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This guide is for QA Wolf full service customers. If you’re unsure whether this applies to you, contact your QA Wolf team.

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Configure basic PR testing

1

Configure GitLab integration

Configure the GitLab integration in your team’s settings page.
2

Notify QA Wolf of preview deployments

Choose one of the following methods to tell QA Wolf when a new preview environment is ready to be tested.GitLab CI jobAdd a notify_qawolf job to your .gitlab-ci.yml that runs only for merge request pipelines, after the preview environment is deployed and reachable.
stages:
  - deploy
  - test

notify_qawolf:
  stage: test
  image: node:latest
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
  needs:
    - deploy_preview
  script:
    - npm install @qawolf/ci-sdk
    - |
      node -e "
      const { makeQaWolfSdk } = require('@qawolf/ci-sdk');
      const { attemptNotifyDeploy } = makeQaWolfSdk({ apiKey: process.env.QAWOLF_API_KEY });
      attemptNotifyDeploy({
        sha: process.env.CI_COMMIT_SHA,
        branch: process.env.CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME,
        deploymentType: 'provided-by-qawolf',
        deploymentUrl: process.env.PREVIEW_URL,
        hostingService: 'GitLab',
      }).then(result => {
        if (result.outcome !== 'success') process.exit(1);
      });
      "
curlIf Node isn’t available in your pipeline, you can notify QA Wolf using a raw HTTP call instead.
notify_qawolf:
  stage: test
  image: curlimages/curl:latest
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
  needs:
    - deploy_preview
  script:
    - |
      curl -X POST "https://app.qawolf.com/api/webhooks/deploy_success" \
        -H "Authorization: Bearer $QAWOLF_API_KEY" \
        -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
        -d "{
          \"branch\": \"$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME\",
          \"deployment_type\": \"provided-by-qawolf\",
          \"deployment_url\": \"$PREVIEW_URL\",
          \"sha\": \"$CI_COMMIT_SHA\",
          \"hosting_service\": \"GitLab\"
        }"

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What this job assumes

  • Your pipeline already creates a preview environment for each merge request.
  • The preview environment URL is available as PREVIEW_URL when this job runs.
  • A prior job (such as deploy_preview) deploys the preview environment and verifies it is reachable before notifying QA Wolf.
3

Ask your QA Wolf team to set up triggers

QA Wolf will configure a trigger that matches your preview deployments. Reach out to your QA Wolf team to get this set up.

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Advanced: Require QA Wolf tests before merge

In GitLab, merge requests are typically blocked unless pipelines pass. Complete this section if you want to enforce QA Wolf results as a required check.
If your project uses approval rules or protected branches, ensure the merge request pipeline is the one required to pass.

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Verify your PR testing setup

1

Open a merge request in GitLab.

Confirm that your merge request triggers a pipeline that deploys a preview environment.
2

Confirm the preview environment is created.

In GitLab, check the merge request’s environment or the Review App link, and confirm that the preview URL is reachable.
3

Confirm QA Wolf starts a test run.

In the QA Wolf app, go to the Runs tab and verify that a new run starts for the preview environment associated with the merge request.
4

Confirm the merge request is blocked on failure.

In GitLab, confirm the pipeline reflects the final result and that the merge request cannot be merged unless the pipeline succeeds.
Last modified on July 2, 2026