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Git Branch Specific Exploratory Runs

You can run exploratory testing against branch-specific deployments (e.g. PR preview URLs) so that ExploreChimp exercises the version of the app that is on a feature branch. Only new bugs introduced in that branch—deduplicated against the default branch—are reported, so you can answer: What new UX, performance, accessibility, or i18n bugs were introduced by this feature branch?

How It Works​

  1. Select the branch on the SmartTests page: Use the branch selector to choose the feature branch you care about (the same branch-aware context used for GitHub Sync and Branch Specific Test Execution).
  2. Run explorations from any test or folder: Right-click a test or folder and choose Run ExploreChimp. Configure the recipe and settings as usual. The exploration runs against the PR preview URL (or branch-specific URL) configured for that branch in Project settings.
  3. New bugs only: Findings from the branch run are deduplicated against the default branch. Only bugs that are new or unique to the branch version are reported. This focuses the report on issues introduced by the feature branch and reduces noise from known default-branch issues.

Why Use Branch-Specific Exploratory Runs?​

  • Shift-left: Find UX, performance, accessibility (a11y), and internationalization (i18n) issues before the branch is merged.
  • Clear signal: “What new bugs did this branch introduce?” instead of a mixed list of all bugs on a single URL.
  • Same workflow: Use the same SmartTests and recipes; only the branch (and thus the deployment URL) changes.

Viewing Branch-Specific Bugs​

Bugs found in branch-specific exploratory runs are tagged with the branch context. In Atlas, you can filter by the feature branch to see where in the app (screens and states) those new bugs appear, so you can fix them before the branch reaches the default branch.

For branch-scoped insights (coverage, failing scenarios, etc.), see SmartTests Insights — Branch-specific insights and Test Planning Insights.