k6-load-testing

Performance test suite built with k6 and JavaScript, covering smoke, load, stress, spike, and soak testing scenarios with a full CI pipeline via GitHub Actions.

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Overview

This project demonstrates a structured performance testing framework using k6. It covers five core test types to validate system behavior under different load conditions against the JSONPlaceholder REST API, with automated execution via GitHub Actions.

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Test Types

Type	VUs	Duration	Purpose
Smoke	1	30s	Verify system works under minimal load
Load	up to 50	~2m	Validate normal expected traffic
Stress	up to 200	~3m	Find the breaking point
Spike	up to 500	~50s	Test sudden extreme traffic surges
Soak	20	~14m	Catch degradation over sustained load

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Project Structure

k6-load-testing/
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/         # GitHub Actions CI configuration
├── config/
│   └── config.js          # Shared BASE_URL and thresholds
├── tests/
│   ├── smoke/             # Smoke test - 1 VU, 30s
│   ├── load/              # Load test - ramp to 50 VUs
│   ├── stress/            # Stress test - ramp to 200 VUs
│   ├── spike/             # Spike test - burst to 500 VUs
│   └── soak/              # Soak test - sustained 20 VUs for 10m
├── utils/
│   └── helpers.js         # Reusable check functions
└── .gitignore

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Prerequisites

• k6 installed locally

# Windows (via Chocolatey)
choco install k6

# Or download from https://k6.io/docs/getting-started/installation/

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Running Tests

# Smoke
k6 run tests/smoke/smoke.test.js

# Load
k6 run tests/load/load.test.js

# Stress
k6 run tests/stress/stress.test.js

# Spike
k6 run tests/spike/spike.test.js

# Soak
k6 run tests/soak/soak.test.js

# Save results to JSON
k6 run tests/load/load.test.js --out json=reports/load-results.json

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API Coverage

Endpoint	Methods Tested
/posts	GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE
/posts/:id	GET
/users	GET
/users/:id	GET
/comments?postId=1	GET
/albums	GET
/photos?albumId=1	GET
/todos/:id	GET

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Key Features

• 5 test types — smoke, load, stress, spike, and soak scenarios
• Full CRUD coverage — GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE all tested
• Shared config — centralized thresholds and BASE_URL in config/config.js
• Reusable helpers — checkStatus, checkBody, checkArray in utils/helpers.js
• GitHub Actions CI — automated runs on every push
• Response validation — status codes, body fields, and array lengths all asserted

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Author

Darrius Jones — QA Automation Engineer GitHub · LinkedIn