Getting started with Softprobe Testing
This page is the product lifecycle for Java record-and-replay. Hands-on commands live in the CLI quickstart; read this first for what happens at each step and why replay cannot be step one.
Prerequisites
- Java service you can start with
-javaagent - sp-boot running (local Docker/E2E: port 8090; cloud: your tenant API URL)
spCLI installed, or dashboard access for the same backend- Network path from agent host to sp-boot
Lifecycle
| Step | Action | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Setup | sp setup doctor, configure SP_API_URL and token — CLI quickstart §1 |
| 2 | Register app | sp app create <appName> → save appId — concepts |
| 3 | Recording policy | Before traffic: sp policy recording apply — Recording policy |
| 4 | Agent | sp agent download + start JVM with -Dsp.app.id — Java agent |
| 5 | Record | Generate traffic and verify cases — How to record |
| 6 | Extraction (optional) | If you search by business ids (orderId), apply extraction rules before heavy traffic |
| 7 | Mock + compare policy | Before replay — Mock and compare policies |
| 8 | Replay | sp replay run --env <test-base-url> — replay and diff |
| 9 | Investigate | sp replay diff, sp diagnose replay, sp trace find |
TIP
Replay is never the first step on a greenfield app. Until step 5 produces cases, sp replay run has nothing meaningful to execute.
Record vs replay environments
| Environment | Agent recording | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Production / staging | On (per policy) | Capture real traffic |
| Test / CI | Replay host: recording off or minimal | Receive replay HTTP; mock dependencies |
Use -Dsp.tags.env=<label> when you need to filter cases by source environment.
Minimal command cheat sheet
bash
export SP_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8090
sp app create order-service --json
sp policy recording apply -f recording.yaml --json
sp agent download --json
# start JVM with sp agent command output
sp record case list --app <appId> --json
sp policy mock apply -f mock.yaml --json
sp policy compare apply -f compare.yaml --json
sp replay run --app <appId> --env http://127.0.0.1:8080 --jsonReplace 8080 with the port where your application listens — not sp-boot’s 8090.
What to read next
| Goal | Link |
|---|---|
| How to produce cases | How to record |
| Understand capture and mock mechanics | How it works |
| JVM flags and production safety | Java agent |
| Framework coverage | Supported frameworks |
| Automate in CI or agents | CLI overview |
| Istio / frontend observability | Platform quick start |