Migrating from Appium / WebdriverIO

Overview

If you're running Roku tests with Appium + WebdriverIO today, you're dealing with:

• Java runtime dependency (Appium server)
• Selenium Grid or local server management
• WebDriver protocol overhead over HTTP
• Appium Roku driver quirks and version pinning
• Flaky element waits through the WebDriver abstraction

Uncle Jesse replaces all of that with direct HTTP calls to ECP on port 8060. Same test patterns, no middleware.

Why Migrate

Side-by-Side Comparison

Finding an element

Before (WebdriverIO):

const element = await $('~screenTitle');
// or XPath
const el = await $('//Label[@name="screenTitle"]');

After (Uncle Jesse):

const element = await tv.$('Label#screenTitle');
// or just by name
const el = await tv.$('#screenTitle');

Pressing remote keys

Before:

await driver.pressKeyCode('Right');
await driver.pressKeyCode('Right');
await driver.pressKeyCode('Right');
await driver.pressKeyCode('Select');

After:

await tv.press('right', { times: 3 });
await tv.select();

Waiting for an element

Before:

await $('~loadingSpinner').waitForDisplayed({ reverse: true, timeout: 10000 });
await $('~contentGrid').waitForExist({ timeout: 10000 });

After:

const spinner = tv.$('LoadingSpinner');
await spinner.toNotBeDisplayed({ timeout: 10000 });
const grid = tv.$('ContentGrid');
await grid.toExist({ timeout: 10000 });

Selector Migration

Page Object Migration

Uncle Jesse's BasePage and BaseComponent are designed to be a near drop-in replacement for WebdriverIO page objects.

Before:

class HomePage extends Page {
  get grid() { return $('~contentGrid'); }
  get title() { return $('~screenTitle'); }

  async open() {
    await driver.pressKeyCode('Home');
    await this.grid.waitForExist();
  }
}

After:

class HomePage extends BasePage {
  get root() { return this.$('HomeScreen'); }
  get grid() { return this.$('HomeScreen ContentGrid'); }
  get title() { return this.$('#screenTitle'); }

  async waitForLoaded() {
    await this.root.toBeDisplayed();
    await this.grid.toExist();
  }
}

Key differences: selectors scope to the page's subtree, and elements are LiveElement instances with built-in assertions.

Assertion Migration

Uncle Jesse assertions poll automatically — no need for explicit waitUntil wrappers.

Navigation Testing

Before: Manual sequences of key presses with sleep calls between them.

await driver.pressKeyCode('Down');
await browser.pause(500);
await driver.pressKeyCode('Down');
await browser.pause(500);
const focused = await $('[focused="true"]');
expect(await focused.getAttribute('name')).toBe('settings');

After: focusPath handles timing, collects failures, and optionally records visual replays.

const result = await focusPath(tv)
  .press('down').expectFocus('#browseTab')
  .press('down').expectFocus('#settingsTab')
  .verify();

expect(result.passed).toBe(true);

Setup & Teardown

Before:

// wdio.conf.js — pages of Appium capabilities, server config,
// driver timeouts, implicit waits...

After:

import { RokuAdapter } from '@danecodes/uncle-jesse-roku';

let tv: RokuAdapter;

beforeEach(async () => {
  tv = new RokuAdapter({ name: 'test', ip: '192.168.1.100' });
  await tv.connect();
  await tv.home();
  await tv.launchApp('dev');
});

afterEach(async () => {
  await tv.disconnect();
});

CI Integration

Replace your Appium server setup in CI with a simple npm script:

# Before: start Appium server, configure capabilities, manage driver versions
# After:
npx uncle-jesse test --reporter junit

Uncle Jesse's CLI outputs JUnit XML and CTRF JSON for any CI system. Exit code 1 on failure.

Migration Checklist

• Install Uncle Jesse packages
• Convert selectors from XPath / ~name to CSS-like syntax
• Convert page objects to BasePage / BaseComponent
• Replace driver.pressKeyCode with tv.press()
• Replace browser.pause() with waitForStable() or element assertions
• Replace navigation test scripts with focusPath
• Update CI pipeline (remove Appium/Java, add npx uncle-jesse test)
• Remove Appium, WebdriverIO, and Java dependencies
• Run tests against a real device to verify