phx_demo

Automated, reproducible demo videos for Phoenix / LiveView apps.

Write a demo as an ExUnit test, run mix demo.record, and get a narrated MP4: intro card, auto-zoom on what's being clicked, captions drawn into the picture (plus a soft subtitle track), chapters, and an outro. You also get a GIF, SRT/VTT files, and visual drift warnings when the UI changes. The browser is driven by phoenix_test_playwright, so demos use the Ecto sandbox and seed data just like your feature tests.

Status: private, not yet on Hex. MIT licensed.

# test/my_app_web/demos/posts_demo_test.exs
defmodule MyAppWeb.Demos.PostsDemo do
  use PhxDemo.Case
  use MyAppWeb, :verified_routes

  demo "create a post", %{conn: conn} do
    MyApp.Blog.create_post(%{title: "Seeded post"})

    conn
    |> scene("The posts list")
    |> visit(~p"/posts")
    |> say("Here are the posts we already have.")
    |> scene("Creating a post")
    |> glide_click_link("New Post")
    |> type_into({:label, "Title"}, "Recorded by phx_demo")
    |> glide_click_button("Save Post")
    |> assert_has("#flash-info", text: "Post created successfully")
    |> spotlight("#posts")
    |> say("And there it is, saved and listed.")
  end
end
mix demo.record          # every demo under test/
mix demo.record --gif    # also render GIFs

Output goes to tmp/demos/<module>/<demo>/: <demo>.mp4, .srt, .vtt, optionally .gif, plus raw.webm, timeline.json and screens/.

Install

Requirements: Elixir 1.18+, Node.js, ffmpeg (brew install ffmpeg / apt-get install ffmpeg), python3 with venv (for the default Piper voice), and Postgres if your app uses Ecto.

With Igniter (recommended):

# add {:igniter, "~> 0.8", only: [:dev, :test]} to your deps first, then:
MIX_ENV=test mix igniter.install phx_demo@github:thenatespack/phoenix_demo --only test

Then follow the printed steps:

npm --prefix assets install --save-dev playwright
npx --prefix assets playwright install chromium
mix phx_demo.piper.setup
mix assets.build
mix demo.record

The installer:

It's safe to run twice. Any edit it can't make safely becomes a warning describing the manual step.

Manual setup
  1. mix.exs: add {:phoenix_test_playwright, "~> 0.19", only: :test, runtime: false} and {:phx_demo, github: "thenatespack/phoenix_demo", only: :test}, plus def cli, do: [preferred_envs: ["demo.record": :test, "phx_demo.piper.setup": :test]].
  2. config/test.exs: config :my_app, MyAppWeb.Endpoint, server: true, config :my_app, :sql_sandbox, true, config :phoenix_test, otp_app: :my_app.
  3. Endpoint: if Application.compile_env(:my_app, :sql_sandbox), do: plug Phoenix.Ecto.SQL.Sandbox, and connect_info: [:user_agent, session: @session_options] on the LiveView socket.
  4. An on_mount hook that calls Phoenix.Ecto.SQL.Sandbox.allow/2, registered in live_view/0 of your web module. See spike/demo_app/lib/demo_app_web/live_acceptance.ex.
  5. test/test_helper.exs: 
    {:ok, _} = PhoenixTest.Playwright.Supervisor.start_link()
Application.put_env(:phoenix_test, :base_url, MyAppWeb.Endpoint.url())
ExUnit.start(exclude: [:phx_demo])
  6. Wrap the top-level http: [port: ...] config in config/runtime.exs with if config_env() != :test do … end.

If something's missing, the first demo fails with an explanation. For example: "Asset /assets/css/app.css returned HTTP 404 … Run mix assets.build", or "Narration: Piper isn't installed. Run mix phx_demo.piper.setup".

Steps

All steps take and return conn, so they mix with PhoenixTest's visit, click_link, fill_in, assert_has and the rest.

