flow.forceClick

Introduction

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

Unlike flow.click, which performs a standard user interaction, flow.forceClick bypasses normal interaction restrictions and attempts the click even when the element would not ordinarily be clickable.

This command should be reserved for situations where a normal click cannot be performed due to application-specific UI behaviour.

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Syntax

flow.forceClick "<text>";

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

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

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

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Parameters

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

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Supported Flow Elements

flow.forceClick 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.

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Examples

Force click using visible text

flow.forceClick "Login";

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Force click a button

flow.forceClick button "Submit";

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Force click using a relative locator

flow.forceClick "Continue" near "Cancel";

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Force click inside a container

flow.forceClick button "Delete" inside "User List";

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Force click the second matching element

flow.forceClick "Delete [1]";

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Complete Example

Scenario: Dismiss an overlay

Given "Open the application"
  flow.open "/";

When "Force click the close button"
  flow.forceClick button "Close";

Then "Verify the overlay is dismissed and 'Welcome' is displayed"
  flow.expect visible "Welcome";

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When to Use flow.forceClick

Use flow.forceClick only when a normal click is prevented by the application's behaviour.

Typical scenarios include:

• Elements covered by temporary overlays.
• Custom UI components that block standard interaction.
• Applications that intentionally intercept pointer events.
• UI frameworks that require a forced click during testing.

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Common Use Cases

• Dismissing modal overlays.
• Clicking hidden toggle controls.
• Interacting with custom UI libraries.
• Working around temporary UI obstructions.

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Common Mistakes

Prefer flow.click whenever possible

flow.click performs the same interaction a real user would.

Only use flow.forceClick when a standard click cannot complete successfully.

A forced click does not guarantee the application handled the action

Always verify the expected outcome after forcing a click.

flow.forceClick button "Delete";

flow.expect visible "Record deleted";

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