Quickstart Guide
Welcome to RegressionBot! This guide will help you go from zero to your very first visual regression comparison in under 3 minutes.
Get your API Key
To authenticate your CLI, SDK, or Streamable HTTP MCP server requests, you need a RegressionBot API key.
Sign up for a free Early Adopter tier (includes 100 free visual comparisons per month) and grab your API key immediately.
Run your first test
You don't need to install anything locally. You can use our self-contained CLI tool via npx to run a visual comparison immediately.
Run this command in your terminal, replacing your_api_key_here with the API key from your dashboard:
# Replace "your_api_key_here" with your actual key
export REGRESSIONBOT_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
# Compare your staging/preview URL against your production live site
npx regressionbot@latest https://preview.myapp.com \
--against https://myapp.comSee your results
When the visual regression test completes, the CLI outputs a clean summary. If differences are detected, you'll get a breakdown including pixel percentage shifts, structural mismatch scores (SSIM), and an AI-powered plain-English summary.
🚀 Job completed successfully!
🔄 Checked 4 URLs across 2 Viewports (Desktop/Mobile)
✨ Mismatch detected: 0.00%
✅ All tests passed. Baseline is identical.
If changes exist, our AI engine generates a summary pointing directly to intentional or accidental changes:
🤖 regressionbotSummary:
"I found 1 visual change on the pricing page: The CTA button for the 'Pro' plan was modified from a solid blue color (#2563EB) to a gradient background (from violet to indigo). No structural layout shifts occurred."
You can also log into the Dashboard to view dynamic, side-by-side screenshot diffs, inspect visual crop highlights, and approve/reject changes interactively.
Choose your path
Now that you have run your first test, you can integrate RegressionBot deeply into your workflow.
Agentic MCP
Connect RegressionBot to Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, or Gemini to run and approve tests autonomously in your IDE.
Node.js SDK
Integrate directly into Playwright, Jest, Cypress, or your custom Node CI pipeline with typescript-safe bindings.
REST API
Interact with the raw REST endpoints for advanced multi-tenant automation, integrations, or custom reporting.
Project Configurations
Save test parameters server-side so repeat CI runs need no configuration. Prevents baseline drift across team members and pipelines.