Getting Started | Testifly Documentation

Getting Started

A Testifly project is one web app that you want to test. To create one, you give Testifly the address of your app and, if your app needs a login, a test account. Setup takes about two minutes. After that, Testifly’s AI agents explore your app, write tests, turn them into code and run them. You do not need to write any test code yourself.

This page explains each setup step and what happens in the background after you click Create project.

Before you start

How do I create a project?

  1. Sign up or sign in at app.testifly.dev. If you do not have a project yet, the setup screen opens automatically. To add another project later, click the project name at the top left of the menu and choose Add Project.
  2. Enter the Base URL of your web app, for example https://staging.example.com, and click Verify web app.
  3. Testifly runs three checks. They can take up to two minutes:
    • Access check – can Testifly open the site?
    • Bot protections check – does the site ask visitors to prove they are human?
    • Login requirement check – does the site need a login before it shows anything?
  4. If the access check fails because your app is behind a firewall or VPN, tick The web app is behind a Firewall or VPN and inaccessible from public networks and continue.
  5. Click Continue.

The project name is taken from the address you entered. For example, https://www.shop.example.com becomes shop.example.com. You can rename it later in Settings.

Step 2: Pages behind a login

If Testifly did not find a login wall, it asks whether you want the agents to test pages that are behind a login:

If the check found that the whole site needs a login, Testifly skips this question.

Step 3: How do users sign in?

Choose the login method your app uses:

Option What you give Testifly next
The site uses a username and a password to authenticate The login page URL and one set of valid credentials
Social Login (Google/Facebook/etc.) The social provider, the login page URL and one user without two-factor authentication
The site sends a link or token to the user’s email to authenticate Nothing now. You set up test users after the project is created (see below)
Some other method that I can describe later The login page URL and a plain-text description of how to log in

For a custom method, write each login step on its own line. Testifly turns each line into one step of its login test.

Your password is encrypted and stored in a secrets vault, not in the main database. Read more in Password Security.

Step 4: One last thing

Testifly shows a short list of requirements:

Tick I acknowledge the notice and click Create project. After about ten seconds you are taken to your new project.

What happens after I click Create project?

Testifly starts working at once. You do not need to keep the browser open.

  1. Your project is created with one environment called Main Environment, which uses the base URL you entered.
  2. Three test suites are added: Sanity, Smoke and Regression. See Test Suites and Scheduling.
  3. A nightly run is scheduled. The Sanity suite is set to run every day at 3:00 AM in your time zone.
  4. A cleanup test is prepared. This is an empty, hidden test you can fill in later to reset your app after each run. See Project Settings.
  5. You get a welcome email with a link to your project.
  6. Testifly learns to log in. If your app needs a login, Testifly creates an internal “Login flow” test from the details you gave. An AI agent opens your login page, fills in the form and writes the login code. Every later test uses this code to sign in. If the agent cannot log in, setup stops here and the job shows Execution Failed on the Jobs page. Check your credentials in Settings → Environments and start again from Settings → Actions.
  7. Feature discovery starts. An agent opens your app, finds its pages and turns each page into a feature with a description, a list of UI components and a set of tests. See Features.
  8. Tests are automated. For each test, an agent writes the test code and checks that it works. See Tests.
  9. Automated tests are run for the first time. See Runs and Results.

While this runs, your dashboard shows Agents at Work! and a live progress list. You get an email when feature discovery finishes and another when automation finishes. You can also follow every step on the Jobs page. See Background Jobs.

When does feature discovery not start by itself?

In two cases Testifly waits for you before it explores your app:

Until this is done, the dashboard shows Let’s finish setting up your project with a link to the settings page.

If your project has no features and no discovery is running, the dashboard shows two buttons: Add Feature Manually and Start Feature Discovery.

How long does the first round take?

It depends on the size of your app. Checking the site takes up to two minutes. Discovery, automation and the first run usually take from several minutes to a few hours. Large apps with many pages take longer. You can use Testifly while the agents work. Features that are still being processed show the message “We are currently automating this feature and will email you once it’s ready.”

What does the free trial include?

A new project starts as a 30-day trial. During the trial, the number of features and automated tests is limited. The banner at the top of the dashboard shows your feature limit. When the trial ends, the project becomes read-only until you choose a plan.

Next steps