Overview

An automated test combines an environment declaration with a journey executed by your Java code. The environment supplies the running processes and their files. The journey creates players, performs actions, and uses assertions to decide whether the application behaved as expected.

Both automated tests and interactive scenarios use the same environment and player building blocks. In this workflow, code drives the steps and determines the result. Use the Scenarios workflow when you want to join or control a running environment by hand.

Build an automated journey

Start with the first test for a runnable example, then:

1. Define the environment, choosing only the processes and connection routes needed by the behavior under test.
2. Install the test inputs, including the packaged plugin and any configuration or fixture data it needs.
3. Organize the journey, separating reusable setup from the assertions that describe each result.
4. Create players and use their capabilities to trigger the behavior.
5. Wait for and assert the result, choosing an observation that establishes the application's promise.

Connect the workflow to a runner

The JUnit integration selects a scenario, supplies its running context, and closes it after each test method. The Gradle integration resolves dependencies and artifacts and provides a dedicated live-test source set and task. An embedding application can own execution directly.

Keep process configuration and player behavior in their shared building-block guides; these workflow pages explain how to combine them into repeatable tests. Testing Anvil's own implementation has additional repository conventions in Contributing.