running-smoke-tests

name	running-smoke-tests
description	Runs automated smoke tests after deployment to validate critical paths and UI readiness. Use after deployments, before releases, or when verifying environment health.

Smoke Test Validation Agent

Automates post-deployment smoke testing to verify critical paths and environment readiness.

When to use this skill

• Immediately after deployment (staging/production)
• Before release sign-off
• When environment health is questioned
• Daily/scheduled sanity checks
• After infrastructure changes

Workflow

• Receive deployment notification or trigger
• Load smoke test scenarios for the environment
• Execute tests sequentially (login → navigation → key features)
• Capture screenshots at each checkpoint
• Validate UI elements are present and functional
• Generate readiness report with pass/fail status
• Notify team via Slack with results

Instructions

Step 1: Define Smoke Test Scenarios

Create scenario files in JSON/YAML format:

{
  "name": "Post-Deployment Smoke",
  "environment": "staging",
  "base_url": "https://staging.example.com",
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "id": "login",
      "name": "User Login",
      "steps": [
        {"action": "navigate", "url": "/login"},
        {"action": "screenshot", "name": "login_page"},
        {"action": "fill", "selector": "#email", "value": "${TEST_USER}"},
        {"action": "fill", "selector": "#password", "value": "${TEST_PASS}"},
        {"action": "click", "selector": "#signin-btn"},
        {"action": "wait", "duration": 2000},
        {"action": "screenshot", "name": "dashboard"},
        {"action": "assert", "selector": ".dashboard-header", "expect": "visible"}
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "dashboard",
      "name": "Dashboard Load",
      "steps": [
        {"action": "navigate", "url": "/dashboard"},
        {"action": "screenshot", "name": "dashboard_view"},
        {"action": "assert", "selector": ".stats-widget", "expect": "visible"},
        {"action": "assert", "selector": ".loading-spinner", "expect": "hidden"}
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Step 2: Execute Smoke Tests

Run the smoke test runner:

python .agent/skills/running-smoke-tests/scripts/smoke_test_runner.py \
  --config smoke-tests-staging.json \
  --env staging \
  --output ./reports/

Step 3: Capture Evidence

Screenshots captured at each checkpoint:

• login_page.png - Login form visible
• dashboard.png - After successful login
• dashboard_view.png - Full dashboard loaded
• error_state.png - If failures occur

Store in timestamped folder: ./reports/smoke-2026-02-20-143000/

Step 4: Validate Key Elements

Checkpoint	Element	Validation
Login Page	#email, #password	Visible, enabled
Login Page	#signin-btn	Clickable
Dashboard	.dashboard-header	Text contains "Dashboard"
Dashboard	.stats-widget	Visible, has data
Dashboard	.user-menu	Dropdown works
Navigation	Sidebar links	All clickable

Step 5: Generate Readiness Report

Smoke Test Report - staging.example.com
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Timestamp: 2026-02-20 14:30:00 UTC
Environment: staging
Duration: 45 seconds

Summary:
  Total Scenarios: 5
  Passed: 4 ✅
  Failed: 1 ❌
  Status: NOT READY

Scenario Results:
─────────────────
✅ User Login (8s)
   - Navigate to /login: PASS
   - Screenshot: login_page.png ✅
   - Fill credentials: PASS
   - Click sign in: PASS
   - Dashboard loaded: PASS
   - Screenshot: dashboard.png ✅

✅ Dashboard Load (3s)
   - Navigate: PASS
   - Stats widget visible: PASS
   - Screenshot: dashboard_view.png ✅

✅ Profile Navigation (4s)
   - Open user menu: PASS
   - Click profile: PASS
   - Profile page loaded: PASS

❌ Feature X Access (5s)
   - Navigate to /feature-x: PASS
   - Page loaded: PASS
   - Check data table: FAIL
   - Error: Timeout waiting for .data-table
   - Screenshot: error_feature_x.png ❌

✅ Logout Flow (3s)
   - Click logout: PASS
   - Redirect to login: PASS

Evidence:
─────────
📁 Report Directory: ./reports/smoke-2026-02-20-143000/
📷 Screenshots: 6 captured
📄 Full Logs: execution.log

Recommendation:
───────────────
🔴 DEPLOYMENT BLOCKED - Fix Feature X data loading issue
   before proceeding with release.

