What are smoke tests?
Options
- Tests that are run for fire alarms in buildings
- A small, fast set of checks of critical paths (Correct option)
- Exhaustive regression suites that cover everything
- Security scans that look for known vulnerabilities
Answer
A small, fast set of checks that the most critical paths work, often run right after a deploy
Why
The name comes from hardware: switch it on and check that no smoke comes out.
After a deploy, a few quick checks confirm the basics: the health endpoint answers, users can log in, one key page loads and one key action works.
If a smoke test fails, roll back immediately.
Remember
Smoke test = quick 'is it basically alive?' check.