Converting manual test cases to automation scripts using Zia
In a nutshell
Zia's manual-to-automation capability converts your manual test case into a ready-to-run automation script without writing any code. It maps each step to the corresponding UI element on the target page, validates them live in your browser, and auto-heals any failed locators along the way. The result is a complete automation script built directly from your manual test case.
Availability
- Super admins, admins, managers, and testers can access and use this feature.
- This feature is available on all Zoho QEngine pricing plans
- This feature is available only for the web platform.
1. Overview
Manual test cases give you a clear, structured record of how your application should behave. Converting that record into executable automation scripts, however, has traditionally required scripting knowledge and significant effort.
With Zia's manual-to-automation capability, that conversion happens automatically. Zia takes your manual steps and turns them into a validated, ready-to-run automation script in minutes, so you can grow your automation coverage without the coding overhead.
To analyze your steps and map them to the right elements, Zia uses an AI model. See what data is shared with your AI model during a conversion
1.1 How does Zia convert your manual steps
The conversion runs through various phases, each building on the previous one to produce a validated automation script.
1. Capturing page elements
Zia opens the target URL in your browser and reads all the interactive elements on the live page, building a complete map of the UI. This map is what Zia uses in the next phase to match your manual steps to actual elements. Zoho QEngine controls the browser tab during this phase.
Note: Zia captures up to 800 elements from the main page and 400 elements per iframe, with a combined maximum of 2,000 elements across all frames. Elements beyond these limits are not captured and may affect how accurately steps are mapped in the next phase.2. Analyzing manual test steps
Zia reads each of your manual steps and matches the described action to the corresponding element in the captured map. The AI model powering Zia handles this analysis, translating your step descriptions into element-level mappings. Steps where the Action, Test Data, and Expected Result cells are all empty are skipped at this stage because they do not contain enough information to generate an automation action.
3. Validating in browser
Zia executes each mapped step in your browser against your live application, the same way a user would perform them. This confirms that the locators and actions generated in the previous phase work correctly in practice. When the phase completes, you see the count of steps that passed and those that failed.
4. Auto-healing failed steps
Steps that fail validation are not immediately flagged. Zia captures a fresh snapshot of the page and attempts to repair the locators that could not be matched. This handles cases where the initial mapping used an unstable locator or where the page state shifted between the capture and validation phases.
5. Revalidating auto-healed steps
The repaired steps are run in your browser again to confirm the fix worked. Steps that pass at this point are included in the final script. Steps that still fail after this attempt are carried into the script along with // Action required comments. Zia makes only one healing attempt per conversion.
6. Generating script
Zia compiles all processed steps into the final automation script using the locators confirmed during validation. Steps that could not be resolved are marked inline with // Action required comments that describe the most likely cause. To resolve a flagged step, read the comment, inspect the affected element on the target page, and update the step in the script manually. Refer to Troubleshooting Action Required steps to see how to identify and fix each type.
1.2 Data sent to your AI model during conversion
When you begin a conversion, QEngine sends the following data from your test case to the configured AI model:
- The step text from each manual test step (the Action, Test Data, and Expected Result cells)
- The target URL
- The interactive elements captured from that page
Note: Screenshots, the full page HTML, and the page title are not sent to the AI model.Third-party AI provider and data residency
If your account uses a third-party AI integration (such as OpenAI, Gemini, or Claude), the data above is sent to that provider's API and leaves Zoho's infrastructure. Only Zoho GenAI keeps data within Zoho's cloud. Review your data governance requirements before using a third-party AI provider for test cases that contain sensitive information.
Test data and personally identifiable information
If your manual test steps include real user data (such as names, email addresses, or account numbers) in the Test Data field, that data is sent as plain text to the configured provider. Use placeholder values in the Test Data field wherever possible when converting test cases that involve sensitive data.
Usage quotas
Usage depends on the AI provider powering Zia. If Zia is using Zoho GenAI, standard platform AI quotas apply at the organisation and user level. If a third-party provider is configured, that provider's API usage limits apply. Each conversion runs a single AI processing call with a maximum wait time of 1 minute.
