Test Automation Integration with QA Sphere CLI Tool

Introduction

In the rapidly evolving world of software development, teams are increasingly relying on automation to stay agile and maintain high-quality standards. But automating tests is just the first step, getting those results integrated into your test management platform is where the real value comes in. That's where the QA Sphere CLI (Command Line Interface) tool shines.

The QAS-CLI tool automates the process of:

• Processing JUnit XML test results from your automation framework
• Creating test runs automatically or using existing ones
• Mapping test results to your QA Sphere test cases
• Saving test evidence (screenshots, logs) to QA Sphere
• Updating test run statuses and metrics automatically

This integration typically takes 15-30 minutes to set up and can save hours of manual test result entry while ensuring accuracy and consistency in your test reporting.

Prerequisites

Before starting this integration, ensure you have:

• Node.js version 18.0.0 or higher installed
• A QA Sphere account
• Basic familiarity with command line operations
• Your QA Sphere API token (we'll show you how to get this)

Setting Up the Bistro Delivery Project

About Bistro Delivery

Bistro Delivery is a demo project that simulates a food delivery website, serving as a playground for manual and automated testing of modern web application patterns. The project features the following testing scenarios:

• Menu and Product Management
• Shopping Cart Features
• Checkout Process Flow
• Modern UI Patterns

What makes Bistro Delivery particularly valuable for testing is that it represents the most common patterns found in newly built web applications:

1. E-commerce Patterns: Like many modern applications, it deals with product listings, cart management, and checkout flows - patterns that are fundamental to many web applications beyond just food delivery.

2. State Management: The application handles complex state changes, especially in the cart and checkout process, making it perfect for testing state-dependent features.

3. Form Handling: Through its checkout process, it demonstrates common form patterns including validation, error handling, and submission - crucial aspects of most web applications.

4. API Integration: While it doesn't include actual payment processing, the application structure mimics real-world API integrations, making it suitable for testing various integration scenarios.

Initiating the Demo Project in QA Sphere

There are two ways to set up the Bistro Delivery project in QA Sphere: through the automated onboarding process or manual project creation.

Option 1: Automated Setup (Recommended for New Users)

When you first subscribe to QA Sphere, you'll be presented with an onboarding workflow that includes the option to Create an Example Project. This is the quickest way to get started:

1. During QA Sphere onboarding, select Create an Example Project
2. The system will automatically create the Bistro Delivery project, which includes:
   • A complete test case library
   • Predefined test runs
   • An Automated Testing test run specifically configured for Playwright e2e tests

Note: The project name is used for generating the unique acronym - BD in this case - which would then be referred from the automated tests.

Option 2: Manual Project Creation

1. Log in to your QA Sphere account
2. Navigate to Projects and click Create New Project
3. Enter Bistro Delivery as the project name
4. Once created, you'll be redirected to the project overview page. The URL in your browser will look like this:

   https://your-instance.region.qasphere.com/project/BD/overview
   

5. To load the demo test cases and test runs:
   • In your browser's address bar, change the last part of the URL from overview to testingdata
   • So if your URL was https://your-instance.region.qasphere.com/project/BD/overview
   • Change it to https://your-instance.region.qasphere.com/project/BD/testingdata
   • Press Enter to load the page
6. The system will automatically create demo test cases and test runs
7. Go to the Test Runs tab and select Automated Testing

You're now ready to proceed with updating the test run statuses using the demo end-to-end tests.