Getting started with Webperf Core

There are four ways in. Pick the one that matches what you're doing.

Choose an installation method

graph TD
    A[What are you doing?] --> B{Purpose}
    B -->|Trying it once| C[Quickstart]
    B -->|Testing regularly| D{Where should it run?}
    D -->|My own machine| E[Local install]
    D -->|Server or cloud| F{Do you have Docker?}
    F -->|Yes| G[Docker]
    F -->|No| H[GitHub Actions]
    B -->|On every code change| H

System requirements

Hardware

• RAM: at least 4 GB, 8 GB recommended
• Disk: at least 2 GB free
• CPU: the tests drive real browsers and are processor-intensive

Software (local install)

• Python 3.13 or later. That's the requirement in the project's own install guide, and the version every regression test runs on.
• Node.js 24 or later. The requirement is declared in package.json and older versions are rejected at install time.
• Google Chrome or Firefox. Chrome is the default and is used by most tests.
• Git, optional but handy.

Network

• Internet access to reach the website you're testing.
• The email test (24) would like to use port 25, which is often blocked on home broadband and always on GitHub Actions. The test still runs, with fewer checks.
• The DNS test (32) runs Zonemaster in a Docker container, so it needs Docker.

Quick picks