Welcome to the 56th edition of Trending in Testing newsletter, where we get into the latest advancements in automation, testing, security and more. Explore insights on “Why AI-Enhanced BDD is the Future of Test Automation” and discover “Why QA Must Be Involved From Day One” and a lot more other insightful blogs.
SmartFox AI: Smarter QA Starts with the Right Companion
Meet SmartFox: PractiTest’s built-in AI that thinks like a QA pro. From spotting duplicates to generating tests from Jira and prioritizing execution by risk, SmartFox helps your team test smarter – without replacing your judgment.
Trending Software Testing News for this week:
Testaify Unveils Autonomous AI Software Testing Platform
Testaify, Inc. has officially launched its AI-driven autonomous software testing platform, marking a new chapter in how quality assurance is approached in modern software development. The launch follows the successful onboarding of their first customer on Thursday, July 10.
**[AI CERTs® Introduces AI+ Quality Assurance
Certification](https://trendingintesting.com/ai-certs-introduces-ai-qa-certification/)**
AI CERTs®, a global authority in role-specific, vendor-neutral AI certifications, has launched the AI+ Quality Assurance
certification—specifically created to equip QA professionals with advanced AI skills.
Trending Software Testing Blogs shared by some amazing writers:
Self-Healing E2E Tests: Reducing Manual Maintenance Efforts Using LLMs by Alex Nebot Oller
This in-depth blog explores a prototype that uses Large Language Models (LLMs) to automatically detect and fix failing Cypress end-to-end tests. By analyzing test reports, HTML snapshots, and code, the system identifies root causes and proposes accurate, auto-applicable patches—reducing manual maintenance through merge requests generated straight from the CI pipeline. While the tool shows impressive accuracy for common test issues, it still struggles with complex scenarios, highlighting the current limitations of AI in test automation.
The Truth About QA Nobody Talks About: You Can’t Control Everything by Nirmal Patel
This blog delivers a refreshing and honest perspective on the emotional side of QA that rarely gets discussed: the illusion of control. It highlights how even the most meticulous testing can’t guarantee perfect outcomes—and that’s okay. Through personal reflection and hard-earned lessons, it reminds QA professionals to shift from perfectionism to adaptability, focusing on clarity, consistency, and collaboration instead of trying to control every variable. A must-read for testers learning to balance ownership with reality.
How to Do Accessibility Testing A Complete Guide for QA Professionals by Jignect Technologies
This comprehensive guide breaks down everything QA professionals need to know about accessibility testing—going far beyond just screen readers. It covers common misconceptions, measurable accessibility metrics, automated vs. manual testing techniques, and proper use of ARIA attributes for dynamic content. Whether you’re testing keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, or color contrast, this blog equips you with the tools, standards, and mindset needed to build truly inclusive digital experiences.
Test Smarter, Not Harder: How Pairwise Testing Becomes QA’s Secret Edge by Rafael Claudio
Under pressure to test faster with fewer resources? Pairwise testing might be the hidden gem your QA process needs. This post breaks down how the technique slashes test cases by focusing on the most impactful combinations—without sacrificing coverage. With real-world examples, tools, and tips, it shows how QA teams can streamline testing, reduce redundancy, and still catch critical bugs—especially in complex or time-sensitive projects.
My QA Thought Process When I Receive a User Story by Muhammad Amin
When a QA engineer receives a user story, the real work starts long before writing test cases. This blog unpacks a thoughtful, risk-aware approach to quality—from digging into the “why” behind a feature and clarifying hidden requirements to thinking like a developer and testing with the end user in mind. It’s a practical guide to elevating QA from box-ticking to product advocacy.
AI-Native Test Automation is Here by Karl Weinmeister
Say hello to AI-native test automation. This technical deep dive introduces AgentiTest—a modern framework that blends AI agents, pytest, and Allure Reports to create resilient, low-maintenance end-to-end tests. Unlike brittle traditional methods, AgentiTest leverages an LLM-powered agent to interpret tasks in natural language and interact with the UI through Playwright. Combined with structured testing and visual reporting, it marks a significant leap toward smarter, more intuitive QA pipelines—perfect for teams embracing AI-first development.