2. Steps to convert a manual test case to a script
2.1 Prerequisite
Your test case must have at least one complete step with an Action, Test Data, and Expected Result before you can begin. You can create a manual test case directly, or use Zia to generate one. Ensure the following are also in place:
Zia and your AI provider
Zia is available by default in your QEngine account, powered by Zoho GenAI. No additional setup is required to use the manual-to-automation capability. If you prefer to use a third-party provider (such as OpenAI, Google Gemini, or Anthropic) instead, configure Zia before starting a conversion. Learn more about how data is sent and processed by the AI provider integrated with Zia
Note: Zoho GenAI is Zoho's free in-house AI model and is available to all QEngine users at no additional cost. You can also configure a third-party AI model such as OpenAI, Google Gemini, or Anthropic in its place, depending on your preference. Install the Zoho QEngine browser extension
The conversion runs entirely in your browser session. Ensure the Zoho QEngine browser extension is installed before you begin. It is available for Chrome, Firefox, and Ulaa.
Note: If you have already installed the Zoho QEngine browser extension for the web recorder, no additional installation is needed.- Click the link for your browser above to open the extension page.
- Add the extension to your browser.
2.2 Begin a conversion
Navigate to Test Cases. By default, the platform opened is Web Browser.
- Switch to Manual and open the test case you want to convert.Note: If your test case already has an automation script, after the conversion, the existing script will be replaced by the newly generated script.
Click Automate Using Zia in the test case header. This opens the Convert to automation script using Zia dialog.
- Enter the URL of the webpage in the Target URL field (e.g., https://zylker.com) where the test actions will be performed. If your manual test steps already contain a URL, it will be auto-filled.Note: You can select the Open in a private window checkbox if you want Zia to open the target URL in a private window. Your existing session data will not be used, so you may need to log in to the target site again. This is useful when the target URL includes a login page, and you want Zia to start from a clean session.
Click Convert to begin the conversion.
Note: Only one conversion can run at a time. If a conversion is already running in another tab, a blocked status appears, and you are prompted to wait for it to complete or stop the conversion before starting a new one.Zia takes over and handles the entire conversion. You can track progress as each phase completes. For a detailed explanation of what happens in each phase, see How does Zia convert your manual steps
Note:
- If the browser tab gets closed unexpectedly during this phase, the conversion can't continue. In this case, close the dialog and start the conversion again. Learn more
- If the target page did not load during this phase, the conversion continues without capturing page elements. The steps in the generated script will not be validated and will need to be reviewed and updated manually before the script can run. Learn more
Zia carries forward to generate the script with the steps that passed validation or were successfully repaired. Once all phases are complete, your automation script is ready to review and can be opened in the test editor.
- Click Open script to view the script in the test editor.
For steps that could not be resolved, Zia identifies possible reasons for each failure and calls them out in the script as // Action required comments. These comments guide you to the exact steps that need your attention so you can review and fix them manually. Learn more about Troubleshooting Action required steps
If all the test steps are passed, the test script is ready to run. You can preview and validate the script in the test case.
Note: If an unexpected error occurs at any point during the conversion, close the dialog and reattempt the conversion. If the issue persists, contact support@zohoqengine.com.2.3 Troubleshooting Action required steps
When Zia cannot resolve a step during conversion, it adds an // Action required comment above that step in the generated script. Each comment tells you what Zia could not complete and the most probable reason why.
These reasons reflect the most likely cause based on what Zia encountered during the conversion and are not definitive, so you confirm the actual state on the target page.
Here is what an // Action required comment looks like in the script:
- // Action required: Expected 'Order Confirmed', but the page shows 'Your order is being processed'. Verify the page content and update the expected value in this step if required.
To resolve a flagged step:
- Read the // Action required comment to understand what Zia could not complete and the probable cause.
- Open the target page and verify the element, value, or state the comment points to.
- Update the affected step in the test script.
Repeat this for each // Action required comment in the script. Once all flagged steps are resolved, run the full script to validate the complete flow. Learn more about Live preview
What each comment type means
The // Action Required comments fall into four types. Understanding the type tells you where to look on the target page.
Element not found or not identified
The element was not present on the page, or Zia could not match it using the generated locator. This also covers dropdown options that are absent or dropdown search inputs that are unavailable. Open the target page and locate the element. Update the locator in the flagged step, or if it is a dropdown option, verify the option value and update accordingly.
Here is what this comment looks like in your script:
- // Action required: The element may not be identified by the locator. Verify the element on the target page and update the locator in this step if required.
Element not interactable
The element may be read-only, disabled, or the wrong type for the action attempted. For example, a text input action performed on a dropdown field. Check whether the element is enabled and confirm its field type, then update the step to match.
Here is what this comment looks like in your script:
- // Action required: The element may be read-only, disabled, or not interactable. Verify the element state on the target page and update the step if required.
