Azure App Testing: Load Tests in CI/CD

Key insights

• Shift Left: Move load testing earlier in development by running tests on pull requests and pre-merge builds to catch performance regressions fast.
  
• Load Testing essentials: Simulate realistic user traffic and ramp patterns, measure latency, throughput, and error rates, and compare results against defined baselines.
  
• Azure App Testing + Azure Pipelines: Create a test resource, store k6 or JMeter scripts in the repo, and add a pipeline task or Azure CLI step to trigger tests from CI/CD.
  
• Test as Code: Keep test scripts, scenarios, and pass/fail thresholds in source control so tests run automatically, stay versioned, and are reviewable in pull requests.
  
• Pass/Fail Gates: Define clear thresholds (response time, error rate, throughput) so pipelines can fail fast and block unsafe deployments. Publish reports and key metrics with each run.
  
• Environment & Cost Strategy: Run small smoke tests on PRs and full load tests on scheduled or release pipelines. Use isolated test environments, service connections for secrets, and monitor test costs and scaling.
  

Keywords

Shift left testing, Load testing Azure Pipelines, Azure load testing, CI/CD load testing, Azure App Testing, Shift left CI/CD, Performance testing Azure Pipelines, Automated load tests Azure