QA Automation: Pipelines with Flaky Rate Below 1%
Tests that pass randomly are not tests, they are noise. We implement suites with real test isolation, CI/CD parallelization, and measurable quality metrics. Deploy with confidence, not fear.
Service Deliverables
What you receive. No ambiguity.
Traditional Testing vs Kiwop
The problem with the tests you know.
Traditional testing: fragile tests that fail randomly, 45+ minute pipelines, coverage that measures lines instead of value. Nobody trusts the tests, so they ignore them. Our approach: strict per-test isolation, external dependency mocking, automatic flaky test quarantine, and quality metrics on every PR. If the pipeline is green, the code works.
Executive Summary
What you need to know to decide.
CTO / Technical Team Summary
Architecture and implementation requirements.
Is This for You?
QA Automation makes sense if you deploy frequently. If you release once a year, the ROI does not add up.
Who it's for
- Teams with high release frequency (CI/CD, weekly or more deployments).
- Critical applications where production bugs cost money or reputation.
- Projects with testing tech debt that need modernization.
- CTOs who want objective and measurable quality metrics.
- Organizations scaling that cannot rely on manual QA.
Who it's not for
- Validation MVPs where speed beats quality (better to validate first).
- Teams unable to keep tests updated with each change.
- Very small projects with sporadic releases.
- Companies that will not integrate tests into their CI/CD pipeline.
- Organizations expecting to "write tests once and forget them".
Testing Pyramid Implemented
Each level with its purpose, integrated into CI/CD.
Unit Tests (Base)
Thousands of tests, run in seconds. Vitest/Jest for pure logic. Edge case coverage. The fastest feedback loop: less than 5 seconds to know if your change broke something.
Integration Tests (Middle)
Components + real dependencies. Testing Library for React/Vue. Database tests with containers. API tests with supertest. Minutes, not seconds. Run on every PR.
E2E Tests (Top)
Playwright/Cypress controlling a real browser. Only critical paths: checkout, login, core flows. Expensive but catch bugs other levels miss. Gate before merge to main.
Visual and Performance
Percy/Chromatic for screenshot comparison. k6/Artillery for load testing. Insurance against visual regressions and performance degradation. Integrated in nightly runs.
Work Process
From zero tests to consistent green pipeline.
Testing Audit
Current codebase analysis. Critical user path identification. Existing flaky rate measurement. Pyramid strategy design.
Infrastructure Setup
Framework selection (Playwright, Vitest). Shared test utilities. CI pipeline with parallelization and caching. Allure reporting.
Critical Path Coverage
E2E for main user flows. Integration tests for critical APIs. Unit tests for complex business logic. Data isolation.
Stability and Handover
Flaky test quarantine. Pattern documentation. Team training. Defined quality gates.
Risks and How We Mitigate Them
Transparency about what can go wrong.
Flaky Tests (False Positives)
Tests that pass randomly destroy trust. Mitigation: strict isolation, explicit waits (no sleeps), network mocking, automatic quarantine of tests failing more than 2% of the time.
Slow Pipelines
If CI takes 45 minutes, nobody waits. Mitigation: parallelization with matrices, dependency caching, selective execution by changes, heavy tests in nightly pipeline.
Maintenance Cost
Every UI change can break E2E tests. Mitigation: resilient selectors (data-testid), page objects, common action abstraction, test review on every PR.
False Sense of Security
High coverage does not mean high quality. Mitigation: we prioritize value coverage (critical paths) over line coverage. Mutation testing to validate effectiveness.
15 Years Automating Quality, Proven Results
Since 2009 we implement testing infrastructures for companies that need to deploy with confidence. We do not promise 100% coverage, we promise value coverage: the flows that matter to your business work, always.
Technical Questions
What QA Leads and CTOs ask.
Playwright or Cypress for E2E Tests?
Playwright: native multi-browser, faster in CI, more powerful API for complex cases. Cypress: better developer experience, easier to learn, larger community. For new projects we recommend Playwright. If you already use Cypress and it works, there is no reason to migrate.
How Much Test Coverage Is Enough?
100% coverage does not mean 100% bug-free. We prioritize: critical user paths at 100%, complex business logic at 90%+, high-impact edge cases. Line coverage is a vanity metric. Value coverage is what matters.
How Do You Reduce Flaky Test Rate?
Strict isolation: each test starts in a known state. Explicit waits instead of sleeps. Retries with limits (maximum 3). Network mocking for external dependencies. Automatic quarantine of tests failing more than 2% of the time.
How Do You Integrate Tests into CI/CD?
Unit tests on every commit (less than 2 minutes). Integration tests on every PR (less than 10 minutes, parallelized). E2E before merge to main. Load tests in nightly pipeline. GitHub Actions or GitLab CI with parallelization matrices and caching.
Should We Run Tests in Production?
Post-deployment smoke tests yes: verify the deployment did not break anything obvious (health checks, login flow). Full E2E in production no: risk of side effects, data cleanup costs. We use staging environments that replicate production.
What Is the Typical Investment in QA Automation?
Setup + critical paths: €12,000-€20,000. Complete coverage for medium app: €25,000-€45,000. Maintenance and expansion retainer: €2,000-€5,000/month. Typical ROI is 3-5x in 12 months from production bug reduction and release velocity.
Do You Work With International Companies?
Yes, we're a QA Automation agency with 15+ years of experience. We work with clients across Europe and the Americas. Video conference meetings available.
What If Our Team Cannot Maintain the Tests?
We include training and pattern documentation in every project. We also offer maintenance retainers where our team updates tests and resolves flaky issues. The goal is for your team to be autonomous, but we are available if you need support.
Afraid to Deploy on Fridays?
Testing audit. We analyze your current coverage, identify uncovered critical paths, and design a strategy to deploy with confidence.
Request Audit Technical
Initial Audit.
AI, security and performance. Diagnosis with phased proposal.
Your first meeting is with a Solutions Architect, not a salesperson.
Request diagnosis