FTR Testing

Overview

FTR (Functional Test Runner) is Kibana's legacy framework for end-to-end functional tests. Tests are mocha-based (describe/it) using @kbn/expect, driven by config files that wire up Kibana + Elasticsearch servers, services, page objects, and security roles. Understanding FTR deeply is essential for maintaining existing tests and planning migrations.

Architecture

Provider context

Every FTR test file exports a provider function that receives FtrProviderContext:

export default ({ getService, getPageObjects, loadTestFile }: FtrProviderContext) => {
  // getService(name): returns a singleton service instance
  // getPageObjects(['name1', 'name2']): returns page object instances
  // loadTestFile(require.resolve('./path')): loads a sub-suite inside a describe block
};

The type is defined in src/platform/packages/shared/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/public_types.ts. Each plugin/solution creates its own typed version (e.g. x-pack/platform/test/functional/ftr_provider_context.ts).

Config anatomy

FTR configs define the full test environment. Key fields:

Config inheritance

Configs commonly inherit from base configs via readConfigFile:

import { readConfigFile } from '@kbn/test';

export default async ({ readConfigFile }: FtrConfigProviderContext) => {
  const baseConfig = await readConfigFile(require.resolve('../../config.base.ts'));
  return {
    ...baseConfig.getAll(),
    testFiles: [require.resolve('.')],
    // override specific fields as needed
  };
};

Typical chain: leaf config > solution base > platform base > @kbn/test-suites-src base.

Key base configs:

• src/platform/test/functional/config.base.ts (core Kibana)
• x-pack/platform/test/functional/config.base.ts (x-pack platform)
• x-pack/solutions/observability/test/functional/config.base.ts
• x-pack/solutions/security/test/functional/config.base.ts

Directory conventions

• Tests: test/functional/apps/<area>/ or x-pack/**/test/functional/apps/<area>/
• Services: test/functional/services/ or x-pack/**/test/functional/services/
• Page objects: test/functional/page_objects/ or x-pack/**/test/functional/page_objects/
• ES archives: test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/<name>/ (contains mappings.json + data.json.gz)
• Kibana archives: test/functional/fixtures/kbn_archiver/<name>/ (JSON saved objects)

Core services

Commonly available services

Retry patterns

FTR's retry service is heavily used because the framework lacks Playwright's auto-waiting:

// Retry until the block doesn't throw (up to the default timeout)
await retry.try(async () => {
  const text = await testSubjects.getVisibleText('myElement');
  expect(text).to.be('expected value');
});

// Wait until the block returns true
await retry.waitFor('element to appear', async () => {
  return await testSubjects.exists('myElement');
});

// Retry with explicit timeout
await retry.tryForTime(30000, async () => {
  await testSubjects.existOrFail('slowElement');
});

testSubjects patterns

testSubjects is the primary way FTR interacts with UI elements via data-test-subj:

await testSubjects.click('saveButton');
await testSubjects.existOrFail('successToast');        // throws if not found
await testSubjects.missingOrFail('loadingSpinner');    // throws if found
await testSubjects.setValue('nameInput', 'my-name');
const text = await testSubjects.getVisibleText('title');
const exists = await testSubjects.exists('optionalElement');

Note: existOrFail and missingOrFail are assertions disguised as helpers. In Scout, these should become explicit expect() calls in the test body.

Page objects

Page objects encapsulate UI interactions for a specific page or feature area. They are registered in config and accessed via getPageObjects():

const { common, dashboard, header } = getPageObjects(['common', 'dashboard', 'header']);

await common.navigateToApp('dashboard');
await header.waitUntilLoadingHasFinished();
await dashboard.clickNewDashboard();

Key platform page objects: common (navigation, app switching), header (loading indicators, breadcrumbs), dashboard, discover, visualize, lens, settings, timePicker, home.

Page objects are defined as classes or provider functions and registered in page_objects/index.ts:

export const pageObjects = {
  common: CommonPageProvider,
  dashboard: DashboardPageProvider,
  header: HeaderPageProvider,
  // ...
};

loadTestFile pattern

Index files use loadTestFile to compose suites from multiple files:

export default ({ loadTestFile }: FtrProviderContext) => {
  describe('dashboard', function () {
    // Shared setup applies to ALL loaded suites
    before(async () => {
      await esArchiver.load('dashboard/current/data');
    });

    after(async () => {
      await esArchiver.unload('dashboard/current/data');
    });

    loadTestFile(require.resolve('./feature_controls'));
    loadTestFile(require.resolve('./preserve_url'));
    loadTestFile(require.resolve('./panel_actions'));
  });
};

Key implications:

