Groups

Groups in TestNG allow you to categorize test cases and execute only the required set of tests.
They are one of the most important features for real-world automation and CI/CD pipelines.

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What Are Groups?

A group is a logical label assigned to test methods.

Instead of running tests by:

• Class name
• Method name

You run tests by:

• Purpose
• Feature
• Execution type

Examples:

• smoke
• regression
• sanity
• login
• payment

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Defining Groups in Test Code

@Test(groups = "smoke")
public void smokeTest() {}

@Test(groups = {"regression", "login"})
public void loginTest() {}

✔️ A test can belong to multiple groups

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Running Groups Using testng.xml

<groups>
    <run>
        <include name="smoke"/>
    </run>
</groups>

➡️ Only smoke group tests will execute.

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Including Multiple Groups

<groups>
    <run>
        <include name="smoke"/>
        <include name="sanity"/>
    </run>
</groups>

Execution Rule

• Uses OR logic
• Tests belonging to any included group will run

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Excluding Groups

<groups>
    <run>
        <exclude name="regression"/>
    </run>
</groups>

➡️ All tests run except regression tests.

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Include + Exclude Together

<groups>
    <run>
        <include name=".*"/>
        <exclude name="slow"/>
    </run>
</groups>

Important Rule

• Include list built first
• Exclude removes from include list
• Exclude always wins

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Regex Support in Groups

TestNG supports Java regex for group names.

<include name="smoke|sanity"/>
<exclude name="legacy.*"/>

Examples:

• smoke|sanity → smoke OR sanity
• legacy.* → legacyLogin, legacyPayment

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Group Dependencies

@Test(groups = "login")
public void loginTest() {}

@Test(groups = "payment", dependsOnGroups = "login")
public void paymentTest() {}

Behavior

• All login group tests must pass
• Otherwise payment group tests are skipped

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Groups with Parallel Execution

Groups work seamlessly with parallel execution.

<suite parallel="tests" thread-count="2">

⚠️ Groups do not guarantee execution order
⚠️ Dependencies still apply

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Groups vs XML Method Includes

Groups	Method Includes
Logical categorization	Name-based filtering
Scales well	Hard to maintain
CI-friendly	Error-prone
Recommended	Avoid when possible

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Common Grouping Strategy (Industry Standard)

Group	Purpose
smoke	Critical path validation
sanity	Quick checks after fixes
regression	Full test suite
api	API-only tests
ui	UI-only tests

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Common Mistakes

• Overloading too many groups on one test
• Using method includes instead of groups
• Expecting group execution order
• Mixing groups with heavy dependencies

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Best Practices

• Use groups for execution control
• Keep group names meaningful
• Prefer group dependencies
• Use regex for flexible execution
• Align groups with CI jobs

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Key Takeaways

• Groups enable selective execution
• OR logic for includes
• Exclude always wins
• Regex supported
• Essential for CI/CD pipelines