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Documentation Overview

QA Proof Documentation

Everything you need to install QA Proof on your site, run your first test, and read the results. The fastest path is the WordPress plugin — most users never need to touch the API directly.

New here? Jump to the Quick start — three steps and your first test is running. Already using the plugin? See Set up a monitor for automated regression checks.

What is QA Proof?

QA Proof is a hosted service that uses AI to check your live website for visual, layout, and accessibility problems. You either run tests on demand or schedule a monitor that checks pages on a recurring basis and emails you when something changes.

The WordPress plugin lets you manage everything from your WP admin: run tests, view side-by-side screenshots, schedule monitors, and download PDF reports.

Quick start

Three steps to your first test:

1. Sign up & pick a plan

Create an account at qaproof.io/signup. The Free plan gives you 10 AI generations as a one-time lifetime trial and 1 monitor — enough to evaluate the product. Once you've used all 10, you need to upgrade.

2. Get your API key

Open qaproof.io/app/api-keys and copy the key shown there. It looks like qap_live_sk_…. Treat it like a password — anyone with this key can run tests against your account quota.

3. Install the WordPress plugin

Download the plugin, upload it through Plugins → Add New → Upload in your WP admin, then activate. Open QAProof → Settings, paste your API key into the API Configuration field, click Save Changes. The card below the input will show your account email, plan, and AI-generation usage — that's your sign that the connection works.

From here you can run a one-off test (below) or set up a recurring monitor (below).

Plugin: Install & connect

  1. Upload the QAProof .zip via Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, then click Activate. A new QAProof menu appears in the WP sidebar.
  2. Open QAProof → Settings, paste your API key, click Save Changes.
  3. Click Test Connection — you should see "Connected! API status: ok".

Connection failed? Make sure you copied the entire API key without extra spaces at the beginning or end.

Plugin: Run a test

Open QAProof → Tests, then:

  1. Pick a test type — Design Fidelity, Responsive, Visual Regression, Accessibility, or Design Audit. See Test Types for what each one checks.
  2. Enter the page URL you want to check.
  3. For Design Fidelity, also paste a Figma URL or upload an image.
  4. Click Run Test. Total runtime: 30–90 seconds.

When it finishes you'll see the score, a summary, all detected issues with severity tags, and a side-by-side screenshot view. Every result is saved automatically in Test History.

Plugin: Set up a monitor

A monitor runs a Visual Regression test against a saved baseline on a schedule (daily, weekly, or monthly) and emails you if the page diverges.

  1. Open QAProof → Monitors → click Add Monitor.
  2. Enter the page URL, schedule, and notification email.
  3. Click Create — the plugin captures the first screenshot as the baseline.
  4. Every scheduled run from now on compares the live page against that baseline. If the score drops below your threshold, you get an email with a Download Full Report button.

Tip: hit Run to trigger a monitor immediately without waiting for the schedule. When you intentionally redesign a page, click Approve on the next result — that captures a fresh baseline so future runs use the new state.

Plugin: Test history & PDF reports

Every test you run — manual or scheduled — is saved under QAProof → Tests → Test History. From there you can:

  • Re-open a result and inspect the screenshots, diffs, and recommendations.
  • Download a PDF report with the full breakdown — same format as the file linked from notification emails.

Design Fidelity

Compares your live page against a Figma design (or an uploaded image) and reports where the implementation has drifted from the design. Returns a 0–100 score and breaks the gap into Layout, Colors, Typography, Spacing, and Components.

Use it when: a developer just shipped a new page and you want to confirm it matches the approved design before announcing the launch.

Responsive

Captures the same page at three viewports — desktop (1440×900), tablet (768×1024), and mobile (375×812) — and flags layout problems specific to each, like horizontal scroll on mobile, overlapping text, or hidden CTAs.

Use it when: you've made CSS or layout changes and want a quick read on whether mobile/tablet still works.

Visual Regression

Compares the current page against a previously approved screenshot (the baseline) and reports any pixel/text/style differences. Score 100 = nothing changed; lower scores = real differences detected.

Used both as a one-off test and as the engine behind monitors.

Use it when: you want to catch unintended changes — a deploy that accidentally broke a section, a CMS update that altered the homepage, or missing images.

Accessibility

Audits your page against WCAG 2.1 (configurable level: A, AA, or AAA). Flags real-world barriers: insufficient color contrast, missing alt text, broken heading hierarchy, touch targets that are too small, missing form labels, focus indicators that disappear on hover, etc.

Use it when: you need to verify accessibility before shipping or report compliance to a stakeholder.

Design Audit

Inspects your design system at the page level: how many distinct colors, fonts, button styles, and spacing values are actually used. Identifies near-duplicate colors, hardcoded values that should be CSS variables, and inconsistent components. Outputs a Design Debt Score.

Use it when: your codebase has grown organically and you want a quantified read on design-system drift.

Plans & limits

Paid plans (Pro / Business / Scale) have monthly AI-generation caps that reset each billing cycle. The Free plan is a one-time lifetime trial — 10 generations total, never resets. See Pricing for full details on what each plan includes.

Troubleshooting: "Baseline capture failed"

If baseline creation fails, some images on your page didn't load during the screenshot. This usually happens when the site temporarily limits our requests. Wait 1–2 minutes and try again.

Troubleshooting: "Capture appears unstable"

If you see a score of 100 with the message "Capture appears unstable", this means the page has dynamic elements (like image carousels or animations) that rendered differently between captures. Simply re-run the test — it usually works on the second try.

Troubleshooting: "You have reached your free trial limit"

Free-plan users see this once they've used their 10 lifetime trial generations. Free does not reset monthly — upgrade at Billing to keep running tests. Paid plans don't get blocked — overage is billed at period end.

Troubleshooting: WP plugin shows the wrong plan

If the plan shown in the plugin doesn't match what you see on qaproof.io, the API key in the plugin likely belongs to a different account than the one you're logged into on the website. Double-check the email address shown under the API Key field in the plugin — that's the account the key belongs to.

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