From 77cd933939cb9b084e8c4ac3d6cfc0df1e6196c3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Oliver Eyton-Williams <ojeytonwilliams@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2026 17:14:07 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] test: check nothing unexpected appears in python terminal
 (#65572)

---
 .../templates/Challenges/classic/xterm.tsx    |  6 ++-
 e2e/editor.spec.ts                            | 40 ++++++++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 43 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/client/src/templates/Challenges/classic/xterm.tsx b/client/src/templates/Challenges/classic/xterm.tsx
index 8bb04f543aa..3e012885a1c 100644
--- a/client/src/templates/Challenges/classic/xterm.tsx
+++ b/client/src/templates/Challenges/classic/xterm.tsx
@@ -138,7 +138,11 @@ export const XtermTerminal = ({
   }, [xtermFitRef, dimensions]);
 
   return (
-    <div style={{ height: dimensions?.height }} ref={termContainerRef}>
+    <div
+      data-playwright-test-label='xterm-terminal'
+      style={{ height: dimensions?.height }}
+      ref={termContainerRef}
+    >
       <link rel='stylesheet' href='/css/xterm.css' />
     </div>
   );
diff --git a/e2e/editor.spec.ts b/e2e/editor.spec.ts
index 971f2bcaf96..22bc0109e21 100644
--- a/e2e/editor.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/editor.spec.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,42 @@ test.describe('Editor Component', () => {
 });
 
 test.describe('Python Terminal', () => {
+  test('should only have output if the python code generates it', async ({
+    page,
+    browserName,
+    isMobile
+  }) => {
+    await page.goto(
+      'learn/scientific-computing-with-python/learn-string-manipulation-by-building-a-cipher/step-2'
+    );
+
+    // First enter code that does not generate output
+    await focusEditor({ page, isMobile });
+    await clearEditor({ page, browserName, isMobile });
+    await getEditors(page).fill('no = "output"');
+
+    if (isMobile) await page.getByRole('tab', { name: 'Preview' }).click();
+
+    const terminal = page.getByTestId('xterm-terminal');
+    // Ensure there is no output
+    await expect(async () => {
+      const text = await terminal.innerText();
+      expect(text.trim()).toBe('');
+    }).toPass();
+
+    if (isMobile) await page.getByRole('tab', { name: 'Code' }).click();
+
+    // Now enter code that does generate output
+    await focusEditor({ page, isMobile });
+    await clearEditor({ page, browserName, isMobile });
+    await getEditors(page).fill('some = "output"\nprint(some)');
+
+    if (isMobile) await page.getByRole('tab', { name: 'Preview' }).click();
+    // Since the invisible characters are still there, we have to use "contain",
+    // not "have"
+    await expect(terminal).toContainText('output');
+  });
+
   test('should display error message when the user enters invalid code', async ({
     page,
     isMobile,
@@ -49,12 +85,12 @@ test.describe('Python Terminal', () => {
       await page.getByRole('tab', { name: 'Preview' }).click();
     }
 
-    const preview = page.getByTestId('preview-pane');
+    const terminal = page.getByTestId('xterm-terminal');
 
     // While it's displayed on multiple lines, the string itself has no newlines, hence:
     const error = `Traceback (most recent call last):  File "main.py", line 1    def       ^SyntaxError: invalid syntax`;
     // It shouldn't take this long, but the Python worker can be slow to respond.
-    await expect(preview.getByText(error)).toContainText(error, {
+    await expect(terminal.getByText(error)).toContainText(error, {
       timeout: 15000
     });
   });