Variables: reuse values in tests

A variable is a named value that test cases share, such as a search term, an email address or a message. Write it once under Settings > Variables, refer to it as {{Search Term}} in any test case, and change the value in one place when it changes.

1. Open Settings > Variables and click Add variable.

2. Enter a Name, such as Search Term. Names start with a letter or underscore and may contain letters, numbers, spaces, dashes and underscores.

3. Enter the Value, such as hammer, and optionally a Description of what it’s for.

4. Click Save.

Managing variables needs the Editor role or above. The copy icon next to a name copies {{Search Term}} to paste into a step.

Write the name in double curly braces in a step, the Expected Outcome or the Start path:

Type {{Search Term}} into the "Search" field and click "Search".

In the test case editor, Insert variable lists the project’s variables and inserts the one you pick; it shows as a chip with its current value. When the test runs, Testmode puts the value in its place.

Changing a variable’s value changes every test case that uses it, from the next run on. It doesn’t make Testmode work out a step’s browser operations again: they keep the variable as a placeholder and fill in the value as they run.

Use variables for text a test types or checks: search terms, form input, addresses, messages, expected amounts.

Don’t use a variable as the name of something to click or choose, such as Click the {{Product}} link or Choose {{Country}}. Testmode finds the element to click from the step’s own words, and it can’t see a variable’s value at that moment, so it may click the wrong thing. Write such names out in the step: Click the "Slip Joint Pliers" link.

Every member of the project, Viewers included, can read variable values, and the step timeline of a run shows the values that were filled in. Store passwords in a credential instead: nobody can read a credential’s password back. See Credentials and automatic login.

A test’s one-line summary goes further than the app: it is also sent in report emails, to CI logs and to AI agents. So it names each variable as {{Search Term}} rather than showing its value, and when a failure message quotes a value of four or more characters, that value is replaced by its name too.

Renaming or deleting a variable doesn’t update the test cases that use it: their steps keep the old {{Search Term}} as plain text instead of a value, and will probably fail. The edit and delete dialogs say how many test cases use the variable before you confirm. To change what a variable stands for, edit its value instead.