Getting started

This page walks a normal workspace member through one smoke test end to end: catalog in the app, run with the CLI, watch results. You do not need to be a platform admin.

If you already know Spanline Performance, jump to Guides or Run tests.

What you will need

Need Notes
Spanline account Sign in at app.spanline.dev
Workspace membership Member (or higher) to create scenarios; Viewer can only watch
Laptop or CI with network The browser does not run k6
Spanline CLI Install from spanline.dev/cli
k6 CLI can download a supported build if missing

Mental model (30 seconds)

Surface Role
App Create environments & scenarios, plan collections, watch runs, compare, export matrix
CLI / CI Execute k6 and upload live metrics + summary

Empty Overview (No runs yet) is normal until a runner uploads results. Inventory KPIs (scenarios, collections) can show numbers while Total runs is still zero.

Step 1 — Pick the workspace

  1. Sign in.
  2. Use the header workspace switcher so you are in the workspace your team uses for load tests.
  3. Open Performance → Overview (/performance).

Step 2 — Create an environment

Environments live under the workspace, not inside the Performance rail.

  1. Open Workspace → Environments (/workspaces/environments).
  2. Create an environment (for example staging).
  3. Add variables your script needs — at least BASE_URL. Mark tokens as secrets.

Full details of sealed secrets and who can reveal values: Access & secrets.

Workspace Environments list
Workspace → Environments — shared variable sets for scenarios.

Step 3 — Create a smoke scenario

  1. Open Performance → Scenarios.
  2. Choose New scenario, or pick the Smoke template from the empty state if you have no scenarios yet.
  3. Give it a clear name (for example smoke-health).
  4. Paste a small k6 script (or keep the template), attach the environment from Step 2, and save.

You can refine Load, Gates, and other tabs later — see Guides.

Scenarios catalog
Scenarios — create from scratch or from a template, then copy a CLI snippet.

After save, copy the scenario id from the row action (copy CLI) or from Overview’s hub snippet. You will need it in Step 5.

Step 4 — Create an API token

  1. Open Account → API tokens.
  2. Create a token with permission to run Performance tests.
  3. Copy it once and store it in your password manager — you will not see it again.

Never paste tokens into guides, tickets, or screenshots.

Step 5 — Install the CLI and sign in

On your laptop:

# Install from https://spanline.dev/cli.html (release channel for your team)
spanline auth login --token sl_…
spanline auth workspace list
spanline auth workspace use <workspace-name-or-id>

Enterprise self-host: add --api https://api.<your-domain> on login (or SPANLINE_API in CI) — Run tests § Enterprise self-host.

In CI, prefer env vars instead of interactive login — see Run tests.

Step 6 — Run the smoke test

From a catalogued scenario (matches the Overview snippet):

spanline test run --scenario-id <scenario-uuid>

Or from a local file (upserts the scenario by name when you pass --sync):

spanline test run ./smoke.js --sync --name smoke-health --env staging

If k6 is missing, the CLI can download a supported build unless you pass --no-install-k6.

Step 7 — Watch the run in the app

  1. Open Performance → Overview or Runs.
  2. Open the live run to see VUs, RPS, latency, and errors as they stream.
  3. When finished, check pass/fail, thresholds, and checks on the Summary view.
  4. Optional: open Compare later with a second finished run (Baseline (A) vs Candidate (B)).
Live run detail
Run detail — live metrics while the CLI streams samples. Use Abort if you need to stop early.

Checklist — first success

Next steps

Goal Go to
Day-to-day UI (filters, collections, matrix, connections) Guides
CLI flags, CI, sync, collection-run Run tests
Glossary and roles Concepts
Secrets and tokens Access & secrets
Stuck runs, empty Overview, auth errors FAQ

Not in this guide (later)

Product rail items marked Soon (Scripts, Thresholds) are not available yet — do not wait for them to finish a smoke test. Matrix, Reports, and Trends are available when you need collection evidence or rollups; see Concepts → which view?. Collection cron fields are metadata only today; scheduling still happens in external CI or spanline test watch.