_KEY=<your-api-key>
On Windows Command Prompt, set it in the same Command Prompt session used to run Maven:
set APPLITOOLS_API_KEY=<your-api-key>
These commands affect the process launched from that shell. If you start IntelliJ separately, configure the variable in IntelliJ’s test run configuration instead.
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Run the sample test
Run AcmeBankTests.java from IntelliJ after setting the API key in its run configuration. Alternatively, from the project directory with the variable set in the terminal, use the quickstart’s Maven command:
mvn exec:exec@run-the-tests -Dexec.classpathScope=test
Selenium uses Chrome to drive the application under test. Eyes participates in the test suite and captures screenshots at visual checkpoints; as Applitools’ system overview puts it, “The Eyes SDK also uses the driver to capture screenshots.” Eyes sends those images to Eyes Server for comparison with baselines, and the results are reviewed in Test Manager.
Understand the first run and visual baselines
If no baseline exists for the test, the first run is recorded as a new test and its captured images become the baseline. Later runs compare their checkpoints with that saved baseline; differences can then be reviewed in the dashboard. A changed screenshot is a signal to inspect, not an automatic reason to accept a new baseline: first determine whether the application changed intentionally or the test exposed an unexpected visual regression.
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The quickstart describes three match levels. Strict is the default; Ignore Colors disregards color changes; Layout focuses on overall structure and relative positioning and can be useful for dynamic content. Select the mode that matches what the test is intended to validate, rather than choosing a looser mode simply to suppress differences.
- Strict: Use the default when colors and visual details are part of the expected result.
- Ignore Colors: Use when color variation should not count as a mismatch but other visual differences remain meaningful.
- Layout: Use when structure and relative positioning matter more than exact rendered details, such as on pages with changing content.
For a dynamic region, the quickstart demonstrates applying Layout matching to selected page regions. That preserves a check for the region’s presence and structure instead of removing the region from visual testing altogether. The current quickstart uses eyes.check; an older Applitools support example uses eyes.checkWindow. Prefer the current documentation’s API surface when adapting examples, since older snippets may no longer match the current SDK.
Apply the setup to an existing Maven project
For an existing Selenium Java project, add Eyes using the current official SDK instructions and dependency information rather than guessing Maven coordinates. Keep the API key outside source control, ensure the test runner inherits APPLITOOLS_API_KEY, and confirm Selenium can launch the local browser before diagnosing visual-check behavior.
The lifecycle is: create and configure an Eyes object; begin a visual test with eyes.open; use Selenium to navigate and exercise the application; add visual checkpoints with the current check API; close the test; and clean up by aborting any test that was not closed and quitting the WebDriver. Consult the current SDK documentation for exact Java signatures and configuration options for the SDK version in your project.
Troubleshooting
WebDriver fails before any Eyes result appears
Check that Chrome is installed and that ChromeDriver is available on PATH and executable. Then compare Chrome and ChromeDriver major versions; a mismatch can cause WebDriver initialization errors before Selenium reaches an Eyes checkpoint.
The test reports a missing API key
Verify the variable is spelled exactly APPLITOOLS_API_KEY and is present in the process that runs the test. A shell export only applies to commands launched from that shell; an IntelliJ-launched test needs the variable in its own run configuration.
Maven dependencies do not resolve
Confirm IntelliJ imported the project as a Maven project and that the sample’s pom.xml is present. Reload the Maven project in the IDE or run mvn install from the project directory. For a separately maintained project, check the current official SDK documentation for dependency details instead of relying on an old version snippet.
A visual check reports differences on changing content
Decide what should remain stable in the test. If color is irrelevant, consider Ignore Colors; if layout and positioning are the contract, consider Layout matching for the dynamic region. Inspect the detected differences in Test Manager before accepting a changed baseline.
The test runs but results are not where expected
Confirm that the test reached its Eyes checks and closed the test rather than failing earlier in Selenium setup. Then inspect the test results in the Applitools dashboard/Test Manager and verify the run used the intended account key.
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