Building and running automated test suites

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Building and Running Automated Test Suites

    Building and running automated test suites allows ServiceNow customers to execute a group of related tests efficiently. A test suite can include individual tests and other test suites, establishing a parent-child hierarchy for organized testing. This structure enables easier management and execution of tests.

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    Key Features

    • Single Action Execution: Run all tests in a suite with one command.
    • Hierarchical Organization: Create multi-level hierarchies of test suites for better structure.
    • Scheduling: Schedule test suites to run automatically with specified records for scheduling.
    • Dynamic Filters: Automate test suite creation using filters to add tests based on specific conditions.
    • Copying and Modifying: Easily duplicate entire test suites to save time on setup.
    • Re-running Tests: Quickly re-run only failed tests within a suite without executing the entire suite.

    Key Outcomes

    By utilizing automated test suites, ServiceNow customers can enhance testing efficiency, ensure thorough test coverage, and reduce manual work in test management. The ability to schedule runs and dynamically manage tests leads to more effective testing processes, ultimately improving application reliability and performance.

    Run a group of tests in a specific order to test an application or a group of related features.

    A test suite can contain both individual tests and other test suites. A test suite that contains another test suite is called a parent, and the test suite contained within the parent is called a child. While a test suite can have both individual tests and test suites as children, tests cannot have other tests as children. Tests can only contain test steps.

    Benefits

    Grouping tests into test suites offers these benefits.
    • Allows testers to run every test in a test suite with one action.
    • Allows testers to run all child test suites in a parent test suite.
    • Allows testers to see test results for every test in a test suite.
    • Allows test designers and testers to schedule when to run test suites.
    • Allows test designers and testers to schedule starting client test runners to support test runs.

    Hierarchies

    Automated Test Framework supports building a multi-level hierarchies where a test suite can be both a parent and child. For example, this figure illustrates Test Suite 1 as the parent at the top of the hierarchy. Test Suite 1.3 is a child of Test Suite 1 and also a parent of Test Suite 1.3.1 and Test Suite 1.3.2.

    Figure 1. Example of Test Suite Hierarchy
    Diagram of example test suite hierarchy

    Schedules

    To schedule a test suite, you need three components:
    • a test suite record
    • a schedule record specifying when you want the system to run the test suite
    • a scheduled suite run record that associates the test suite to run with the schedule for running it
    With this model, you can associate a schedule with many different test suites, and vice versa.
    Note:
    You can schedule only test suites, not individual tests. Scheduled tests will run only if there is an open Scheduled Client Test Runner page matching the scheduled suite's browser conditions. Scheduled tests cannot run on a machine that is locked, powered down, or does not already have the browser open.

    The watchlist on the test suite run record also allows you to specify users to receive an email when the system finishes executing the test suite run.

    If the test suite contains one or more form steps (steps involving a user interface), you must ensure that a scheduled client test runner is actively running in a browser when the schedule triggers the suite run.

    Note:
    See Browser recommendations and requirements for recommendations and requirements for running the client test runner.

    For step-by-step instructions on how to schedule a test suite, see Schedule an automated test suite.

    Filters

    Automate the creation of test suites by using a filter to dynamically add tests to a test suite when they match the filter conditions. Reduce the time that your test designers spend manually creating and maintaining test suites.