chromatic

Chromatic integrates seamlessly into existing Storybook workflows, which is both its greatest strength and limitation. The initial setup is straightforward—install the package, add your project token, and run the CLI command. The onboarding documentation is clear with practical examples, and the first visual test typically runs within 15 minutes of starting.

The day-to-day experience is smooth once you understand the core concept: every Storybook story becomes a visual test automatically. Error messages are helpful when builds fail, clearly indicating missing tokens or build failures. The UI feedback workflow in their web platform is intuitive for reviewing changes. However, debugging snapshot differences requires going to their cloud platform—there's no local-only mode, which can feel restrictive.

The CLI provides good feedback during uploads, but larger Storybooks can have long build times since everything processes in their cloud. GitHub Issues are responsive, and their official documentation includes troubleshooting sections for CI/CD integration. Common pitfalls like viewport configurations and ignored elements are well-documented, though you'll need to dig into Storybook parameters to configure them.

Getting started with Chromatic is refreshingly straightforward. After installing the package and running `npx chromatic --project-token=<token>`, it automatically detected our Storybook setup and started capturing snapshots. The CLI provides clear feedback during builds, and the web dashboard makes it easy to review visual changes side-by-side. Error messages are helpful when things go wrong - like when our Storybook build failed, it clearly indicated which story had issues.

The learning curve is gentle if you're already using Storybook. The documentation includes practical examples for common scenarios like ignoring elements, handling animations, and setting up CI/CD integrations. GitHub Actions integration worked on the first try with their provided workflow template. However, debugging why certain snapshots differ can be tricky - sometimes you need to dive into viewport settings or wait for async content to load.

The main catch is that it's a paid service after the free tier. For teams already invested in Storybook, the onboarding experience is excellent, but you'll need to factor in ongoing costs as your component library grows.

Chromatic provides a streamlined approach to visual testing for Storybook projects. The CLI is the primary interface - you'll mainly interact with `npx chromatic --project-token=...` which handles snapshot uploading and comparison. Setup is straightforward if you already have Storybook configured, though the package itself is mostly a deployment tool rather than a testing framework you write code against.

The DX shines in CI integration. Error messages are helpful, particularly when builds fail due to visual changes - you get direct links to the web UI for review. TypeScript support is minimal since you're not really importing this package into your codebase; it's a CLI tool. The documentation clearly explains the GitHub Actions workflow and configuration options, though advanced scenarios like TurboSnap configuration can require digging.

The biggest friction point is the tight coupling to their hosted service - you can't run this purely locally for quick feedback loops. The CLI provides good output with progress indicators and clear success/failure states, but debugging why certain stories aren't captured requires switching between terminal output and the web dashboard.