Apply HN: TestBeacon – Web Automation Testing as a Service

by wjgon 4/12/2016, 1:30 PMwith 6 comments

I want to disrupt the web automation & testing space by making it more accessible to QA teams who might not have the technical knowledge to stand up heavier solutions.

I built a new automation language and a webapp that allows users to create sharable and composable all without ever leaving the browser.

Check out a TestBeacon app demo here (click the Run button and it will test that email validation is working): https://app.testbeacon.com/workflows/demo

Landing page: http://www.testbeacon.com

Language docs: http://docs.flytrap.io

PROBLEM - Standing up web automation testing is tough. Maintaining it is tougher. Lots of dependencies to install, and learning new automation languages can be a chore. QA teams can benefit immensely from automation but the high technical level usually means they don't leverage it as much as they could, or worse, forego automation testing altogether.

SOLUTION - TestBeacon is a SaaS that allows users to write and run pass/fail automation tests for their own webapps in minutes. Installation is minimal: reference a javascript file in your webapp. Create automations by specifying the URL of your webapp, and writing a script in a new language, Flytrap. TestBeacon will run automations inside an iframe (or eventually a child window).

DETAILS at http://pastebin.com/Et1mVJ6H - Pastebin link (http://pastebin.com/Et1mVJ6H) answers a bunch of questions that I would ask someone who's asking me for money. Please check it out and I'd be happy to expand on anything!

by glougheedon 4/13/2016, 2:12 PM

Nice. Have you thought about adding a simple point and click element to the browser plugin so that you could pre build some of the scripts by simply browsing? It would be a nice time saver and add more depth to the product for the price.

by bestattackon 4/12/2016, 7:42 PM

Very nice. If I had a website I might be excited about this.

What is "standing up"?

I'm interested in your Flytrap language. Can you bring it to other platforms, like mobile?