Step 6: Slack Notification

Send notification with summary and links:

{
  "channel": "#qa-smoke-tests",
  "username": "SmokeTestBot",
  "icon_emoji": ":warning:",
  "attachments": [
    {
      "color": "danger",
      "title": "❌ Smoke Tests Failed - Staging",
      "fields": [
        {"title": "Environment", "value": "staging", "short": true},
        {"title": "Passed", "value": "4/5", "short": true},
        {"title": "Failed Scenario", "value": "Feature X Access", "short": false},
        {"title": "Report", "value": "<https://ci.example.com/reports/smoke-2026-02-20-143000/|View Full Report>", "short": false}
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Scripts

Run smoke tests:

# Run with config file
python .agent/skills/running-smoke-tests/scripts/smoke_test_runner.py \
  --config smoke-tests.json \
  --env staging

# Run specific scenario
python .agent/skills/running-smoke-tests/scripts/smoke_test_runner.py \
  --config smoke-tests.json \
  --scenario login \
  --headless

# Run with Slack notification
python .agent/skills/running-smoke-tests/scripts/smoke_test_runner.py \
  --config smoke-tests.json \
  --slack-webhook $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL \
  --channel "#deployments"

Configuration

Environment Variables

# Required
BASE_URL=https://staging.example.com
TEST_USER=[e-mail]
TEST_PASS=smoke_test_password

# Optional
SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL=https://hooks.slack.com/services/xxx
SLACK_CHANNEL=#qa-smoke-tests
SCREENSHOT_ON_PASS=true
SCREENSHOT_ON_FAIL=true
TIMEOUT_DEFAULT=10000
RETRY_ATTEMPTS=2

Smoke Test Config Structure

{
  "name": "Production Smoke Tests",
  "base_url": "${BASE_URL}",
  "timeouts": {
    "navigation": 10000,
    "element": 5000,
    "assertion": 3000
  },
  "retry": {
    "attempts": 2,
    "delay": 1000
  },
  "notifications": {
    "slack": {
      "webhook": "${SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL}",
      "channel": "${SLACK_CHANNEL}",
      "on_success": true,
      "on_failure": true
    }
  },
  "scenarios": []
}

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions

name: Post-Deploy Smoke Tests

on:
  deployment_status:
    environments: [staging, production]

jobs:
  smoke-test:
    if: github.event.deployment_status.state == 'success'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      
      - name: Setup Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          python-version: '3.10'
      
      - name: Install Playwright
        run: |
          pip install playwright
          playwright install chromium
      
      - name: Run Smoke Tests
        run: |
          python .agent/skills/running-smoke-tests/scripts/smoke_test_runner.py \
            --config .agent/skills/running-smoke-tests/examples/smoke-tests-${{ github.event.deployment.environment }}.json \
            --slack-webhook ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL }}

Common Smoke Test Scenarios

Scenario	Purpose	Critical Elements
Login	Auth working	Form, submit, redirect
Dashboard	Core view loads	Widgets, data, navigation
Profile	User data accessible	Form, save, validation
Search	Core feature works	Input, results, filters
Logout	Session ends	Redirect, cookie cleared

Resources

• scripts/smoke_test_runner.py - Test execution engine
• examples/smoke-tests-staging.json - Sample config
• examples/smoke-report-example.md - Sample outputs

Best Practices

1. Keep it fast - Smoke tests should complete in < 2 minutes
2. Focus on critical paths - Don't test everything, test what matters
3. Stable selectors - Use data-testid attributes, not CSS classes
4. Idempotent - Tests should be safe to run multiple times
5. Clear evidence - Screenshots for every checkpoint