• Shared before/after hooks in the index file apply to every loaded suite
• Suites execute in the order listed (and may depend on this ordering)
• Each loadTestFile target shares the same mocha context (browser state persists across it blocks within a suite)

Data loading

esArchiver

Loads/unloads Elasticsearch index data from fixture directories:

const esArchiver = getService('esArchiver');

// In before/after hooks:
await esArchiver.load('test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/dashboard/current/data');
await esArchiver.unload('test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/dashboard/current/data');

// Load only if the index doesn't already exist:
await esArchiver.loadIfNeeded('test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/logstash_functional');

Archive directories contain mappings.json (index settings/mappings) and data.json.gz (documents).

kibanaServer (saved objects)

Loads/unloads Kibana saved objects (dashboards, data views, visualizations):

const kibanaServer = getService('kibanaServer');

await kibanaServer.importExport.load('test/functional/fixtures/kbn_archiver/dashboard/current/kibana');
await kibanaServer.importExport.unload('test/functional/fixtures/kbn_archiver/dashboard/current/kibana');

UI settings

// Replace ALL settings (wipes existing, sets new)
await kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({ 'timepicker:timeDefaults': '...' });

// Merge into existing settings
await kibanaServer.uiSettings.update({ 'theme:darkMode': true });

Note the semantic difference: replace wipes all settings first, update merges.

Tags and CI

Test tags

Tags control which tests run in which environments:

describe('my suite', function () {
  this.tags(['skipServerless']);       // skip in serverless
  this.tags(['skipStateful']);         // skip in stateful
  this.tags(['skipSvlSec']);           // skip in serverless security
  this.tags(['includeFirefox']);       // include in Firefox runs
});

Config-level filtering via suiteTags:

suiteTags: {
  include: [],
  exclude: ['skipStateful'],   // stateful config excludes skipStateful tests
}

CI config files

FTR configs must be listed in .buildkite/ftr_*_configs.yml to run in CI:

• ftr_platform_stateful_configs.yml: platform stateful configs
• ftr_base_serverless_configs.yml: base serverless configs
• ftr_security_stateful_configs.yml / ftr_security_serverless_configs.yml: security solution
• ftr_oblt_stateful_configs.yml / ftr_oblt_serverless_configs.yml: observability solution
• ftr_search_stateful_configs.yml / ftr_search_serverless_configs.yml: search solution

Each file has enabled: and disabled: sections. A config not listed in any file won't run in CI.

Running FTR locally

# All-in-one (starts servers + runs tests):
node scripts/functional_tests --config <path>

# Start servers separately (keep running):
node scripts/functional_tests_server --config <path>

# Run tests against running servers:
node scripts/functional_test_runner --config <path>

# Run a specific test file:
node scripts/functional_test_runner --config <path> --grep "suite name"

Common FTR idioms

Shared browser state across it blocks

In FTR, it blocks within the same describe share browser state. This enables multi-step journeys but creates implicit ordering dependencies:

describe('CRUD flow', () => {
  it('creates an entity', async () => { /* navigates, fills form, saves */ });
  it('edits the entity', async () => { /* continues from previous state */ });
  it('deletes the entity', async () => { /* continues from previous state */ });
});

This pattern doesn't translate directly to Scout/Playwright where each test() gets a fresh browser context.

Conditional logic based on deployment

const deployment = getService('deployment');
const isServerless = await deployment.isServerless();

if (isServerless) {
  // serverless-specific behavior
} else {
  // stateful-specific behavior
}

Waiting for page readiness

await PageObjects.header.waitUntilLoadingHasFinished();
await testSubjects.existOrFail('pageContent');

waitUntilLoadingHasFinished waits for the global loading indicator to disappear. This is a very common FTR pattern but is restricted in Scout (where you should wait on content-specific ready signals instead).

Common pitfalls

• Assuming it block independence: it blocks in the same describe share browser state and often depend on execution order.
• Missing loadTestFile context: shared before/after in index files silently apply to all loaded suites. Easy to miss when reading individual test files.
• Config inheritance surprises: a leaf config may inherit roles, server args, and services from a chain of base configs. Always trace the full chain.
• existOrFail is an assertion: looks like a query but throws on failure. When analyzing tests, treat it as an assertion.
• retry.try masking flakiness: wrapping assertions in retry.try can hide genuine bugs by retrying until they pass by chance.
• UI-based setup: using navigateToApp + clicks in before hooks for setup is slow and fragile. API-based setup via kibanaServer or es is preferred.
• Archive path conventions: archive paths are relative and resolved by the esArchiver.baseDirectory config. Check the config to understand where archives are loaded from.
• Tag mismatches: a test tagged @skipServerless in a config that doesn't exclude that tag will still run. Tags only work when the config's suiteTags.exclude lists them.