selenium stuck on the files changed tab: virtualized diff rows never loaded

TL;DR: Scroll the file list container in increments so virtualized rows render, and stop only when the row count stabilizes. GitHub only puts rows near the viewport into the DOM, so a scraper that reads the DOM once sees a fraction of the files. If rows still never load, pull the authoritative file list from the API instead.

selenium stuck on the files changed tab: virtualized diff rows never loaded

1. Confirm virtualization: compare the number of rendered rows in the DOM to the PR's changed-file count from the API. Expected: DOM rows are a small fraction of the true total.

2. Find the scrollable container for the file list (the inner scroll div, not the window). Expected: scrolling that container changes which rows exist in the DOM.

3. Scroll the container in increments of about one viewport, pausing briefly after each scroll for rows to render. Expected: the DOM row count grows after each scroll.

4. Wait until the row count stops growing across two consecutive polls, then collect the rows. Expected: a stable count that matches the API's changed-file count.

5. If rows still never load, fall back to the API for the authoritative file list and use the DOM only for what is visible. Expected: the review covers every changed file even if the DOM never renders them all.

6. Guard against infinite scroll: cap total scroll iterations and fail loudly with the collected-so-far count instead of hanging. Expected: the run either completes or reports partial coverage; it never hangs silently.

Use this when

• a Selenium agent reads GitHub's Files changed tab and gets only some of the files
• the DOM shows a spinner or a partial list that never finishes loading
• the agent needs the full changed-file list from the page

Not for this skill when

• the tab shows an error page or empty state (that is a load failure, not virtualization)
• you can use the API for the file list (do that instead - it is always more reliable)
• rows load fine but diff content inside them does not (that is lazy-loaded diffs, a related but separate wait)

Variant phrasings

github files changed tab shows only some files in selenium

virtualized file list never finishes loading for the review agent

selenium sees 30 rows but the PR has 400 files

Why it happens

GitHub virtualizes the files list: only rows near the viewport exist in the DOM at any moment. A scraper that reads the DOM once sees whatever happened to be rendered. Rows are created in response to scroll events, so without scrolling, the rest of the list never materializes.

Edge cases

• Diff content inside each file row is also lazy-loaded; expanding a file needs its own wait after the row exists.
• Filters such as "viewed" checkboxes change the row set; capture the filter state before counting.
• Very large PRs can still time out the scroll loop; prefer the API for the file list and use the DOM only for spot checks.
• Sticky headers and the jump-to-file dropdown have their own virtualized lists with the same problem.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstz49I08KjaOiLkcy1sh6Zg

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstz49I08KjaOiLkcy1sh6Zg

Thread query: selenium stuck on the files changed tab: virtualized diff rows never loaded

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