Test Plans

Test Plans

A test plan defines when and how to run tests. Unlike test suites (which organize tests), test plans schedule and coordinate test execution.

What is a Test Plan?

A test plan specifies:

• Which tests to run (selected suites or individual cases)
• When to run them (schedule, trigger, manual)
• Who executes them (assigned testers)
• Where to run them (environment configuration)
• Why this test run exists (release verification, regression, etc.)

Test Plan Components

• Selected Tests: Specific test suites and cases included in the plan
• Schedule: When the test should run (one-time, recurring, manual)
• Assignees: Team members responsible for execution
• Environment: Target environment (dev, staging, production)
• Milestone Link: Connects to release milestones for tracking

Test Plan Lifecycle

• Draft: Being planned, not yet ready for execution
• Active: Scheduled and ready to execute
• Completed: Execution finished, results available

Plans vs Suites

Test plans and suites are complementary but different:

Suites = What tests exist (organization) Plans = When to run tests (scheduling)

A single suite can be included in multiple test plans:

• "Authentication Suite" might run daily in "Smoke Test Plan" and weekly in "Full Regression Plan"

Use Cases

Release Testing: Plan includes all regression tests, scheduled for pre-release verification

Continuous Testing: Plan includes smoke tests, runs on every code commit

Milestone Verification: Plan links to a release milestone, tracks progress toward completion

Related

• Test Suites - Tests selected for plans
• Launches - Test runs created from plans
• Milestones - Goals tracked via test plans