Automation testing is the process of using software tools to execute tests automatically on your application — comparing actual results to expected outcomes. Instead of manually clicking through your app every time you deploy, automation lets you run tests in seconds, saving time and catching bugs early.

BugBug is built to get you from zero to a working test in minutes — no code, no setup headaches. Teams like Letpension had their first test running in under 10 minutes, and others automated in two days what used to take weeks to script by hand. In this tutorial, you'll walk through that exact first test using BugBug, a no-code end-to-end testing tool designed for teams that want results without the overhead.

Manual Testing vs. Automated Testing

When developers change code, things can break. Manual testing means checking everything yourself — clicking every button, logging in and out, and making sure the app still works. It's reliable but painfully slow.

Automation testing changes that. Instead of repeating the same actions manually, you teach the tool what to click once, and it runs those steps automatically — faster and more consistently. You click "Run Test," and it handles the rest.

Unlike code-based tools like Selenium or Cypress, there's nothing to install or script — you record, and BugBug writes the test for you. When Quadient's team made that switch, they cut test-building time by nearly 50%.

Step-by-Step: Create Your First Automated Test in BugBug

Let's create a simple login test using React Admin Posters Galore — a demo app for learning automation testing.

Before you start:

• Set up a free BugBug account
• Install the BugBug Chrome extension

1. Create a New Project

Click "Create Project" and name it Posters Galore. Enter the starting URL: https://marmelab.com/react-admin-demo/

💡 Check the whole step-by-step process in BugBug Docs

2. Create a New Test

Click "Create Test" and name it Login. This test checks whether login functionality works — a type of functional test.

3. Start Recording

Click "Start Recording." BugBug opens your app in an incognito window to ensure a clean state with no cache or cookies.

4. Record the Login Steps

Enter demo in both the login and password fields, then click "Sign in." Move slowly — BugBug records every click and keystroke.

5. Add an Assertion

Assertions are checkpoints that verify expected outcomes. After login, assert that the text "Welcome to the react admin e-commerce demo" is visible. If it appears, the test passes. If not, it fails.

6. Finish & Run the Test

Click "Finish Recording," then run the test to watch BugBug repeat your actions automatically. If all steps turn green — you did it. 🎉

That's the whole point: from a blank project to a passing automated test in a few minutes, without writing a line of code.

Fix a Failed Test Using "Record From Here"

Sometimes a test fails because something was missing — for example, a hover step wasn't recorded. Here's how to fix it:

1. Go to your test and click "Edit and Rewind."
2. Choose "Record from here."
3. Re-record the missing action (like hovering over a dropdown).
4. Save and re-run the test.

BugBug appends the missing step, keeping your test clean and maintainable.

💡 Pro tip: This saves tons of time compared to starting over from scratch.

What Should You Automate?

You can't (and shouldn't) test everything. Focus on business-critical paths — the features that, if broken, directly impact your users.

Start by automating 5–15 essential tests, then expand once you're confident.

This is where it compounds. Upfluence, a mid-sized SaaS platform, started exactly here and grew to roughly 120 automated test cases — cutting production regressions to zero. Pilot.io dropped customer-reported issues from around 30 a month to under 10. The first test takes minutes; the payoff scales from there.

How Many Steps Should a Test Have?

Shorter tests are easier to maintain. If a test takes 10 minutes to run and fails at the end, you waste time re-running it. Instead, split long tests into smaller, independent ones.

❌ Too long: Visit homepage → Click "Features" → Assert features → Click "Contact" → Assert contact info

✅ Better:

• Test 1: Homepage → Features
• Test 2: Homepage → Contact

Each test should be atomic — independent and self-contained.

What Not to Automate (Yet)

Some scenarios are difficult or unstable to automate, especially when you're starting out:

• User registration (email uniqueness)
• Multi-user collaboration
• Dynamic content (search results, exchange rates)
• File downloads
• Date or calendar-based tests
• Multi-language UI

Code-based tools can sometimes handle these edge cases with custom scripting — but that's exactly the overhead most teams want to avoid early on. The faster path is to automate your static, predictable flows first, prove value quickly, and tackle the hard cases once your suite is established. BugBug's custom variables and JavaScript steps are there when you need them.

Organizing Tests into Suites

As your test collection grows, group tests into suites — sets you can run together. By default, BugBug provides an "All tests" suite; later you can create specialized ones like "Smoke Tests," "Regression Tests," or "Staging Environment."

Run Tests in the Cloud

You don't need to block your computer to run tests. BugBug runs them in the cloud, remotely, on its servers. Just go to Suites → All tests → Run in cloud. You can schedule tests to run automatically at night or every hour, and get notified the moment something breaks.

Take Automation to the Next Level

You built your first test in minutes — that's the whole idea. BugBug stays out of your way so your team can focus on shipping, while your coverage grows in the background:

• Run full regression test suites
• Integrate with CI/CD pipelines
• Schedule cloud runs and get alerts
• Debug with "Edit & Rewind" and "Breakpoints"

The teams above started with a single test and scaled to comprehensive coverage — saving QA hours, cutting regressions, and reducing customer-reported issues along the way.

Ready to see it for yourself? Start free and have your first test running in minutes — or book a demo to see how SaaS teams run full regression suites at scale.