Perforce Perfecto 26.4: Stronger CI execution, audit control, and regional test capacity
Perforce Perfecto 26.4 supports headless Playwright desktop web testing for CI-driven execution, while extending MP4 media injection to manual mobile testing. Enterprise teams also gain device-group-scoped lab administration, pagination for audit-record exports beyond 1,000 records, and desktop web virtual machines in London. Updated iOS, Android, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox support helps teams align regression testing with current platform estates.
Playwright headless execution gives release owners a lower-observation option for desktop web tests running in CI, while keeping visible sessions available for workflows that require investigation evidence. Perforce Perfecto 26.4 also strengthens audit extraction, device-lab access boundaries, and regional test capacity—areas that affect release control as much as test execution.
Run Playwright tests for CI-driven desktop web execution
Perfecto now supports headless mode for Playwright desktop web tests through the perfecto:headless capability. The browser runs without a visible user interface, which fits automated pipeline stages where interactive monitoring is unnecessary.
Headless execution changes the evidence available to a release team: live streaming and video recordings are omitted from the test report. Mature teams should classify which suites prioritize speed and which require visual artifacts for triage, audit review, or defect analysis.
Enterprise impact: A large regression portfolio can reserve visible-browser capacity and investigation effort for business-critical journeys, such as checkout, account access, or regulated customer workflows.
Team workflow: A QA engineer can configure fast feedback suites for pull-request or build-validation pipelines, while a release manager keeps visible executions for final acceptance runs that need reviewable artifacts.
Bring MP4 media injection into manual mobile testing
MP4 media injection is now available during manual mobile testing. The capability already existed for automation and AI Scriptless commands; manual testers can now validate mobile behaviors that depend on video content through the same general testing approach.
July 11, 2026By Chris CarpenterPerforcePerfectoEnterprise Test ManagementTesting
This closes a workflow gap where exploratory testing or formal manual acceptance needed a different treatment for media-driven scenarios. Teams can include video handling in mobile regression evidence when a fully automated flow is not appropriate.
Enterprise impact: Teams testing media upload, playback, messaging, or content-consumption experiences can apply more consistent coverage across automated, scriptless, and manual test stages.
Team workflow: A manual tester can inject an MP4 while investigating a mobile defect, then document the observed behavior in the test run rather than moving the scenario to a separate automation-only process.
Apply least-privilege control to device-lab administration
Lab administrators can now be limited to specified device groups. Administrators with no selected groups retain access to all devices, preserving the existing broad-administration model where it is appropriate.
For enterprises operating shared labs, device access is often tied to teams, product portfolios, regions, or controlled programs. Device-group scoping gives platform owners a practical control for separating operational responsibilities without creating separate labs for every group.
Enterprise impact: A financial-services mobile team can authorize its lab administrators to manage only approved device groups, supporting separation of duties and clearer accountability for shared test infrastructure.
Team workflow: A regional lab administrator can maintain the devices assigned to local delivery teams without encountering unrelated assets or risking configuration changes outside that remit.
Make audit reporting usable at enterprise scale
The Get audit records REST API can now retrieve more than 1,000 records through pagination. When a response reaches 1,000 records, API consumers use searchAfterTimestamp and searchAfterEventId together to request the next page. The From filter has been removed from this endpoint.
Audit exports are commonly consumed by governance reporting, internal security teams, and integration services. Pagination matters because partial extracts can create blind spots in evidence collections during a major release, an access review, or an incident investigation.
Enterprise impact: A central quality platform team can collect a complete audit trail for a high-volume cloud and provide fuller evidence to compliance or risk stakeholders.
Team workflow: An engineer maintaining an audit-export integration can update the pagination logic, then schedule dependable retrieval rather than manually working around a 1,000-record ceiling.
Expand desktop web capacity in London
Desktop web virtual machines are available in the London region, extending test coverage closer to UK and EMEA users. The environment is enabled by default for most customers; clouds configured to permit only selected locations require London to be added separately.
Regional test capacity is relevant when teams need coverage aligned with where applications operate and where delivery organizations work. It also gives platform leaders another location to consider when balancing demand across desktop web regression cycles.
Enterprise impact: A UK-based release program can plan desktop browser validation using London capacity, supporting regional operating models and more predictable access during concentrated release windows.
Team workflow: A release manager can include London virtual machines in capacity planning for a quarterly regression cycle, then confirm location permissions before suites are scheduled.