Element not visible
The element was not visible when Zia attempted the step, typically because a previous step did not complete due to an error. Review the preceding steps for failures that may have affected the page state.
Here is what this comment looks like in your script:
- // Action required: The element may not be visible due to an incomplete execution of a previous step. Verify the previous steps and update them if required.
Assertion mismatch
The expected value does not match what the page displayed, or the expected option was not selected in the dropdown or radio button. Update the assertion in the flagged step to reflect the correct value, or verify the actual selected option on the target page.
Here is what this comment looks like in your script:
- // Action required: The specified value may not have been selected. Verify the selection on the target page and update the assertion step if required.
2.4 Manage conversion
Stop a conversion
To end the conversion at any point.
- Click Cancel in the Convert to automation script using Zia dialog. This initiates the end conversion confirmation.
- Click Stop to end the conversion. This will discard all progress made so far.
Restart a conversion
To start a new conversion after stopping or to re-convert the same test case.
- Close the Convert to automation script using Zia dialog and click Automate Using Zia from the manual test case again. Learn more
Note: If the test case already has a generated script, the new conversion will replace it when complete.3. Use case
A QA tester at Zylker, a watch retail company, needs to expand automation coverage without scripting knowledge. Zylker's QA team has a growing library of manual test cases that cover critical customer journeys on their e-commerce store. One such test case covers the end-to-end checkout flow, from selecting a watch to placing an order.
Writing an automation script for this flow from scratch would be time consuming. So, using Zia's manual-to-automation capability, you can convert the existing manual test case into a ready-to-run automation script in minutes.
Here is how the manual test case looks before conversion.
And here is what the generated automation script looks like after conversion.
4. Points to note
- Manual-to-automation conversion is available only for web-based manual test cases. It is not supported for API, or mobile test cases.
- Manual-to-automation conversion is disabled when the test case has no steps. Ensure your test case has at least one complete step with all cells filled before attempting the conversion.
- Zia makes only one auto-healing attempt per conversion. Steps that cannot be repaired after the healing attempt are flagged with action required comments in the final script for you to resolve manually.
- Steps that are skipped during the analyzing phase, due to having no Action, Test Data, and Expected Result, will not be included in the generated script. Partially completed steps (with data in at least one field) are included in the conversion.
- The conversion runs entirely in your browser session. If you close the browser or navigate away during the conversion, the process will be interrupted and you will need to start again.
- Zia can capture up to 800 elements from the main page and 400 elements per iframe with a combined maximum of 2,000 elements across all frames. Pages that exceed these limits may result in some elements not being captured during the conversion.
- If the validation phase exceeds 180 seconds, the conversion will time out and generate the script from the steps processed so far. Any unprocessed steps will be flagged with action required comments.
- Each conversion runs a single AI processing call with a 5-minute window. Test cases with a very large number of steps may reach this limit before all steps are processed. For best results, keep test cases to approximately 50 steps or fewer. Larger test cases may also produce less accurate scripts.
- Up to 5,000 page elements captured during a conversion are saved to Elements and can be reused in other test cases.
5. Related links
6. FAQ
What is Zia's manual-to-automation capability?
It converts manual web test cases in Zoho QEngine into ready-to-run automation scripts without writing any code. Zia maps each step to the corresponding UI element on the target page, validates the steps in a live browser session, auto-heals any failed locators, and generates a complete script from the results.
What happens if some steps fail during the conversion?
Failed steps are not immediately flagged. Zia captures a fresh snapshot of the page and attempts to auto-heal the affected locators. Steps that still fail after this healing attempt are included in the script with // Action required comments that describe the most probable cause. Zia makes one healing attempt per conversion.
Can I convert any type of test case?
No. The manual-to-automation conversion is available only for web-based manual test cases. API, mobile test cases are not supported.
How do I fix a step flagged with an // Action required comment?
Read the comment to understand the probable cause, open the target page to verify the element or value, update the affected step in the script, and run the script in Live Preview to confirm the fix. Repeat for each flagged step until the full script runs cleanly.
7. What's next
Previous step
Next step
Previous step
Zia is available by default in your QEngine account, powered by Zoho GenAI. If you want to use a third-party AI provider instead, configure it in Zia before starting a conversion.
Next step
With your automation script generated, you can now run it against your application to observe the execution of test steps and their impact. Refer to Live Preview to learn how to execute and validate your script.