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]

• Set up Scout in your plugin
• Run Scout tests
• Best practices (see also UI and API test best practices)
• UI testing
• API testing
• Migrate tests to Scout

Scout benefits [scout-main-features]

• Parallel execution: run UI suites in parallel against the same deployment.
• Selective testing: PR builds run only the Scout tests scoped to changed modules, cutting CI time.
• 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 provide you with dashboards to track skipped tests, flaky tests, and more.
• Reusability: reuse or write reusable fixtures, page objects and API helpers to reduce duplication.
• Follows modern best practices: see 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? [need-help]

• Internal (Elasticians): reach out to the AppEx QA team 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 and selective testing.

Q: What is selective testing? [scout-faq-selective-testing]

In PR builds, Scout automatically detects which modules changed and runs only the relevant tests, reducing CI time. You can confirm your tests ran by looking for the affected Scout: prefix on Buildkite steps. See PR #261510 for details.

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 enables selective testing: PR builds automatically run only the Scout tests for affected modules.

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: Should I migrate every FTR test to Scout? [scout-faq-migrate-ftr-to-scout]

It depends: pick the right test type before migrating a test. Refer to our Migrate tests to Scout guide.

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.