# Flaky tests ## What's a flaky test? It's a test that sometimes fails, but if you retry it enough times, it passes, eventually. ## Quarantined tests When a test frequently fails in `master`, [a ~"master:broken" issue](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/workflow/#broken-master) should be created. If the test cannot be fixed in a timely fashion, there is an impact on the productivity of all the developers, so it should be placed in quarantine by assigning the `:quarantine` metadata. This means it will be skipped unless run with `--tag quarantine`: ```shell bin/rspec --tag quarantine ``` **Before putting a test in quarantine, you should make sure that a ~"master:broken" issue exists for it so it won't stay in quarantine forever.** Once a test is in quarantine, there are 3 choices: - Should the test be fixed (i.e. get rid of its flakiness)? - Should the test be moved to a lower level of testing? - Should the test be removed entirely (e.g. because there's already a lower-level test, or it's duplicating another same-level test, or it's testing too much etc.)? ### Quarantine tests on the CI Quarantined tests are run on the CI in dedicated jobs that are allowed to fail: - `rspec-pg-quarantine` and `rspec-mysql-quarantine` (CE & EE) - `rspec-pg-quarantine-ee` and `rspec-mysql-quarantine-ee` (EE only) ## Automatic retries and flaky tests detection On our CI, we use [rspec-retry] to automatically retry a failing example a few times (see [`spec/spec_helper.rb`] for the precise retries count). We also use a home-made `RspecFlaky::Listener` listener which records flaky examples in a JSON report file on `master` (`retrieve-tests-metadata` and `update-tests-metadata` jobs), and warns when a new flaky example is detected in any other branch (`flaky-examples-check` job). In the future, the `flaky-examples-check` job will not be allowed to fail. This was originally implemented in: . [rspec-retry]: https://github.com/NoRedInk/rspec-retry [`spec/spec_helper.rb`]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/blob/master/spec/spec_helper.rb ## Problems we had in the past at GitLab - [`rspec-retry` is bitting us when some API specs fail](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/29242): - [Sporadic RSpec failures due to `PG::UniqueViolation`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/28307#note_24958837): - Follow-up: - [Capybara.reset_session! should be called before requests are blocked](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/33779): - FFaker generates funky data that tests are not ready to handle (and tests should be predictable so that's bad!): - [Make `spec/mailers/notify_spec.rb` more robust](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/20121): - [Transient failure in spec/requests/api/commits_spec.rb](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/27988#note_25342521): - [Replace FFaker factory data with sequences](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/29643): - [Transient failure in spec/finders/issues_finder_spec.rb](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/30211#note_26707685): ### Time-sensitive flaky tests - - ### Array order expectation - ### Feature tests - [Be sure to create all the data the test need before starting exercize](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/32622#note_31128195): - [Bis](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/34609#note_34048715): - [Bis](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/34698#note_34276286): - [Assert against the underlying database state instead of against a page's content](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/31437): #### Capybara viewport size related issues - [Transient failure of spec/features/issues/filtered_search/filter_issues_spec.rb](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/29241#note_26743936): #### Capybara JS driver related issues - [Don't wait for AJAX when no AJAX request is fired](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/30461): - [Bis](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/34647): #### PhantomJS / WebKit related issues - Memory is through the roof! (TL;DR: Load images but block images requests!): ## Resources - [Flaky Tests: Are You Sure You Want to Rerun Them?](http://semaphoreci.com/blog/2017/04/20/flaky-tests.html) - [How to Deal With and Eliminate Flaky Tests](https://semaphoreci.com/community/tutorials/how-to-deal-with-and-eliminate-flaky-tests) - [Tips on Treating Flakiness in your Rails Test Suite](http://semaphoreci.com/blog/2017/08/03/tips-on-treating-flakiness-in-your-test-suite.html) - ['Flaky' tests: a short story](https://www.ombulabs.com/blog/rspec/continuous-integration/how-to-track-down-a-flaky-test.html) - [Using Insights to Discover Flaky, Slow, and Failed Tests](https://circleci.com/blog/using-insights-to-discover-flaky-slow-and-failed-tests/) --- [Return to Testing documentation](index.md)