# getContext
Retrieve the context of the current session.
This method enhances the default Appium `context`/WebdriverIO `getContext` command by providing an option to return detailed context information, making it easier to work with hybrid apps that use webviews.
### How Contexts Work[](#how-contexts-work "Direct link to How Contexts Work")
Refer to [Hybrid Apps documentation](/docs/api/mobile.md#hybrid-apps) for more information. Below is an explanation of the challenges associated with the `getContext` command:
#### For Android:[](#for-android "Direct link to For Android:")
* Webviews can contain multiple pages (like browser tabs), and identifying the correct page requires additional metadata such as `title` or `url`.
* The default Appium methods only provide basic context names (e.g., `WEBVIEW_{packageName}`) without detailed information about the pages inside the webview.
#### For iOS:[](#for-ios "Direct link to For iOS:")
* Each webview is identified by a generic `WEBVIEW_{id}` string, which doesn’t indicate its contents or the app screen it belongs to.
### Why Use This Method?[](#why-use-this-method "Direct link to Why Use This Method?")
* **Default Behavior**:
* Returns the current context as a string (e.g., `NATIVE_APP` or `WEBVIEW_{id}`).
* **Detailed Context**:
* When `returnDetailedContext` is enabled, retrieves metadata such as:
* **Android**: `packageName`, `title`, `url`, and `webviewPageId`.
* **iOS**: `bundleId`, `title`, and `url`.
* **Android-Specific Options**:
* Retry intervals and timeouts can be customized to handle delays in webview initialization.
Notes and Limitations
* If `returnDetailedContext` is not enabled, the method behaves like the default Appium `getContext` method.
* If you want to use the "default" Appium `context` method, you can use the `driver.getAppiumContext()` method, see also the [Appium Contexts](/docs/api/appium.md#getappiumcontext) command.
* **Android:** Android-specific options (`androidWebviewConnectionRetryTime` and `androidWebviewConnectTimeout`) have no effect on iOS.
* Logs warnings if multiple or no detailed contexts are found:
* `We found more than 1 detailed context for the current context '{context}'. We will return the first context.`
* `We did not get back any detailed context for the current context '{context}'. We will return the current context as a string.`
## Parameters[](#parameters "Direct link to Parameters")
| Name | Type | Details |
| ----------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `options`
*optional* | `GetContextsOptions` | The `getContext` options (optional) |
| `options.returnDetailedContext`
*optional* | `boolean` | By default, we only return the context name based on the default Appium `context` API, which is only a string. If you want to get back detailed context information, set this to `true`. Default is `false` (optional). |
| `options.androidWebviewConnectionRetryTime`
*optional* | `number` | The time in milliseconds to wait between each retry to connect to the webview. Default is `500` ms (optional).
**ANDROID-ONLY** |
| `options.androidWebviewConnectTimeout`
*optional* | `number` | The maximum amount of time in milliseconds to wait for a web view page to be detected. Default is `5000` ms (optional).
**ANDROID-ONLY** |
| `options.waitForWebviewMs`
*optional* | `number` | The time in milliseconds to wait for webviews to become available before returning contexts. This parameter is passed directly to the Appium `mobile: getContexts` command. Default is `0` ms (optional).
**ANDROID-ONLY**
This is useful when you know that a webview is loading but needs additional time to become available. This option works at the Appium level, before WebdriverIO's retry logic (`androidWebviewConnectionRetryTime` and `androidWebviewConnectTimeout`) is applied. |
## Examples[](#examples "Direct link to Examples")
default.test.js
```
it('should return the current context with the default Appium `context` method', async () => {
// For Android
await driver.getContext()
// Returns 'WEBVIEW_com.wdiodemoapp' or 'NATIVE_APP'
//
// For iOS, the context will be 'WEBVIEW_{number}'
await driver.getContext()
// Returns 'WEBVIEW_94703.19' or 'NATIVE_APP'
})
```
detailed.test.js
```
it('should return the context of the current session with more detailed information', async () => {
// For Android
await driver.getContext({ returnDetailedContext: true})
// Returns or `NATIVE_APP`, or
// {
// id: 'WEBVIEW_com.wdiodemoapp',
// title: 'WebdriverIO · Next-gen browser and mobile automation test framework for Node.js | WebdriverIO',
// url: 'https://webdriver.io/',
// packageName: 'com.wdiodemoapp',
// webviewPageId: '5C0425CF67E9B169245F48FF21172912'
// }
//
// For iOS, the context will be 'WEBVIEW_{number}'
await driver.getContext({ returnDetailedContext: true})
// Returns or `NATIVE_APP`, or
// {
// id: 'WEBVIEW_64981.1',
// title: 'WebdriverIO · Next-gen browser and mobile automation test framework for Node.js | WebdriverIO',
// url: 'https://webdriver.io/',
// bundleId: 'org.reactjs.native.example.wdiodemoapp'
// }
})
```
customize.retry.test.js
```
it('should be able to cusomize the retry intervals and timeouts to handle delayed webview initialization', async () => {
// For Android
await driver.getContext({
returnDetailedContext: true,
// NOTE: The following options are Android-specific
// For Android we might need to wait a bit longer to connect to the webview, so we can provide some additional options
androidWebviewConnectionRetryTime: 1*1000, // Retry every 1 second
androidWebviewConnectTimeout: 10*1000, // Timeout after 10 seconds
})
})
wait.for.webview.test.js
t('should wait for webview to become available before retrieving context', async () => {
// For Android
await driver.getContext({
returnDetailedContext: true,
// Wait for webview to become available at the Appium level before WebdriverIO's retry logic
waitForWebviewMs: 3000, // Wait 3 seconds for webview to become available
})
)
```
## Support[](#support "Direct link to Support")
 
**Supported platforms:** iOS, Android
note
Refer to the official [Appium driver documentation](https://appium.io/docs/en/latest/ecosystem/) to see which driver versions support this command.