Quality Assurance
End-to-end test observability — flake detection, artifact management, visual debugging, and test planning.
What's Included
TotalApp's Quality Assurance module gives engineering teams full visibility into their test suite health. It covers two live screens and three upcoming screens that together form a complete QA operations hub — from spotting unreliable tests in real time, to preserving failure evidence, to planning and executing test runs.
The two live screens (Flake Tracker and Artifact Vault) are available today under the QA app mode. The remaining three (Web Test Module, Test Plan, Test Runner) are in active development and show a preview of planned features.
Part of the Developer / QA Mode
The QA screens are grouped under the qa app mode alongside Developer Tools, Security, and DevOps. Switch to QA mode from the mode switcher in the top header, or enable individual QA screens via Settings → App Modes → Manage Screens.
Feature Overview
Flake Tracker
Identify tests that only pass when retried. Retry-rate heatmap, run-time trend sparklines, critical/moderate severity filters, and top offender detail panel.
Artifact Vault
Central repository for screenshots, videos, and Playwright traces captured on failure. Visual debugger tab, trace timeline viewer, and per-file retention management.
Web Test Module Soon
Visual test recorder powered by Playwright codegen. Multi-browser execution across Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit with parallel worker configuration.
Test Plan Soon
Hierarchical plan → suite → case organisation with coverage tracking. Sprint-level test cycle management with pass/fail/skip breakdown per sprint.
Test Runner Soon
On-demand and scheduled Playwright test execution. Live stdout/stderr streaming with colour output, retry-on-failure, and screenshot-on-fail options.
Typical QA Workflow
The QA module is designed around an observe → preserve → plan → execute cycle. Here is how a typical team uses it:
- Spot flaky tests — Open Flake Tracker to see which tests have a retry rate above the critical (20%) or moderate (10%) threshold. The top-offenders panel shows the three worst culprits with full sparkline history.
- Inspect failure artifacts — Open Artifact Vault and filter by Failed or Flaky to find the screenshots, videos, and Playwright traces for those tests. Use the trace timeline to pinpoint the exact step that timed out or threw.
- Create a test plan — (Coming soon) Organise fixes into a Test Plan with suites and cases. Link each case back to the failing test file.
- Run & verify — (Coming soon) Trigger a targeted test run from Test Runner. Monitor live output and confirm the retry rate drops in Flake Tracker after the fix lands.
Enabling QA Mode
QA screens are visible when the QA app mode is active. There are two ways to enable it:
- Mode switcher (header) — Click the mode pill in the top header and select QA. The sidebar immediately switches to show QA screens.
- Manage Screens modal — Open Settings → App Modes → Manage Screens (or click the + button at the bottom of the sidebar). Find the QA section and toggle on the screens you want.
Mix modes
You can keep Flake Tracker and Artifact Vault pinned in your sidebar alongside Developer Tools or DevOps screens. Each screen can be enabled or disabled independently — you are not locked into a single mode at a time.
Screens at a Glance
| Screen | Status | Primary job |
|---|---|---|
| Flake Tracker | Live | Identify unreliable tests by retry rate and run-time trend |
| Artifact Vault | Live | Browse, debug, and manage test failure screenshots, videos, traces |
| Web Test Module | Coming Soon | Record and run Playwright tests across multiple browsers |
| Test Plan | Coming Soon | Hierarchical plan / suite / case management with coverage metrics |
| Test Runner | Coming Soon | On-demand and scheduled Playwright test execution with live output |