Smoke Testing

Smoke testing (also called build verification testing) is a shallow, broad set of tests that verify the most critical functionality of an application. The name comes from hardware testing — if you turn on a device and smoke comes out, there's no point testing further.

Smoke tests answer one question: 'Is this build stable enough to test further?'

Typical smoke test scenarios:

• Application launches without errors
• Login works with valid credentials
• Main navigation functions correctly
• Core business flow completes (e.g., search → add to cart → checkout)
• No critical console errors

Smoke tests are fast (5-15 minutes), automated, and run on every new build. They serve as a gatekeeper — if smoke tests fail, the build goes back to development without wasting QA time on detailed testing.