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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions docs/decisions/.index.md
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# Index of Decisions

* 0001 - BiDi is an implementation mechanism, not a public API
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# NNNN. Title stating the decision as a fact

<!-- Good: "Clicks scroll elements into view before interacting"
Bad: "Click behavior" -->

- Status: Proposed <!-- Proposed | Accepted | Rejected | Superseded by [NNNN](NNNN-title.md) -->
- Date: YYYY-MM-DD <!-- date the status last changed -->
- Discussion: <!-- link to this record's PR; add prior issues/threads under Context -->

## Context

What problem are we solving, and what forces are in tension? W3C spec language, user
expectations, existing behavior that differs between bindings, implementation constraints.
Link prior discussions (issues, TLC notes) here as background β€” but summarize them, since
this section must make sense without following any links.

## Decision

The decision, stated in language-neutral terms. This is the normative part: what every
binding MUST do, and what is explicitly left to per-language idiom. Use code sketches per
language here if the API shape is part of what's being decided.

## Considered options

- **Option A** β€” what it is; why it was rejected or accepted
- **Option B** β€” what it is; why it was rejected or accepted

<!-- Options must be mutually exclusive answers to the question stated in Context; if two
options could both be adopted, they are separate decisions and the document should be
split. Revise this section during review as alternatives are contested or added β€” the
merged record, not the PR thread, is the authoritative account of why each rejected
option was not chosen. -->

## Consequences

What gets easier, what gets harder, what users will notice. Deprecations triggered by this
decision and their timelines. Follow-up decisions this one makes necessary.

## Binding status

<!-- Update this table as bindings converge on the decision; table updates don't need
TLC review. "n/a" with a note if the decision doesn't apply to a binding. -->

| Binding | Status | Notes / tracking link |
|------------|---------|-----------------------|
| Java | pending | |
| Python | pending | |
| Ruby | pending | |
| .NET | pending | |
| JavaScript | pending | |

## Appendix (optional)

Durable supporting material the decision relies on: benchmarks, spec excerpts, survey of
behavior in other tools. Delete this section if there is none β€” ephemeral evidence belongs
in the PR thread instead.
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# 0001. BiDi is an implementation mechanism, not a public API

- Status: Proposed
- Date: 2026-06-11
- Discussion: _PR pending_, https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium/issues/17628

## Context

Bindings use WebDriver BiDi to implement and extend the Selenium API. This record
settles BiDi's relationship to the public API: what users program against, and where
protocol code lives. CDP was managed differently across the bindings, but all of them
resulted in users needing to understand CDP implementation details to work with it
to one extent or another. This is happening in BiDi the same way.

## Decision

BiDi is an implementation mechanism, not a public API. New capabilities are exposed as

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Low-level API should be publicly available, it is power. But without warranties, spec is living doc. Not clear how to emphasize it per language. What I see: spec is trying to be not breaking changeable.

In .NET/C# we already funded a plan how to react on breaking changes. I really don't understand why low-level implementation should be internal.. .NET is ready for changes.

high-level, protocol-neutral APIs, idiomatic per language, subject to our standard
deprecation policy. Everything in a BiDi namespace is internal: still reachable for
anything not yet wrapped, but not documented and subject to change without warning.

A binding conforms when:

1. The supported API never references BiDi β€” no types, methods, properties, or entry points.
2. BiDi implementation code (including everything generated from CDDL) is visibly internal β€” marked per language convention as not intended for public consumption.

This includes removing/renaming:
* `HasBiDi` interface
* `bidi_connection`, `bidi`, `getBidi`, `AsBiDiAsync` methods
* `enable_bidi` methods in options

## Considered options

1. Expose the whole protocol as a public API (Rejected)
* not user-friendly syntax
2. A supported-but-separate public protocol namespace (Rejected)
* multiple implementations are confusing
3. Allow methods and classes to reference BiDi
* users shouldn't need to know the underlying implementation mechanism, things should just work without additional ceremony
4. Internal implementation mechanism only (Accepted)

## Consequences

- Users never need to know which protocol services a command.
- Each new capability requires API design work across bindings before it ships.
- Existing public surfaces that fail the conformance tests are brought in line per the deprecation policy, tracked below.

