remove redundant static text children (#647)

* remove redundant static text children

* prettier

* changeset

Author: seanmcguire12

Diff for: .changeset/cute-kings-stare.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@browserbasehq/stagehand": patch
+---
+
+collapse redundant text nodes into parent elements

Diff for: lib/a11y/utils.ts

@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ async function cleanStructuralNodes(
     cleanStructuralNodes(child, page, logger),
   );
   const resolvedChildren = await Promise.all(cleanedChildrenPromises);
-  const cleanedChildren = resolvedChildren.filter(
+  let cleanedChildren = resolvedChildren.filter(
     (child): child is AccessibilityNode => child !== null,
   );
 
@@ -136,6 +136,17 @@ async function cleanStructuralNodes(
     }
   }
 
+  // rm redundant StaticText children
+  cleanedChildren = removeRedundantStaticTextChildren(node, cleanedChildren);
+
+  if (cleanedChildren.length === 0) {
+    if (node.role === "generic" || node.role === "none") {
+      return null;
+    } else {
+      return { ...node, children: [] };
+    }
+  }
+
   // 6) Return the updated node.
   //    If it has children, update them; otherwise keep it as-is.
   return cleanedChildren.length > 0
@@ -448,6 +459,40 @@ export async function findScrollableElementIds(
   return scrollableBackendIds;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Removes any StaticText children whose combined text equals the parent's name.
+ * This is most often used to avoid duplicating a link's accessible name in separate child nodes.
+ *
+ * @param parent     The parent accessibility node whose `.name` we check.
+ * @param children   The parent's current children list, typically after cleaning.
+ * @returns          A filtered list of children with redundant StaticText nodes removed.
+ */
+function removeRedundantStaticTextChildren(
+  parent: AccessibilityNode,
+  children: AccessibilityNode[],
+): AccessibilityNode[] {
+  if (!parent.name) {
+    return children;
+  }
+
+  const parentName = parent.name.replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim();
+
+  // Gather all StaticText children and combine their text
+  const staticTextChildren = children.filter(
+    (child) => child.role === "StaticText" && child.name,
+  );
+  const combinedChildText = staticTextChildren
+    .map((child) => child.name!.replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim())
+    .join("");
+
+  // If the combined text exactly matches the parent's name, remove those child nodes
+  if (combinedChildText === parentName) {
+    return children.filter((child) => child.role !== "StaticText");
+  }
+
+  return children;
+}
+
 export async function performPlaywrightMethod(
   stagehandPage: Page,
   logger: (logLine: LogLine) => void,