Treat repository download access as a controlled data path
Repository downloads are disabled by default at the cloud level, while uploads remain available. Teams that require downloads must request explicit enablement for their cloud.
This behavior requires a clear decision about which workflows genuinely need files to leave the repository. Security and platform owners should inventory download dependencies, assign an accountable owner, and document why access is necessary before enablement.
Enterprise impact: A security team can reduce uncontrolled file retrieval from shared test infrastructure and apply an approval point for data-egress requirements.
Team workflow: An automation owner can identify jobs that download repository assets, request the needed cloud setting, and avoid unexpected failures after a pipeline change.
Refresh mobile, virtual-device, and browser coverage
Perfecto 26.4 updates support across real devices, simulators, emulators, and desktop browsers. Real-device coverage includes newer iOS and Android versions; virtual-device coverage includes iOS 26.5 Beta 2, full-capacity iOS 26.4 GA, and Android 17 Beta 4. Chrome, Edge, and Firefox versions are also refreshed for Windows and Mac machines.
Coverage updates need deliberate adoption rather than immediate expansion of every regression matrix. iOS 26.4 and later simulators require ARM64 application builds, iOS 15 simulators are removed, and Android 17 Beta virtual devices have documented Chrome and startup-time limitations. These constraints should be reflected in test plans and executive readiness reporting.
Enterprise impact: Portfolio leaders can assess exposure from operating-system and browser adoption using supported environments, then prioritize high-risk customer journeys before broad rollout decisions.
Team workflow: Mobile engineers can confirm ARM64 build readiness for newer iOS simulators, while QA leads can move legacy iOS 15 simulator coverage to iOS 16 or later and document Android 17 Beta limitations.
How Merito helps
Merito helps enterprises adopt Perfecto 26.4 with the operating discipline required for reliable delivery. The work begins with an assessment of CI execution patterns, audit integration dependencies, device-lab role boundaries, regional capacity needs, and platform coverage priorities.
Merito can support implementation and ongoing governance through:
Configuring Playwright headless execution policies and evidence requirements.
Updating audit-record integrations for paginated retrieval and removed filters.
Designing device-group administration models and repository-download approval controls.
Building risk-based test matrices for new iOS, Android, and browser coverage.
For delivery leaders, the practical next step is to select one CI suite for headless validation, test the revised audit API integration in a controlled environment, and review device-group permissions before the next major regression cycle. Merito can guide the rollout, provide implementation expertise, and support Perfecto procurement and renewal decisions.
Merito is a Perforce partner. Our Perforce Perfecto team can scope licensing, sizing, and rollout for 26.4, and our enterprise upgrade services help you plan and validate the upgrade with minimal disruption to release schedules.
Perfecto 26.4 allows Playwright desktop web tests to run without a visible browser by setting the perfecto:headless capability. This suits CI pipelines where execution throughput matters more than interactive observation. Headless executions do not include live streaming or video recordings, so teams should retain visible-browser runs for investigations that require visual evidence. Merito can help define execution policies, pipeline configuration, and evidence-retention practices for enterprise release governance.
Perfecto 26.4 adds searchAfterTimestamp and searchAfterEventId filters to the Get audit records REST API. Teams can use both values after a 1,000-record response to retrieve subsequent pages of audit activity. The former From filter is removed, requiring updates to existing integrations. Merito can assess API consumers, update audit-export workflows, and help align retained records with compliance reporting and internal control requirements.
Perfecto 26.4 allows lab administrators to be restricted to selected device groups. Administrators without device-group restrictions can continue to manage all devices, while organizations can assign narrower authority where required. This supports separation of duties across business units, regulated programs, and geographically distributed test labs. Merito can design role models, device-group structures, and approval processes that fit enterprise governance without slowing daily test operations.
Perfecto 26.4 adds desktop web virtual machines in London and updates real and virtual device support for newer iOS and Android versions. The release also adds current Chrome, Edge, and Firefox browser versions for Windows and Mac testing. London availability can require configuration changes for clouds restricted to specified locations. Merito can map application risk to regional capacity, browser coverage, mobile-device demand, and rollout readiness.
Perfecto repository downloads require explicit enablement at the cloud level, while repository uploads remain available. Teams that retrieve test assets, reports, or other files from the repository should identify affected automation and operational workflows before requesting access. This control reduces unnecessary data egress but needs clear ownership and review. Merito can inventory repository dependencies, document access requirements, and support secure enablement, implementation, and renewal planning.
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