FTR Testing

Overview

FTR (Functional Test Runner) is Kibana's legacy framework for end-to-end functional tests. Tests are mocha-based (describe/it) using @kbn/expect, driven by config files that wire up Kibana + Elasticsearch servers, services, page objects, and security roles. Understanding FTR deeply is essential for maintaining existing tests and planning migrations.

Architecture

Provider context

Every FTR test file exports a provider function that receives FtrProviderContext:

export default ({ getService, getPageObjects, loadTestFile }: FtrProviderContext) => {
  // getService(name): returns a singleton service instance
  // getPageObjects(['name1', 'name2']): returns page object instances
  // loadTestFile(require.resolve('./path')): loads a sub-suite inside a describe block
};

The type is defined in src/platform/packages/shared/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/public_types.ts. Each plugin/solution creates its own typed version (e.g. x-pack/platform/test/functional/ftr_provider_context.ts).

Config anatomy

FTR configs define the full test environment. Key fields:

Field	What it controls
testFiles	Array of test file paths to run
kbnTestServer.serverArgs	Kibana server CLI flags (features, plugins, encryption keys)
esTestCluster.serverArgs	Elasticsearch server flags (security, snapshots, repos)
security.roles	Custom role definitions (ES privileges + Kibana feature privileges)
security.defaultRoles	Roles applied to the default test user
services	Named service providers (singletons)
pageObjects	Named page object providers
apps	App name-to-URL mappings for navigateToApp()
suiteTags	{ include?: string[], exclude?: string[] } for tag-based filtering
uiSettings	Default UI settings applied before tests
screenshots	Screenshot capture settings

Config inheritance

Configs commonly inherit from base configs via readConfigFile:

import { readConfigFile } from '@kbn/test';

export default async ({ readConfigFile }: FtrConfigProviderContext) => {
  const baseConfig = await readConfigFile(require.resolve('../../config.base.ts'));
  return {
    ...baseConfig.getAll(),
    testFiles: [require.resolve('.')],
    // override specific fields as needed
  };
};

Typical chain: leaf config > solution base > platform base > @kbn/test-suites-src base.

Key base configs:

• src/platform/test/functional/config.base.ts (core Kibana)
• x-pack/platform/test/functional/config.base.ts (x-pack platform)
• x-pack/solutions/observability/test/functional/config.base.ts
• x-pack/solutions/security/test/functional/config.base.ts

Directory conventions

• Tests: test/functional/apps/<area>/ or x-pack/**/test/functional/apps/<area>/
• Services: test/functional/services/ or x-pack/**/test/functional/services/
• Page objects: test/functional/page_objects/ or x-pack/**/test/functional/page_objects/
• ES archives: test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/<name>/ (contains mappings.json + data.json.gz)
• Kibana archives: test/functional/fixtures/kbn_archiver/<name>/ (JSON saved objects)

Core services

Commonly available services

Service	What it does
testSubjects	Interact with elements by data-test-subj attribute (click, find, existOrFail, missingOrFail, getVisibleText, setValue)
find	Low-level element lookups (byCssSelector, byClassName, byLinkText, allByCssSelector)
browser	Browser control: navigation (get, getCurrentUrl, refresh, goBack), window size, cookies, localStorage, sessionStorage, keyboard (pressKeys), mouse (moveMouseTo, dragAndDrop), JS execution (execute), screenshots
retry	Retry logic: retry.try(block), retry.waitFor(desc, block), retry.tryForTime(timeout, block), retry.waitForWithTimeout(desc, timeout, block)
esArchiver	Load/unload ES index archives: load(path), unload(path), loadIfNeeded(path)
kibanaServer	Server operations: uiSettings.replace(settings), uiSettings.update(settings), importExport.load(path), importExport.unload(path), savedObjects.create(type, attrs), savedObjects.delete(type, id), status.getOverallState()
es	Raw Elasticsearch client for direct index/search/delete operations
supertest	HTTP client for Kibana API calls (authenticated as default user)
supertestWithoutAuth	HTTP client without default authentication
security	Role and user management: security.role.create(name, def), security.user.create(name, def)
deployment	Deployment info: isServerless(), isCloud()

Retry patterns

FTR's retry service is heavily used because the framework lacks Playwright's auto-waiting:

// Retry until the block doesn't throw (up to the default timeout)
await retry.try(async () => {
  const text = await testSubjects.getVisibleText('myElement');
  expect(text).to.be('expected value');
});

// Wait until the block returns true
await retry.waitFor('element to appear', async () => {
  return await testSubjects.exists('myElement');
});

// Retry with explicit timeout
await retry.tryForTime(30000, async () => {
  await testSubjects.existOrFail('slowElement');
});

testSubjects patterns

testSubjects is the primary way FTR interacts with UI elements via data-test-subj:

await testSubjects.click('saveButton');
await testSubjects.existOrFail('successToast');        // throws if not found
await testSubjects.missingOrFail('loadingSpinner');    // throws if found
await testSubjects.setValue('nameInput', 'my-name');
const text = await testSubjects.getVisibleText('title');
const exists = await testSubjects.exists('optionalElement');

Note: existOrFail and missingOrFail are assertions disguised as helpers. In Scout, these should become explicit expect() calls in the test body.

Page objects

Page objects encapsulate UI interactions for a specific page or feature area. They are registered in config and accessed via getPageObjects():

const { common, dashboard, header } = getPageObjects(['common', 'dashboard', 'header']);

await common.navigateToApp('dashboard');
await header.waitUntilLoadingHasFinished();
await dashboard.clickNewDashboard();

Key platform page objects: common (navigation, app switching), header (loading indicators, breadcrumbs), dashboard, discover, visualize, lens, settings, timePicker, home.

