Set Up an Environment

What is an Environment?

An environment represents a specific deployment or instance of your application where tests will run. It contains all the configuration details needed for Synthesized QA to access and test your application, including URLs, authentication credentials, API endpoints, and other connection settings.

Why You Need Environments

Environments allow you to:

• Test against different deployments (development, staging, production)
• Maintain separate configurations for each deployment
• Run the same tests across multiple environments
• Track which environment was used for each test run

Step 1: Navigate to Environments

From your project workspace, click on Environments in the left sidebar navigation. You'll see the Environments page where you can view and manage all environments for this project.

Step 2: Click "Add Environment"

Click the green "Add Environment" button in the top-right corner. This opens the environment creation dialog.

Step 3: Name Your Environment

Enter a descriptive name for your environment. Common naming patterns include:

• Development - For testing during active development
• Staging - For pre-production validation
• Production - For monitoring live application behavior
• QA - Dedicated testing environment

You can also include branch names or version numbers, such as "staging-v2" or "dev-feature-login".

Step 4: Add Environment Components

After naming your environment, you'll need to configure its components. These are the connection details that tell Synthesized QA how to access your application. For your first environment, focus on these two essential components:

Main UI URL

The Main UI URL is the primary web address where your application's user interface is hosted.

• What it's for: UI tests will navigate to this URL to interact with your application
• Example: https://app.example.com or https://staging.myapp.io
• Requirements: Must be a valid HTTP/HTTPS URL that's accessible from Synthesized QA

To add:

1. Click "Select a component type to add..."
2. Choose "Main UI URL"
3. Enter your application's URL
4. Click the check mark or save icon

Login Credentials

Login Credentials store the username and password needed to authenticate with your application.

• What it's for: UI tests use these credentials to log in before executing test scenarios
• Required fields:
  • Username: Email address, username, or user ID
  • Password: The corresponding password (stored securely)
• Best practice: Create a dedicated test account rather than using personal credentials

To add:

1. Click "Select a component type to add..."
2. Choose "Login Credentials"
3. Enter the username/email
4. Enter the password
5. Click the check mark or save icon

Optional: Additional Components

Depending on your application, you may want to configure additional components later:

• Login URL: If your login page is at a different URL than the main application
• API Endpoint: Base URL for REST API or GraphQL endpoint
• API Key: Authentication key for API requests
• Database Connection: For data validation and test setup
• OAuth Configuration: OAuth 2.0 settings if your app uses OAuth
• HTTP Headers: Custom headers needed for API/UI helpers
• UI Login Script: Custom Groovy/Selenide script for complex login flows

Step 5: Verify Environment is Created

After adding your components, click "Save" or "Create Environment". You should see:

• Your new environment card on the Environments page
• The environment name and main URL displayed
• Icons showing which components are configured
• A count of configured parts (e.g., "2 parts configured")

Understanding Environment Status

Each environment component has a validation status:

• Valid - Configuration is properly formatted and accessible
• Invalid - There's an issue with the configuration (shown as a red dot on the icon)
• Not validated - Configuration hasn't been tested yet

If you see validation errors, hover over the component icon to see details about what needs to be fixed.

Editing Your Environment

You can modify your environment at any time:

1. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) on the environment card
2. Select "Edit"
3. Add, modify, or remove components
4. Save your changes

What's Next?

With your environment configured, you're ready to discover your application's structure. The discovery process analyzes your documentation, API specifications, and user stories to identify testable components.

Continue to: Run Your First Discovery