Scout [scout]

Scout is Kibana’s modern UI and API test framework built on Playwright. It focuses on fast test execution, a good developer experience, and reusable test building blocks (e.g., fixtures, page objects and API services).

Start here [scout-start-here]

• Getting started
• Best practices
• UI testing
• API testing

Scout benefits [scout-main-features]

• Parallel execution: run UI suites in parallel against the same deployment.
• Co-located tests: keep tests close to plugin code for easier iteration and maintenance.
• Deployment-agnostic: write tests once, then use tags to declare where they should run (stateful/serverless).
• Fixture-based: fixtures cover auth, data setup, clients, and common workflows.
• Better debugging: use Playwright UI Mode.
• Reporting: we capture test events that power our dashboards (for example, skipped tests, flaky tests, and more).
• Reusability: reuse or write reusable fixtures, page objects and API helpers to reduce duplication.
• Follows modern best practices: check out our Scout best practices.

Scout packages [scout-packages]

Import the right Scout package in your Scout tests:

• Platform-owned tests → @kbn/scout

Package	Use in tests
@kbn/scout	Platform (shared baseline)

• Solution-owned tests → your solution Scout package (it builds on @kbn/scout)

Package	Use in tests
@kbn/scout-oblt	{icon}logo_observability Observability solution
@kbn/scout-security	{icon}logo_security Security solution
@kbn/scout-search	{icon}logo_elasticsearch Search solution

::::::{note} Fixtures, page objects, and API helpers defined in @kbn/scout can be imported by solution-specific Scout packages. When they are defined in a solution package or a plugin they will only be available to that solution or plugin. ::::::

Contribute to Scout when possible [contribute-to-scout-when-possible]

We welcome contributions to one of the Scout packages.

If your helper/code…	Put it…	Examples
Is reusable across many plugins/teams	In @kbn/scout	Generic fixtures, page objects, and API helpers
Is reusable but scoped to a solution	In the solution Scout package (for example @kbn/scout-security, @kbn/scout-oblt, @kbn/scout-search)	Solution workflows and domain-specific helpers
Is specific to one plugin or package	In your plugin or package’s test/scout directory	Components specific to your plugin or package only

Need help?

• Internal (Elasticians): reach out to the AppEx QA team in the #kibana-scout Slack channel for guidance.

• External contributors: open an issue in the Kibana repository and label it with Team:QA.

FAQ [scout-faq]

Q: Does Scout prevent flaky tests? [scout-faq-flakes]

No—good test design still matters.

Q: Is Scout designed to be just a Playwright UI test runner? [scout-faq-ui-only]

No. Scout supports both UI and API testing with Playwright.

Q: Are test runs going to be faster? [scout-faq-faster]

Often, yes—especially with parallel test execution.

Q: Why is it a good idea for tests to be close to the plugin code? [scout-faq-colocation]

It’s easier to iterate and maintain, and it can enable smarter test selection in the future.

Q: Can I use FTR services in Scout (for example, esArchiver)? [scout-faq-ftr-services]

Not directly—use Scout fixtures instead.

Q: What happens to FTR tests? [scout-faq-ftr-tests]

Existing FTR tests continue to run, and teams can migrate them to Scout incrementally over time.

Q: Does Scout support feature flags? [scout-faq-feature-flags]

Yes. See Feature flags for details on enabling flags at runtime with apiServices.core.settings() or using custom server configurations.