Cypress "Cypress detected a cross origin error" in CI

By Kaveh Alemi·Latchkey

The app navigated to a different superdomain (an OAuth/SSO provider, a payment page) and Cypress, sandboxed to one origin, threw a cross-origin error. Interacting with the other origin requires cy.origin().

What this error means

A test fails with "Cypress detected a cross origin error happened on page load" after a redirect to a different domain. The flow works manually, but Cypress blocks commands run against the foreign origin.

Cypress detected a cross origin error happened on page load:

  > Blocked a frame with origin "http://localhost:3000" from accessing
    a cross-origin frame.

A cross origin error happens when your application navigates to a new
URL which does not match the origin above.

Common causes

Redirect to a different superdomain

Login redirects to an SSO/OAuth domain (e.g. accounts.google.com) different from baseUrl. Cypress isolates per superdomain and blocks commands there without cy.origin().

Interacting after a cross-origin navigation

Continuing to drive the page after it left your domain triggers the error because the commands target an origin Cypress is not attached to.

How to fix it

Wrap foreign-origin steps in cy.origin()

cy.visit('/login');
cy.contains('Sign in with SSO').click();
cy.origin('https://auth.example.com', () => {
  cy.get('#username').type('user');
  cy.get('#password').type('pass');
  cy.contains('Continue').click();
});
cy.url().should('include', '/dashboard');

Or avoid the cross-origin hop

1. Programmatically log in via an API request and set the session, skipping the SSO UI.
2. Use cy.session() to cache auth so most specs never cross origins.
3. Reserve the full cy.origin() flow for one dedicated auth spec.

How to prevent it

• Use cy.session() + API login to avoid repeated cross-origin flows.
• Wrap unavoidable third-party origins in cy.origin().
• Keep baseUrl to your own app and isolate provider hops.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• GitHub Actions documentation