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Added isConnected checks in browser.execute callbacks to throw stale element errors when elements are detached. This triggers proper element refetch via existing middleware, fixing infinite loops in waitForDisplayed when using BiDi protocol.

Fixes #14885

Proposed changes

n v9.20.1, getCSSProperty was updated to always use browser.execute with window.getComputedStyle. Under the BiDi protocol, this causes isDisplayed to make two script.callFunction calls on the same sharedId element.
When the DOM re-renders or the element is not yet attached, that sharedId becomes stale. However, BiDi does not throw a stale-element error. Instead, it returns harmless values like false or an empty string.
Because no stale-element error is raised, WebdriverIO never triggers refetchElement. As a result, waitForDisplayed keeps polling the stale reference until timeout, even if a fresh, visible element matching the selector appears.
In v9.20.0, the older getElementCSSValue implementation did throw stale-element errors. That allowed elements to be refetched properly and prevented this regression.

Add isconnected to check if element is stale
//: # (Describe the big picture of your changes here to communicate to the maintainers why we should accept this pull request. If it fixes a bug or resolves a feature request, be sure to link to that issue.)

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  • Polish (an improvement for an existing feature)
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  • New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
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  • I have read the CONTRIBUTING doc
  • I have added tests that prove my fix is effective or that my feature works
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//: # (The current main branch is the development branch for WebdriverIO v9. If your change should be released to the current major version of WebdriverIO (v8), please raise another PR with the same changes against the v8 branch.)

  • This change is solely for v9 and doesn't need to be back-ported
  • Back-ported PR at #XXXXX

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Reviewers: @webdriverio/project-committers

…io#14885)

Added isConnected checks in browser.execute callbacks to throw stale
element errors when elements are detached. This triggers proper element
refetch via existing middleware, fixing infinite loops in waitForDisplayed
when using BiDi protocol.

Fixes webdriverio#14885
@mccmrunal
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@christian-bromann please review

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commit: 76461bf

@mccmrunal mccmrunal closed this Nov 24, 2025
@mccmrunal mccmrunal reopened this Nov 24, 2025
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@christian-bromann christian-bromann left a comment

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Awesome , LGTM 👍

@christian-bromann christian-bromann added the PR: Bug Fix 🐛 PRs that contain bug fixes label Nov 29, 2025
@christian-bromann christian-bromann merged commit bfbf186 into webdriverio:main Nov 29, 2025
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[🐛 Bug]: waitForDisplayed became unreliable with version 9.20.1 when using BiDi

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