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Smoke Tests

Smoke tests are lightweight, fast-running checks that verify the most critical paths of the application are functional. They act as a first line of defense after a deployment or environment change.

What a Smoke Test Should Do​

  • Verify core infrastructure is up — confirm the app loads, key pages render, and essential services (auth, API) respond.
  • Test only happy-path flows — cover the primary user journeys (e.g. login, navigate to dashboard) without edge cases.
  • Run quickly — each test should complete in seconds, keeping the full suite under a few minutes.
  • Avoid data mutation — prefer read-only assertions; do not create, update, or delete resources that could affect other tests or environments.
  • Target production-safe scenarios — these tests may run against production, so they must never alter real user data or trigger irreversible actions.

When to Run​

  • After every deployment to any environment.
  • As a periodic health check on production.
  • Before kicking off heavier regression or E2E suites.