k6-playground

setup

Start the backend

cd path/to/k6-playground

cd app/
docker-compose up

In another terminal:

Install k6

brew install k6

Run the test

cd path/to/k6-playground

cd test
k6 run ./test.js

walkthrough

Backend application

The backend is a flask application. app/app.py contains implementation for the following routes:

• /
• /slow
• /unreliable
• /dangerous

K6 tests

Performance tests are written using k6. test/test.js is the main test file. The default function exported at the bottom of the file is the test scenario; each "vu" (virtual user) will execute this function, which randomly selects a backend endpoint and makes a request. Each run of the function counts as one "iteration", and a vu will perform iterations for the duration of the test.

Above the endpoint implementation, a number of load test scenarios are defined. Changing the options variable changes the test type. The test types included in the file are:

• unit - single request, debugging
• smoke - very light load, are things functioning?
• load - assess how the system performs under average load (~80% of peak) stress - assess performance under higher-than-average load (~100% of peak)
• soak - assess long-term reliability and performance
• spike - assess performance under extreme conditions, sudden massive increase in traffic

Read more about k6 test types