Impact Score: 5/10
Cypress v1.3.0 — Release Notes & Engineering Impact
Source available — automated, not human-reviewed
Component: cypress · Channel: stable. Automated analysis, not a compatibility certification. How this works.
Analysis updated: 2026-11-01.
⚡ Executive Summary (TL;DR)
Cypress v1.3.0. Source highlight: *Released 12/17/2017*
Who Does This Impact? (Role-Based Analysis)
💻 Software Engineers & Devs
Check the source notes against the package and APIs you use before upgrading.
📊 Product & Engineering Leads
Use the documented changes to assess relevance to your product; release frequency alone is not a quality measure.
⚙️ DevOps & Security
Verify the target version, runtime requirements and rollback procedure in the official documentation.
✨ New Features & Capabilities (1)
- Added `Browser Launch API`
🔧 Bug Fixes & Patches (2)
- Plugins now emit a `before:browser:launch` event exposing you the browser that will be launched and its launch arguments. This enables you to modify the arguments prior to launching the browser. You can also use these arguments to modify how Chrome runs and to also test Chrome extensions. Fixes #691 and #298.
- We have launched a "CSS Selector Playground", a new UI button in the Test Runner that enables you to highlight elements in your application and receive a unique selector. You can also find elements by their text content. These mimics `cy.get()` and `cy.contains()` behavior. Additionally you can copy the generated Cypress command to your clipboard or output the generated selector to your console. This feature is in beta. It only works in Chrome (not in Electron). We are aware of some bugs in it,
📄 View Raw Release Notes (Original Developer Log)
*Released 12/17/2017*
**Features:**
- Plugins now emit a [`before:browser:launch`](https://on.cypress.io/plugins-guide#Browser-Launching) event exposing you the browser that will be launched and its launch arguments. This enables you to modify the arguments prior to launching the browser. You can also use these arguments to modify how Chrome runs and to also test Chrome extensions. Fixes [#691](https://github.com/cypress-io/cypress/issues/691) and [#298](https://github.com/cypress-io/cypress/issues/298).
- We have launched a "CSS Selector Playground", a new UI button in the Test Runner that enables you to highlight elements in your application and receive a unique selector. You can also find elements by their text content. These mimics [`cy.get()`](https://on.cypress.io/get) and [`cy.contains()`](https://on.cypress.io/contains) behavior. Additionally you can copy the generated Cypress command to your clipboard or output the generated selector to your console. This feature is in beta. It only works in Chrome (not in Electron). We are aware of some bugs in it, but it is good enough for use and feedback. Please check out issue [#917](https://github.com/cypress-io/cypress/issues/917), watch an animated gif demonstration, and leave any feedback you have there. Fixes [#917](https://github.com/cypress-io/cypress/issues/917).
Documentation Changes:
- [Added `Browser Launch API`](https://on.cypress.io/browser-launch-api)
- [Updated `Plugins Guide`](https://on.cypress.io/plugins-guide)
- [Updated `Writing a Plugin API`](https://on.cypress.io/writing-a-plugin)