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How to Run an Exploration

There are several entry points for running explorations, each suited for different use cases:

Entry Points​

Via Agent Explorations Tab​

  1. Navigate to the Explorations section
  2. Click "New Exploration"
  3. Select the recipe you want to use
  4. Configure the exploration settings (see Introduction to Explorations for common settings)
  5. Configure any recipe-specific settings
  6. Click "Start Exploration"

This entry point gives you full control over the recipe selection and all configuration options.

Via SmartTests Tab​

You can run explorations directly from the SmartTests section:

Guided by a SmartTest​

  1. Navigate to the SmartTests section
  2. Right-click on any test
  3. Select "Run ExploreChimp"
  4. Choose the recipe (defaults to Bug Source Analytics if SmartTests are present)
  5. Configure the exploration settings
  6. ExploreChimp will navigate your app guided by that SmartTest

Guided by a Test Folder​

  1. Navigate to the SmartTests section
  2. Right-click on any test folder
  3. Select "Run ExploreChimp"
  4. Choose the recipe (defaults to Bug Source Analytics if SmartTests are present)
  5. Configure the exploration settings
  6. ExploreChimp will run tests within that scope, creating journeys for each test (up to the configured number of journeys)
  7. TestChimp intelligently picks the next test to run based on which test covers the most untested ground in the given scope of the test tree

Via Screen Tree Viewer (Screen-Targeted Explorations)​

For screen-targeted explorations:

  1. Navigate to the Atlas SiteMap
  2. Find the screen or screen-state you want to explore
  3. Click the 3-dot menu (⋮) next to the screen or screen-state node
  4. Select "Run ExploreChimp" from the menu
  5. The exploration modal opens with:
    • The selected screen-state(s) pre-populated as target screen-states
    • The "Limit analytics to following screens" setting enabled by default
    • All known tests considered for selection
  6. Choose the recipe and configure settings
  7. Click "Start Exploration"

This workflow is ideal for:

  • Focused testing: Testing specific features or workflows
  • Efficient credit usage: Running analytics only on areas of interest
  • Targeted bug discovery: Finding issues in specific parts of your application

Exploration Configuration​

When you start an exploration, you can configure various settings:

Exploration Configuration
Exploration configuration settings

Common Settings​

All explorations share common configuration options (see Introduction to Explorations for details):

  • Advanced settings (test creation config, target screen-state config, update screen-state annotations)
  • Limits (max credits, max journeys)
  • Release and model selection

Recipe-Specific Settings​

Each recipe may have additional configuration options specific to its purpose. Refer to the individual recipe documentation for details:

Limiting Analytics to Specific Screen-States​

By default, ExploreChimp runs analytics (bug source analysis) after each screen-state change it encounters. However, you can limit analytics to run only when the agent is in specific screen-states of interest.

Limit Analytics to Screens Setting
Advanced settings: Limit analytics to specific screens

How it works:

  • Enable the "Limit analytics to following screens" checkbox in the Advanced Settings section
  • Select the screens where you want analytics to run using the multi-select tree dropdown
  • Analytics will be skipped for screen-states that don't match your selection

This feature is particularly useful when:

  • You want to focus on specific areas of your application
  • You want to reduce credit consumption by analyzing only critical screen-states
  • You're running targeted explorations on specific features or workflows