Page objects are defined as classes or provider functions and registered in page_objects/index.ts:

export const pageObjects = {
  common: CommonPageProvider,
  dashboard: DashboardPageProvider,
  header: HeaderPageProvider,
  // ...
};

loadTestFile pattern

Index files use loadTestFile to compose suites from multiple files:

export default ({ loadTestFile }: FtrProviderContext) => {
  describe('dashboard', function () {
    // Shared setup applies to ALL loaded suites
    before(async () => {
      await esArchiver.load('dashboard/current/data');
    });

    after(async () => {
      await esArchiver.unload('dashboard/current/data');
    });

    loadTestFile(require.resolve('./feature_controls'));
    loadTestFile(require.resolve('./preserve_url'));
    loadTestFile(require.resolve('./panel_actions'));
  });
};

Key implications:

• Shared before/after hooks in the index file apply to every loaded suite
• Suites execute in the order listed (and may depend on this ordering)
• Each loadTestFile target shares the same mocha context (browser state persists across it blocks within a suite)

Data loading

esArchiver

Loads/unloads Elasticsearch index data from fixture directories:

const esArchiver = getService('esArchiver');

// In before/after hooks:
await esArchiver.load('test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/dashboard/current/data');
await esArchiver.unload('test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/dashboard/current/data');

// Load only if the index doesn't already exist:
await esArchiver.loadIfNeeded('test/functional/fixtures/es_archiver/logstash_functional');

Archive directories contain mappings.json (index settings/mappings) and data.json.gz (documents).

kibanaServer (saved objects)

Loads/unloads Kibana saved objects (dashboards, data views, visualizations):

const kibanaServer = getService('kibanaServer');

await kibanaServer.importExport.load('test/functional/fixtures/kbn_archiver/dashboard/current/kibana');
await kibanaServer.importExport.unload('test/functional/fixtures/kbn_archiver/dashboard/current/kibana');

UI settings

// Replace ALL settings (wipes existing, sets new)
await kibanaServer.uiSettings.replace({ 'timepicker:timeDefaults': '...' });

// Merge into existing settings
await kibanaServer.uiSettings.update({ 'theme:darkMode': true });

Note the semantic difference: replace wipes all settings first, update merges.

Tags and CI

Test tags

Tags control which tests run in which environments:

describe('my suite', function () {
  this.tags(['skipServerless']);       // skip in serverless
  this.tags(['skipStateful']);         // skip in stateful
  this.tags(['skipSvlSec']);           // skip in serverless security
  this.tags(['includeFirefox']);       // include in Firefox runs
});

Config-level filtering via suiteTags:

suiteTags: {
  include: [],
  exclude: ['skipStateful'],   // stateful config excludes skipStateful tests
}

CI config files

FTR configs must be listed in .buildkite/ftr-manifests/ftr_*_configs.yml to run in CI:

• ftr_platform_stateful_configs.yml: platform stateful configs
• ftr_base_serverless_configs.yml: base serverless configs
• ftr_security_stateful_configs.yml / ftr_security_serverless_configs.yml: security solution
• ftr_observability_stateful_configs.yml / ftr_observability_serverless_configs.yml: observability solution
• ftr_search_stateful_configs.yml / ftr_search_serverless_configs.yml: search solution

Each file has enabled: and disabled: sections. A config not listed in any file won't run in CI.

Running FTR locally

# All-in-one (starts servers + runs tests):
node scripts/functional_tests --config <path>

# Start servers separately (keep running):
node scripts/functional_tests_server --config <path>

# Run tests against running servers:
node scripts/functional_test_runner --config <path>

# Run a specific test file:
node scripts/functional_test_runner --config <path> --grep "suite name"

Common FTR idioms

Shared browser state across it blocks

In FTR, it blocks within the same describe share browser state. This enables multi-step journeys but creates implicit ordering dependencies:

describe('CRUD flow', () => {
  it('creates an entity', async () => { /* navigates, fills form, saves */ });
  it('edits the entity', async () => { /* continues from previous state */ });
  it('deletes the entity', async () => { /* continues from previous state */ });
});

This pattern doesn't translate directly to Scout/Playwright where each test() gets a fresh browser context.

Conditional logic based on deployment

const deployment = getService('deployment');
const isServerless = await deployment.isServerless();

if (isServerless) {
  // serverless-specific behavior
} else {
  // stateful-specific behavior
}

Waiting for page readiness

await PageObjects.header.waitUntilLoadingHasFinished();
await testSubjects.existOrFail('pageContent');

waitUntilLoadingHasFinished waits for the global loading indicator to disappear. This is a very common FTR pattern but is restricted in Scout (where you should wait on content-specific ready signals instead).

Common pitfalls

• Assuming it block independence: it blocks in the same describe share browser state and often depend on execution order.
• Missing loadTestFile context: shared before/after in index files silently apply to all loaded suites. Easy to miss when reading individual test files.
• Config inheritance surprises: a leaf config may inherit roles, server args, and services from a chain of base configs. Always trace the full chain.
• existOrFail is an assertion: looks like a query but throws on failure. When analyzing tests, treat it as an assertion.
• retry.try masking flakiness: wrapping assertions in retry.try can hide genuine bugs by retrying until they pass by chance.
• UI-based setup: using navigateToApp + clicks in before hooks for setup is slow and fragile. API-based setup via kibanaServer or es is preferred.
• Archive path conventions: archive paths are relative and resolved by the esArchiver.baseDirectory config. Check the config to understand where archives are loaded from.
• Tag mismatches: a test tagged @skipServerless in a config that doesn't exclude that tag will still run. Tags only work when the config's suiteTags.exclude lists them.