How I Reduced Automated Test Execution Time from 50 Minutes to 1 Minute by modifying MySQL service config: A Docker Compose Optimization Story by Rabiul Alam Sarker
Ever waited nearly an hour for your test suite to run? This developer did—until a clever Docker Compose and MySQL config overhaul slashed it down to just 1 minute. In this practical post, you’ll learn how strategic tweaks like using tmpfs, relaxing MySQL durability, and reallocating container resources led to a 98% speed boost. It’s a must-read for anyone looking to supercharge their CI pipelines or local testing setup—just don’t try this in production!
Why AI-Enhanced BDD is the Future of Test Automation by Stepan Plotytsia
Traditional BDD is breaking under its own weight—bloated scenarios, outdated tests, and inconsistent language slow teams down. This insightful deep dive explores how AI-enhanced BDD can rescue it. By blending human judgment with AI’s memory, pattern recognition, and speed, teams can slash scenario writing time by up to 70%, boost edge case discovery, and reduce escaped defects by nearly half. It’s not about replacing humans—it’s about amplifying QA effectiveness without falling for hype. Real results, realistic expectations.
Handling Authentication in Playwright: Login Once, Reuse Across Tests by Testrig Technologies
Repeating login steps in every test slows down execution and makes UI tests fragile. This blog shows how to reuse authenticated sessions in Playwright using the storageState feature—cutting test flakiness and speeding up execution dramatically. By logging in once and saving session data, teams can keep test code clean, stable, and fast. Ideal for CI pipelines and large test suites, this approach simplifies role-based testing, enhances maintainability, and enables smooth parallel runs.
Quest to solve the XPath Problem in Mobile Test Automation by Arnold Laishram
XPath might be the backbone of many mobile test suites—but it’s also their biggest bottleneck. In this blog, a seasoned mobile dev unpacks the harsh reality of why XPath-based automation breaks down in today’s fast-moving mobile world: from fragile locators and dynamic UIs to a lack of developer-QA alignment. Backed by insights from 50+ QA leaders, the post highlights how over-reliance on XPath turns automation into tech debt—and introduces the vision behind Finalrun, a new approach built to make mobile tests stable, scalable, and user-centric from the ground up.
How I made Vertical Privilege Escalation through Request Manipulation by Ananth Kumar
In this hands-on write-up, the author demonstrates how a classic Vertical Privilege Escalation vulnerability allowed a lower-privileged user (a reportee) to approve their own leave request—a privilege normally reserved for managers—simply by manipulating a POST request. Using Burp Suite, they modified the status parameter to “Approved” and bypassed backend checks, revealing how missing authorization validation can lead to serious access control flaws. The blog offers a clear reproduction path, a dose of humor, and a sharp reminder: never trust client-side input without server-side validation.
How I Combined Automation and Security Testing Using Burp Suite: A Hands-On Journey by Lav Thaiba
This blog offers a practical deep dive into how functional automation and security testing can work together, using Burp Suite as the bridge. The author shares how they automated backend endpoint testing while probing for issues like ID tampering and access control flaws—turning Burp Intruder into a mini regression + attack simulation engine. From handling dynamic tokens to observing how the app responds to malformed input, the post shows how QA testers can go beyond bugs and catch security red flags early—even if some injections don’t land.
How I Escalated Simple HTML Injection to SSRF via PDF Rendering by Ahmed Tarek
In this wild beginner bug bounty story, a simple HTML injection in a certificate generator turned into a full-blown SSRF attack, leaking AWS credentials from an EC2 instance. The author walks us through how iframe-based payloads inside PDF renderers (like wkhtmltopdf) can trigger internal requests—proving that even low-severity bugs can escalate to critical impact when backend rendering engines are involved. Result? A $1000 bounty and a sharp lesson in how creative payload chaining turns basic bugs into gold.
What is API Chaining? by Sidharth Shukla
Ever wondered how to test multi-step workflows in APIs? That’s where API Chaining comes in. This blog explains how to use Rest Assured to create a user, fetch their details, update the info, and then verify it—all in one seamless test. By passing data from one request to the next, API chaining mirrors real-world user flows, making it essential for robust test automation. A great starting point for testers looking to move beyond isolated API calls.
Advanced API Access Control Testing with Burp Suite: Combining API Scanner + Autorize by Ekene Joseph
API access control flaws like IDOR and privilege escalation are among today’s most dangerous—and overlooked—vulnerabilities. This blog dives deep into a powerful combo: using Burp Suite’s API Scanner and Autorize extensions to automate access control testing across user roles. From importing Swagger files to catching BOLA bugs with token manipulation, it lays out a step-by-step method to uncover what traditional scanners miss. A must-read for anyone serious about securing modern APIs.
