Best Practices

Follow recommended patterns for naming, tagging, filing bugs, using AI, managing files, and reviewing sessions.

Best Practices

Use this page to follow recommended patterns for getting the most out of the Testing Portal.

Organizing your work

• Verify project context before starting Check Organization → App → Project in the top navigation bar before launching sessions or uploading files.

  This quick check prevents data from being saved in the wrong place.

• Name sessions clearly Rename sessions as soon as they appear in the Sessions list.

  Good names include the feature, build version, and date.

  Example: Checkout Flow – v2.4.1 – Regression

• Use tags consistently Agree on a tagging taxonomy with your team.

  Examples include smoke, regression, release-2.5, and priority-critical.

  Consistent tags make filtering and historical search much easier.

Bug filing

• File bugs from within the session The session runner captures context and links the current screenshot automatically.

  Filing later is possible, but it loses that automatic screenshot association.

• Use priority and status consistently Align on shared definitions with your team.

  A practical model is:

  • Critical blocks release

  • High breaks a core flow

  • Medium affects a secondary flow

  • Low is cosmetic or minor

• Include reproduction steps Always include preconditions, steps to reproduce, expected result, and actual result.

  This makes bugs faster to validate and fix.

Using Optics AI effectively

• Use Interact for targeted flows Interact works best when you already know the flow you want to test.

  Write commands the way you would explain the task to a teammate.

• Use Explorer for broad discovery Explorer is a good first pass on a new build.

  Use it to identify broken paths before writing more detailed tests.

• Start Explorer with low concurrency Begin with Concurrent = 2 on a new application.

  This helps you observe behavior before scaling up.

  Some applications rate-limit or block rapid parallel access.

• Store credentials in Secrets, not Parameters Parameters can appear in logs and reports.

  Secrets stay masked.

  Use Secrets for all credential values, including staging.

File Management

• Add metadata to every uploaded file At minimum, include version, environment, and platform.

  Examples: version, environment, platform.

• Do not delete files used by active suites Check your Appium or Playwright configurations before deleting a file.

  Deleting a referenced file can break CI runs.

Session reviews

• Use quick-access modals for triage Use Video, Screenshots, and Bugs from the Sessions list to review evidence quickly.

  Open full Session Details only when you need deeper context.

• Use JQL for targeted reports JQL is faster than manual scanning when you need precise session sets.

  Example: status = "failed" AND user = "[e-mail]"

• Add notes immediately after sessions Notes capture context while it is still fresh.

  Even short notes help preserve useful history.

General tips

• Keep the Testing Portal in its own dedicated browser tab or window.

• Bookmark the Sessions list for your most-used project.

• Use Admin Settings in the user menu when expected data is missing and you need to verify project membership.