`cypress/run` job with `install-browsers` parameter fails

[MikeMcC399]

Situation

Using the install-browsers parameter of the job cypress/run causes a failure in the step "Install Chrome for Testing" which shows only limited log information regarding the failure:

^@^@
Exited with code exit status 9

This is an upstream issue with CircleCI-Public/browser-tools-orb#164

Version

cypress-io/cypress@6.0.0

Steps to reproduce

Set up the following config:

version: 2.1
orbs:
  cypress: cypress-io/cypress@6 # https://circleci.com/developer/orbs/orb/cypress-io/cypress

workflows:
  test-cypress:
    jobs:
      - cypress/run:
          install-browsers: true

Note that if Chromium bumps the version of Chrome for Testing, the config may succeed again.

Assessment

The script https://github.com/CircleCI-Public/browser-tools-orb/blob/main/src/scripts/install_chrome_for_testing.sh takes the version of Chrome (Linux) from https://chromiumdash.appspot.com/fetch_releases?channel=Stable&platform=Linux and then uses it to try to download Chrome for Testing. For 146.0.7680.164 it downloads instead an error message, treats it as a zip file, and then fails.

Currently the result of this query results in

 {
    "channel": "Stable",
    "chromium_main_branch_position": 1582197,
    "hashes": {
      "angle": "e05753c6d05b17b23d514038957469c70b75475c",
      "chromium": "bbd8c5dd25fb2f569d98e626a9517cf2171abdff",
      "dawn": "a655251a59c4af3fbf8058bb2572d6a457f896d2",
      "devtools": "890a74027b0fdeaee6bbf0a0b9b108bbda7af5b9",
      "pdfium": "bccc616f83aaed08f65d4a707dfe00e24133772b",
      "skia": "6a75afe9792764f6faa76ad50125781899ca05e8",
      "v8": "0e999a528db40a3ef6fa917adf96370a18b87d70",
      "webrtc": "b2a90ac0037ee7187102ce2c40e5007216ca9a58"
    },
    "milestone": 146,
    "platform": "Linux",
    "previous_version": "146.0.7680.153",
    "time": 1774293660703,
    "version": "146.0.7680.164"
  },

The binary for this version is however not available. Executing:

curl -I https://storage.googleapis.com/chrome-for-testing-public/146.0.7680.164/linux64/chrome-linux64.zip

shows HTTP/2 404 meaning that the binary does not exist, causing the installation failure.

Querying instead the official JSON API endpoint https://googlechromelabs.github.io/chrome-for-testing/last-known-good-versions-with-downloads.json would lead to pulling the following data:

  "timestamp": "2026-03-27T19:22:28.034Z",
  "channels": {
    "Stable": {
      "channel": "Stable",
      "version": "147.0.7727.24",
      "revision": "1596535",
      "downloads": {
        "chrome": [
          {
            "platform": "linux64",
            "url": "https://storage.googleapis.com/chrome-for-testing-public/147.0.7727.24/linux64/chrome-linux64.zip"
          },
          {
            "platform": "mac-arm64",
            "url": "https://storage.googleapis.com/chrome-for-testing-public/147.0.7727.24/mac-arm64/chrome-mac-arm64.zip"
          },
          {
            "platform": "mac-x64",
            "url": "https://storage.googleapis.com/chrome-for-testing-public/147.0.7727.24/mac-x64/chrome-mac-x64.zip"
          },
          {
            "platform": "win32",
            "url": "https://storage.googleapis.com/chrome-for-testing-public/147.0.7727.24/win32/chrome-win32.zip"
          },
          {
            "platform": "win64",
            "url": "https://storage.googleapis.com/chrome-for-testing-public/147.0.7727.24/win64/chrome-win64.zip"
          }
        ],

and that would result in selecting an available binary.

Executing

curl -I https://storage.googleapis.com/chrome-for-testing-public/147.0.7727.24/linux64/chrome-linux64.zip

results in HTTP/2 200 showing that the file exists.

Recommendation

The enhancement to https://github.com/CircleCI-Public/browser-tools-orb/blob/main/src/scripts/install_chrome_for_testing.sh to allow it to select and install the latest Chrome for Testing version was a PR contribution from the Cypress.io team to the circleci/browser-tools Orb.

Work with the CircleCI team to improve the reliability of the https://github.com/CircleCI-Public/browser-tools-orb/blob/main/src/scripts/install_chrome_for_testing.sh script. Migrate to using the official JSON API endpoints to determine and download the corresponding Stable release of Chrome for Testing.

Pending

• Follow PR fix: pull CfT version from official JSON endpoint CircleCI-Public/browser-tools-orb#165 for upstream resolution

[MikeMcC399]

• A similar issue was also reported with CircleCI jobs fail in Linux at Install Chrome for Testing cypress-example-kitchensink#1081. A workaround was implemented in that case.

[MikeMcC399]

A solution has been proposed in CircleCI-Public/browser-tools-orb#165

If this is accepted by CircleCI and merged, then it will need an update to the browser-tools version:

circleci-orb/src/@orb.yml

Line 12 in 86c142c

browser-tools: circleci/browser-tools@2.4.0

circleci-orb/.circleci/test-deploy.yml

Line 4 in 86c142c

browser-tools: circleci/browser-tools@2.4.0 # https://circleci.com/developer/orbs/orb/circleci/browser-tools

Review automatic updates from Renovate. See https://developer.mend.io/github/cypress-io/circleci-orb

[MikeMcC399]

• see fix: update browser-tools-orb to 2.4.1 #572 for resolution