## Binding status

| Binding | Status | Notes / tracking link |
|------------|---------|-----------------------|
| Java | pending | |
| Python | pending | |
| Ruby | pending | |
| .NET | pending | |
| JavaScript | pending | |
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# Design Decisions

This directory is the log of design decisions that apply across the Selenium project β€”
one file per decision, numbered in the order they were proposed.

Selenium ships the same API in multiple languages. Decisions about user-visible behavior,
API shape, and cross-binding semantics need to be made once, recorded, and implemented
consistently everywhere. This log is the canonical record of those decisions: when a
question comes up in review, the answer should be a link to a file here.

## What needs a decision record

- User-visible behavior that should be consistent across bindings: API naming and shape,
error types and messages, default timeouts, capability handling
- WebDriver Classic / BiDi semantics and how the protocol is exposed (or deliberately not exposed)
- Deprecation and backwards-compatibility commitments
- Anything the TLC has labeled [`A-needs-decision`](https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium/labels/A-needs-decision)
and resolved

## What doesn't

- Single-binding internals (a Java maintainer picking a data structure)
- Build tooling and infrastructure choices
- Anything cheaply reversible

When in doubt, ask whether the question is likely to be raised again. If it is, record the decision.

## Process

1. **Propose.** Anyone may propose: copy [0000-template.md](0000-template.md) to `NNNN-short-title.md` using the
next unused number, fill it in, and open a PR with `Status: Proposed`. Keep it to about a
page β€” if the debate already happened in an issue, the record can be short and link to it.
2. **Discuss.** The PR thread is the discussion record. Decisions that need synchronous
discussion are raised at a TLC meeting; the outcome goes back into the PR. Disagreement
about the considered options is resolved by revising the document during review, so the
merged record reflects the debate accurately. The TLC sets its meeting agenda; proposals
advance as agenda time allows.
3. **Decide.** The Selenium Project Lead merges the record once the approval requirements
below are met and discussion has run its course, with the status updated to `Accepted` β€”
merging constitutes acceptance. Proposals the TLC considers and declines are merged as
`Rejected`; proposals withdrawn or abandoned before TLC consideration are closed and the
number lapses.
4. **Implement.** Each binding tracks its convergence in the decision's binding-status table.
Updating that table (and only that table) doesn't require TLC review.

## Approval

- TLC members respond to a proposal with a GitHub review: an approval, a "no objection"
comment review (saw it, deferring to the others), or a request-changes review stating
what would resolve it.
- Records are accepted by consensus: a majority of TLC members have responded, none with
an unresolved objection. Before acceptance, a record must have been open at least one
week and an agenda item at a TLC meeting β€” no one should learn of a decision after it
is made.
- If substantive edits are made, the author re-requests reviews.
- An objection that revision cannot resolve β€” including support for a different considered
option β€” is discussed at a TLC meeting. If consensus still fails, the Selenium Project
Lead decides which position prevails; the record is updated to match, and overruled
dissent is summarized rather than erased.

## Rules

- **A decision must stand alone.** A reader gets the decision, the rationale, and the rejected
alternatives without following any links; linked material is background, not required reading.
- **Accepted decisions are immutable**, except for the status line and the binding-status
table. Changing a decision means a new record that supersedes the old one β€” update the old
record's status to `Superseded by [NNNN](...)`.
- **Numbers are stable once merged.** They get cited in reviews and issues. If two open PRs
claim the same number, the later one renames before merge. Gaps in numbering are acceptable.
- **Durable supporting material goes in the record itself** (an Appendix section at the end).
Ephemeral evidence and debate stay in the PR thread.