Optimizing web application test automation using LLM and structural HTML analysis

Context and relevance. Modern web application development requires continuous testing, but maintaining automated tests is becoming increasingly labor-intensive due to locator instability and growing interface complexity. The emergence of Large Language Models (LLM) opens new opportunities for test creation automation, but their practical application faces challenges in processing large HTML documents and the need to create maintainable code. Objective. To develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a method for automatic generation of maintainable web application tests using LLM based on HTML structure analysis and the Page Object Model(POM) pattern. Hypotheses. Primary hypothesis: combining LLM with a two-stage generation approach and the POM pattern will enable the creation of maintainable tests, reducing development time by at least one-third (to 67% or less) while preserving code readability. Secondary hypothesis: the success rate of automatic generation will be inversely proportional to the complexity of interface components. Methods and materials. The study employed an approach based on Playwright, LLM, and a two-stage generation procedure with intermediate validation. Testing was conducted on four components of an SPA application for virtual infrastructure management. Validation of results was performed by a team of three testers who assessed the correctness and readability of generated tests. Results. The proposed method achieved high success rates in automatic test generation and substantial reduction in time costs for test creation. The two-stage procedure with intermediate validation enabled localization of a significant portion of errors at the early stage of Page Object creation. Automatically generated tests provided coverage of most required functionality while maintaining code readability. An inverse relationship between generation success and interface component complexity was confirmed: standardized interfaces demonstrated significantly higher success rates. Conclusions. The proposed method provides substantial time savings in creating a baseline test suite while maintaining quality and maintainability. The approach is recommended for early stages of feature development with expert control retained for validating critical scenarios. The method is particularly effective for projects with frequent interface changes, large volumes of regression testing, and components with standardized interfaces.