Changelog 2022.02

Graph Overlays

You can now overlay one graph on top of another, both when running a load test and in the test report after it finishes. Mix and match different graphs to show the relationship between different metrics, like the effect of running bot count on response times or errors. You can overlay graphs from the sidebar while a test is running, or at the bottom of the test report after a test finishes.

Improvements & Bug Fixes

• Improved the quality and consistency of automatically generated selectors when recording a browser script.
• Enhanced the notification center to relay broadcast system messages in case there’s a partial outage.
• Changed the engine utilization graph legends to show the full group name instead of just the engine region, so it’s clear which cluster each refers to.
• Fixed a bug with the Loadster Recorder extension for Chrome, now using the browser extension Manifest v3.

Further Reading

Graph overlays seem simple but can really change how you analyze test results. Load testing generates a lot of metrics – response times, error rates, throughput, active bot counts – and the interesting insights usually come from seeing how they relate to each other. For example, overlaying the running bot count with average response time can show you exactly when your application starts struggling under load. Or overlaying error rate with throughput might reveal that errors spike when requests per second hit a certain threshold.

The Loadster Recorder is a Chrome extension that lets you record browser scripts by simply clicking through your web application. It watches what you do and generates the corresponding script steps automatically. The Manifest v3 update was required by Chrome’s evolving extension platform – older Manifest v2 extensions were being phased out. The improved selector quality also helps here, since better selectors mean your recorded scripts are more likely to work reliably during playback and load tests.