A checkout test fails in CI with this message:

expected '[data-cy="cart-total"]' to have text '$45.00'

The screenshot shows $50.00 . An AI assistant can invent several plausible explanations: the discount request failed, React rendered stale state, the selector found the wrong cart, or the assertion ran early.

Plausible is not the same as supported.

The quality of AI-assisted debugging depends less on how confidently the assistant explains the screenshot and more on whether it can inspect the evidence that produced it.

Recorded CI and live local debugging are different surfaces

Cypress now exposes two useful but distinct agent workflows:

cypress tap : Evidence: A live, local open-mode Cypress session; Best use: Run and verify a change during development

Cloud CLI: Evidence: Completed Cloud runs and Test Replay data; Best use: Reconstruct an existing CI failure

I have written separately about giving an agent access to a live Cypress session.…