Replay Runs But Shows Wrong Content¶
This is the most frustrating category of replay problem because everything looks green but the application is doing the wrong thing. Status indicators only check HTTP-level success, so a server that returns 200 OK with an error page wrapped in the body slips right past them.
The fix is almost always either: a correlation problem (a dynamic field was sent stale), an authentication problem (the user is anonymous when it should be authenticated), or a dataset problem (the same data is being used every time). For the durable fix, add Validation Rules on the test case so this class of failure can't slip past again.
Symptom¶
Replay completes successfully (all transactions green), but when you inspect the response content, it's wrong:
- Login succeeds but the page shows "Welcome, Guest" instead of "Welcome, John"
- Search returns zero results instead of expected products
- Page shows error messages even though HTTP status is 200 OK
- Content structure is completely different from the recording
Root Causes¶
The virtual user may be anonymous when it should be logged in (authentication not configured correctly). Request parameters may contain recorded values instead of dynamically-extracted ones (correlation failure). The test case might be using the same data every time when it should be pulling from a dataset. Or the server simply deployed a new version and the application behavior changed since recording.
Solutions¶
Solution 1: Manually Inspect Response Content¶
To verify the content is actually wrong:
- Select the replay in the Test Case Editor dropdown (top-left corner)
- Click the page you want to inspect in the test case tree
- View the response in Content View (bottom panel)
- Check:
- Is the username/email correct?
- Are search results present?
- Does the page structure match what you expect?
If content is wrong, proceed to Solution 2 or 3.
Solution 2: Configure Automated Content Validation¶
Don't rely on manual inspection. Add Validation Rules so the test case automatically detects wrong content on every replay and every load test from now on. A Content Contains rule asserting the user's name is on the post-login page catches this exact class of failure on transaction one, before it cascades.
For the quick version, see the recommended baseline: one Content Contains rule, one Content Does Not Contain rule, applied per workflow.
Solution 3: Re-Run ASM¶
If the content is wrong because of a correlation issue (the test case is sending stale recorded values), this is an unconfigured dynamic field. Run the full Configure for Replay wizard, or ASM standalone via Right-click → Configure → Application State...