Step What it does
scene(title) Starts a chapter. The previous scene's end state is screenshotted for drift checks
say(text, wait: ms | false, gap: ms) Narration: spoken audio, a burned-in caption and a subtitle cue. Pauses until the line has been spoken
glide(target, steps: 25) Moves the cursor smoothly to the target. The view auto-zooms there
glide_click_link(text) / glide_click_button(text) Glides to the target, clicks, then waits for LiveView
type_into(target, text, speed: :human | :fast | :slow | ms) Glides to the field and types one key at a time
spotlight(target) / clear_spotlight() Dims the page around an element
pause(ms), mark(label) Pacing, and a timeline marker
await_liveview() Waits until LiveView is connected and nothing is loading. Glides do this automatically
hide_cursor() / show_cursor() Hides or shows the overlay cursor
upload(target, path | [paths], picker: false) Glides to a file input (or its label), clicks, attaches fixture files, waits for LiveView uploads to finish. See File uploads
drop_files(target, path | [paths]) Drags files onto a phx-drop-target: file icons fly to the zone, then a real drop is dispatched. See File uploads
await_uploads() Waits for in-flight LiveView uploads. The steps above (and every glide) already do
use_camera(path, loop: true) The page's camera (getUserMedia video) shows this video. Calling it again switches the live stream
use_camera_image(path) A still image as the camera feed (QR or document scanning)
stop_camera() Ends the fake camera: the app's tracks fire ended, new requests fail with NotFoundError
upload_audio(target, path, drop: false, audible: false) upload/4 (or drop_files/4 with drop: true) for an audio file, plus an audio_input timeline event. See Audio input
use_microphone(path, loop: false, audible: false) The page's microphone (getUserMedia audio) plays this audio file when the app starts listening
stop_microphone() Ends the fake microphone: the app's tracks fire ended, new requests fail with NotFoundError

Targets: a CSS or Playwright selector string, {:link, text}, {:button, text}, {:label, text}, {:text, text}, or {:role, role, name}.

File uploads

conn
|> visit(~p"/uploads")
|> upload("#upload-form input[type=file]", "report.pdf")          # via the file input
|> upload({:label, "Photos"}, ["a.png", "b.png"], picker: true)    # with a fake file picker
|> drop_files("#drop-zone", "avatar.png")                          # drag and drop
|> assert_has("#uploaded", text: "avatar.png")

Camera input

Apps that use the webcam (video calls, photo capture, QR scanning) get a believable camera from a fixture, no hardware needed:

use PhxDemo.Case, camera_fixtures: ["test/fixtures/presenter.mp4", "test/fixtures/qr.png"]

demo "scan a ticket", %{conn: conn} do
  conn
  |> use_camera_image("test/fixtures/qr.png")
  |> visit(~p"/scan")
  |> glide_click_button("Start scanning")
  |> assert_has("#result", text: "TICKET-42")
  |> use_camera("test/fixtures/presenter.mp4")   # switch the live stream
  |> stop_camera()                               # the app sees the track end
end

How it works: a JS stand-in overrides navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia for video. The fixture is drawn on a canvas and canvas.captureStream() is the camera, so the app's own <video> preview shows it and gets recorded. Fixtures reach the page through a Playwright route on your app's origin (/__phx_demo_camera/...), so they work with any CSP that allows 'self' and blob: media. Camera permission is granted on demo browser contexts. In a plain test, tag browser_context_opts: [permissions: ["camera"]] if your app checks permissions.query.

Audio input

Voice notes, speech-to-text and audio uploads need audio coming in. Two steps supply it from a file:

demo "send a voice note", %{conn: conn} do
  conn
  |> visit(~p"/uploads")
  |> upload_audio("#voice-note", "hello.wav")              # an audio file upload
  |> use_microphone("question.wav", audible: true)         # the app's mic hears this
  |> glide_click_button("Record")                          # ...when it starts listening
  |> stop_microphone()
end

Presentation settings

Set per module or globally (config :phx_demo, <key>, value):

use PhxDemo.Case,
  intro: %{title: "Posts", subtitle: "A two-minute tour"},  # true (default), false, or a map
  outro: false,
  captions: :both,   # :both (default), :burned, :soft, false
  zoom: 1.8,         # true (default, max 1.6x), false, or a max factor
  trim: true,        # cut dead time before the first step / after the last
  music: "priv/demo_music.flac",  # see Background music
  viewport: %{width: 1920, height: 1080},
  output_dir: "priv/demos"

Any other option (e.g. async, ecto_sandbox_stop_owner_delay) goes to PhoenixTest.Playwright.Case.