API Testing Guide: How to Approach API Testing Like a Pro by Sandra Parker
This comprehensive guide breaks down everything you need to know about API testing—from what APIs are and the different types in use today, to why API testing is critical in modern software development. It covers key testing strategies for REST, SOAP, GraphQL, and microservices APIs, and explains how API testing fits into Agile and DevOps workflows. With insights on early defect detection, security, performance, and cost-efficiency, this blog is a must-read for anyone aiming to build robust, scalable, and secure applications.
Master API Testing with Postman: A Comprehensive Step‑by‑Step Guide by Chirag Mehta
This guide walks you through everything from setting up Postman to chaining API requests, writing test scripts, and running automated tests with Newman. You’ll learn to use Postman’s environment variables, collections, data-driven testing, and CLI automation — all hands-on with sample APIs like DummyJSON. Whether you’re a beginner or want to scale your API testing into CI/CD pipelines, this guide gives you the complete toolkit to become a Postman pro.
Oracle Integration Performance Testing using JMeter by Lavanya Siliveri
This detailed walkthrough shows how to use Apache JMeter to load test Oracle Integration (OIC) APIs — from installation across Windows/macOS/Linux to building full test plans with thread groups, samplers, headers, and listeners. You’ll also learn how to generate HTML performance reports, handle common errors like 401/415, and apply advanced techniques like CSV data injection, dynamic token generation with JSR223, multiple thread groups, and distributed testing. While not officially supported by Oracle, this guide is a great starting point for performance testing your integrations efficiently.
LLM Agent-Based Browser Automation For Digital Analytics — Using VS Code & Playwright MCP Server by Nicolas Hinternesch
This blog explores how digital analysts can supercharge browser automation using Playwright’s MCP server and a local LLM agent inside VS Code. Instead of writing manual scripts, users can now prompt their LLM to run tagging audits, compliance checks, and site tech stack scans — all through natural language. The guide walks through setup, example prompts, and highlights the broader potential of MCP: seamlessly integrating LLMs with analytics tools like GTM, Clarity, and Piano for end-to-end implementation and QA workflows.
Mastering CSS Selectors in Selenium for efficient locators by Sonal Dwivedi
This in-depth guide walks you through the essential and advanced use of CSS selectors in Selenium — from basics like ID and class targeting to powerful techniques like combining attributes, partial string matching, and parent-child hierarchies. It explains why CSS selectors offer faster, cleaner, and more dynamic ways to locate web elements, making them ideal for handling complex or changing DOM structures in real-world test automation. A must-read for testers aiming to build robust and maintainable Selenium scripts.
When ChatGPT Writes the Code – and Everyone Thinks It’s Perfect by
This blog is a firsthand account from a senior QA Automation Engineer who’s become adept at spotting ChatGPT-generated code in pull requests — not because it’s bad, but because it’s too perfect. From overly neat variable names and excessive try-catch blocks to misleadingly “clean” tests that miss real business logic, the post dives into how AI-generated code can pass surface-level checks while hiding deep flaws. It’s a wake-up call on the importance of critical review, human intuition, and not blindly trusting code that looks flawless but lacks context.
How Mind Maps Helped Me Build Better QA — A Story From the Trenches by
This blog shares a powerful personal journey of how a simple shift to mind mapping completely changed the author’s approach to testing. From chaotic checklists and incomplete test plans to clear visual maps that uncovered edge cases, improved sprint alignment, and made exploratory testing more insightful — mind maps became their secret weapon. Whether it’s sprint planning, bug triage, or test case design, this story shows how visual thinking turned QA into a collaborative, proactive, and even enjoyable team sport. A must-read for anyone looking to bring structure and clarity to their testing workflow.
Why QA Must Be Involved From Day One by Ahmed El-Deeb
This piece kicks off a deep-dive series on the silent anti-patterns that sideline QA — starting with the most common one: excluding QA from early product conversations. It explores how late QA involvement leads to missed risks, poor testability, compressed timelines, and disengaged testers. But more importantly, it lays out a clear blueprint for how QA can add value from Day One — not just by testing, but by asking the right questions, thinking in risks, and making quality a team-wide responsibility from the start.
It’s important to keep up with the new and upcoming developments in the software testing industry, as the industry continues to evolve. Adopting the latest technologies will be crucial as automation and testing progress. We hope you found the newsletter insightful and ttay tuned for more valuable resources and insights to help you navigate the ever-changing landscape of software testing.