Global setup hook

Use a global setup hook to run code once before any tests start (even with multiple workers). This is most useful for parallel suites, where you want shared data/setup to exist before workers begin. It is also supported by non-parallel test suites.

When to use

Global setup is most valuable when:

Running parallel suites: shared data must exist before workers start
Heavy one-time ingestion: data that takes significant time to load
Shared, immutable data: data that all suites read but none modify

Keep in beforeAll/afterAll instead when:

Cleanup is required: kbnClient.importExport.load() creates saved objects that should be removed with .unload() after tests. Since there's no global teardown, these operations belong in hooks.
Data isolation matters: suites that create/modify data should manage their own setup and cleanup.

Tip

esArchiver.loadIfNeeded() is idempotent: only the first call ingests data; subsequent calls do a fast index-exists check and skip. For sequential runs, keeping it in beforeAll is fine (no benefit from global setup). For parallel runs, move it to global setup so ES isn't handling ingestion while workers are running (ingestion can affect Kibana performance).

Note

Scout doesn’t currently have a global teardown hook. Most environments are ephemeral and are shut down after the run.

Enable it

Turn it on in your config

Set runGlobalSetup: true in your Playwright config:

		import { createPlaywrightConfig } from '@kbn/scout';

export default createPlaywrightConfig({
  testDir: './parallel_tests',
  workers: 2,
  runGlobalSetup: true,
});
		
	

Create `global.setup.ts`

Add global.setup.ts inside the testDir folder. Scout will discover and run it automatically.

		test/scout/ui/
└── parallel_tests/
    ├── global.setup.ts
    └── some_suite.spec.ts
		
	

Write setup code

Example: load an ES archive once:

		import { globalSetupHook } from '@kbn/scout';

globalSetupHook('Load test data', async ({ esArchiver, log }) => {
  log.info('[setup] loading ES archive (only if needed)...');
  await esArchiver.loadIfNeeded('x-pack/platform/test/fixtures/es_archives/ml/farequote');
});
		
	

Warning

The global setup hook only has access to worker-scoped fixtures. It cannot use test-scoped fixtures like page, browserAuth, or pageObjects.

Run tests

Run tests as usual via Run Scout tests. The global setup hook will execute first—check console logs to verify it ran successfully.