Narration

Piper is the default: free, local and open source. mix phx_demo.piper.setup installs it into a private virtualenv under your user cache and downloads the default voice. To use a different voice or provider:

# config/test.exs
config :phx_demo, :tts, {PhxDemo.TTS.Piper, voice: "en_US-amy-medium"}
config :phx_demo, :tts, {PhxDemo.TTS.OpenAI, voice: "nova"}           # OPENAI_API_KEY
config :phx_demo, :tts, {PhxDemo.TTS.ElevenLabs, voice_id: "..."}    # ELEVENLABS_API_KEY
config :phx_demo, :tts, PhxDemo.TTS.MacSay                           # macOS only
config :phx_demo, :tts, false                                        # captions only

Clips are cached by provider, options and text, so re-recording an unchanged demo makes no API calls.

Background music

Bring your own track. Nothing is bundled, so there are no licensing questions.

use PhxDemo.Case,
  music: "priv/demo_music.flac",  # path, or false (default) for none
  music_volume: -18                # dB, default -18

# or globally: config :phx_demo, :music, "priv/demo_music.flac"

MIDI music

music: also accepts a .mid or .midi file. It is rendered to WAV with fluidsynth before the video is encoded, then goes through the same loop/trim, fade and ducking pipeline as any other track.

use PhxDemo.Case,
  music: "priv/theme.mid",
  soundfont: "priv/GeneralUser-GS.sf2"   # optional, see below

# or globally: config :phx_demo, :soundfont, "priv/GeneralUser-GS.sf2"

Generated music (ElevenLabs)

Instead of a file, music: can be a prompt. The track is composed with the ElevenLabs Music API before the video is encoded, then goes through the same loop/trim, fade and ducking pipeline as any other track.

use PhxDemo.Case,
  music: %{
    elevenlabs: "calm lo-fi piano with soft brushed drums",
    length_ms: 30_000,      # 3_000..600_000, default 30_000 (short tracks loop)
    instrumental: true,     # default true: no vocals
    model_id: "music_v1",   # optional, default: the API's default
    output_format: "mp3_44100_192"  # optional MP3 format, default mp3_44100_128
  }

Presets

Don't want to write a prompt? Use a preset name instead. The other options (length_ms, instrumental, ...) still apply.

use PhxDemo.Case, music: %{elevenlabs: :lofi}
use PhxDemo.Case, music: %{elevenlabs: :corporate, length_ms: 60_000}
Preset Sound
:lofi Chill lo-fi hip hop, dusty drums, Rhodes, 80 BPM
:corporate Upbeat corporate pop, acoustic guitar, claps, 110 BPM
:tech Minimal electronic, pulsing arpeggio, sub bass, 118 BPM
:ambient Slow evolving pads, no percussion
:piano Gentle solo piano, 75 BPM
:acoustic Fingerpicked folk guitar, shaker, glockenspiel, 95 BPM
:jazz Jazz trio, brushed drums, upright bass, 100 BPM
:synthwave 1980s synthwave, gated snare, analog bass, 100 BPM
:cinematic Hopeful strings and piano underscore
:funk Light funk, slap bass, wah guitar, horn stabs, 105 BPM
:playful Explainer-video marimba, ukulele, pizzicato, 115 BPM
:chiptune Cheerful 8-bit, 120 BPM
:deep_house Mellow deep house, 120 BPM
:classical Light string quartet, 90 BPM
:hip_hop Polished instrumental hip hop, 808s, 90 BPM
:rock Upbeat indie rock, chiming guitars, 125 BPM

Every preset adds the same instruction: steady background music for a demo under a voice-over, with no vocals, drops or sudden builds. PhxDemo.MusicGen.presets/0 lists the exact prompts. An unknown preset fails the pre-flight check and lists the valid names.

Visual drift

At the end of each scene a screenshot is compared with a baseline in test/demos/__baselines__/<os>/…. Baselines are per OS because fonts render differently on macOS and Linux. More than 0.1% of pixels changed (set with config :phx_demo, :drift_threshold, 0.5) prints a warning with a diff image, plus a ::warning annotation on GitHub Actions. Drift never fails the run.

mix demo.record --update-baselines   # accept the current UI
mix demo.record --no-drift

Known limitations

Repo layout