flow.click

Introduction

flow.click is a Flow Command that clicks an element in the active browser.

Unlike traditional automation frameworks that require CSS selectors or XPath expressions, flow.click locates elements using Flowstride's natural language locator engine.

The command automatically searches for the most appropriate matching element, waits until it becomes interactable, scrolls it into view if necessary, and performs the click.

---

Syntax

flow.click "<text>";

flow.click < element > "<text>";

flow.click "<text>" <locator>;

flow.click <element> "<text>" <locator>;

---

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
Element	Optional	Narrows the search to a specific Flow Element such as button, input, or link.
Text	✅	The text or label used to identify the element.
Locator	Optional	Additional locator such as near, inside, under, leftOf, rightOf, above, below, or an index.

---

Supported Flow Elements

flow.click supports every Flow Element recognised by the Flowstride parser.

Examples include:

• button
• link
• a
• input
• field
• div
• span
• image
• img
• burger
• hamburger

See Flow Elements for the complete reference.

---

Examples

Click using visible text

flow.click "Login";

---

Click a button

flow.click button "Login";

---

Click a link

flow.click link "Forgot Password";

---

Click an image

flow.click image "Product Preview";

---

Click using a relative locator

flow.click "Log in" near "Sign Up";

---

Click inside a container

flow.click "Schedules" inside "aside";

---

Click under another element

flow.click button "Continue" under "Billing Details";

---

Click the first matching element

flow.click "Delete [0]";

---

Complete Example

Feature: User Login

Scenario: Login successfully

Given "Open the application"

  flow.open "/";

When "Click the login button"

  flow.click button "Log in";

When "Enter credentials"

  flow.type "Email" "{{env.EMAIL}}";

  flow.type "Password" "{{env.PASSWORD}}";

When "Submit the form"

  flow.click button "Login";

Then "Verify login"

  flow.expect visible "Logout";

---

How Flowstride Finds Elements

Flowstride does not require CSS selectors for most interactions.

Instead, it combines:

• Visible text
• Optional Flow Element
• Relative locators
• Element position
• DOM heuristics

to locate the intended element before performing the click.

Providing a Flow Element further narrows the search and can improve accuracy when multiple elements share similar text.

---

When to Use Flow Elements

Instead of:

flow.click "Login";

you can make the intent more explicit:

flow.click button "Login";

This helps Flowstride narrow its search to button-like elements.

---

Click using a Spatial Locator

When multiple elements contain similar text, a Spatial Locator helps Flowstride identify the correct target based on its position relative to another element.

Feature: Dashboard Navigation

Scenario: Open the Notifications page

Given "User is on the dashboard"
  flow.open "/dashboard";

When "User clicks the Notifications menu"
  flow.click "Notifications" rightOf "Messages";

Then "The Notifications page is displayed"
  flow.expect visible "Notification Preferences";

Common Use Cases

Use flow.click to:

• Click buttons
• Click hyperlinks
• Open menus
• Select cards
• Navigate between pages
• Open dialogs
• Submit forms

---

Common Mistakes

Multiple matching elements

If several elements share the same text, provide additional context such as an Element, a relative locator, or an index.

flow.click button "Delete";

flow.click "Delete" inside "Users";

flow.click "Delete [1]";

Use flow.forceClick only when necessary

flow.click performs a normal user interaction.

If you intentionally need to bypass normal interaction checks, use flow.forceClick instead.

---