Environments

Environments are reusable run targets for a web project. They let the same tests run against production, PR previews, staging, QA, regional deployments, or any other stable URL without rewriting test steps.

Mental model

An environment answers: where should this run happen?

Selecting a saved environment controls three things:

• The URL TesterArmy opens for the run.
• The environment name shown in results and run history.
• Any environment-specific credential overrides that should replace the default test account for that target.

This is different from passing environment: "staging" to an API or webhook. That field only labels the result. It does not choose a saved target, URL, or credential override.

Environment types

Every web project has two built-in environments and can have any number of saved static environments:

• production is built in and mirrors the project’s main URL.
• pr_preview is built in for pull request preview runs. It has no static URL because each run supplies the preview URL.
• static environments are named targets you create, such as Staging, QA, or EU Staging, with a stable HTTPS URL.

Production and PR Preview are managed by TesterArmy. You can create and delete static environments only.

Recommended setup

1. Use the project URL for Production.
2. Add saved environments for stable non-production targets, such as Staging or QA.
3. Keep PR Preview built in; preview URLs are supplied by GitHub, Vercel, Coolify, or your deployment webhook.
4. Add credential overrides only when the same test account role needs different login details for non-production environments.

For a one-off URL that you do not want to save, pass targetUrl to an API or webhook run instead.

Manage environments in the dashboard

1. Open the project.
2. Go to Project Settings -> Test environments.
3. Edit the Production target URL if the main project URL changed.
4. Click Add environment for each saved non-production target.
5. Enter an environment name, such as Staging, and its HTTPS target URL.
6. Click Save Changes.
7. Use Copy ID when you need the environment ID for API or webhook runs.

Environment names must be unique within the project. Names that conflict with built-in environments, such as Production or PR Preview, are reserved. URLs must use HTTPS; bare domains such as staging.example.com are accepted and normalized to https://staging.example.com.

Run against an environment

From the dashboard, choose an environment from the run menu for a single test or group run. If no environment is selected, the run targets Production.

For automation, pass the saved environment ID as projectEnvironmentId. This is different from environment: "staging": environment only labels the result, while projectEnvironmentId selects the saved environment row, URL, and credential overrides.

Choose the right field

Use projectEnvironmentId for saved targets and targetUrl for one-off URLs:

When projectEnvironmentId points to Production, do not include targetUrl. When it points to PR Preview, include targetUrl because PR Preview has no saved static URL. When it points to a static environment, TesterArmy uses the saved URL; if you also send targetUrl, it must match the saved URL.

Credential overrides

Credentials are defined once under Project -> Test Accounts. If the same role uses different login details on staging or QA, edit the credential and add an environment override. For example, the test can keep using the admin credential, while TesterArmy automatically swaps in the Staging username and password for runs targeting the Staging environment.

Production always uses the default credential. It does not support environment credential overrides.

Credential overrides apply when the run selects an environment ID from the dashboard or passes projectEnvironmentId through the API or a webhook. Passing only targetUrl or environment: "staging" does not select saved environment credentials.

API and webhook usage

For API-managed projects, use the project environments endpoints to list, create, and delete static environments. The returned id is the value to pass as projectEnvironmentId when triggering a group run or group webhook.

For a full deployment-triggered staging example, see Testing Staging Environment. For endpoint details, see the API Reference.