How StresStimulus Works
StresStimulus turns application activity into realistic performance tests through one integrated workflow. Record or import a user scenario, configure it for reliable multi-user replay, generate load locally or across distributed environments, and analyze performance from the end-user and infrastructure perspectives.
One Automated Workflow from Test Creation to Analysis
StresStimulus combines test creation, script preparation, load generation, monitoring, and diagnostics so teams can move through the complete performance testing cycle without stitching together separate tools.
Record or Import
Capture a real user workflow or create tests from API requests and existing test assets.
Configure
Prepare scripts, dynamic data, test data, validations, transactions, and workload settings.
Run
Generate realistic virtual-user load locally, on-premises, or across distributed cloud agents.
Analyze
Turn test results, monitoring data, trends, and telemetry into actionable performance answers.
Record User Scenarios or Build Tests from API Traffic
To create a browser-based scenario, navigate the application as a user normally would. StresStimulus captures the HTTP/S traffic behind the interaction and organizes it into a replayable test case. Scenarios can be recorded from browsers, mobile devices, desktop applications, and other clients that communicate over HTTP/S.
For API and microservices testing, requests can also be imported or assembled into sequences without recording a browser workflow. Transactions can represent meaningful business operations so performance can later be measured at the level users and teams understand.
Start with the Workflow You Need to Test
- Browser-based business scenarios
- Mobile and desktop HTTP/S traffic
- API and microservices request sequences
- Multiple test cases for different user populations
- Business transactions for response-time measurement
Turn Recorded Activity into a Working Multi-User Test
Recorded traffic often contains session values, security tokens, identifiers, application state, and other dynamic data that cannot simply be replayed unchanged. StresStimulus automatically handles many of these dependencies through its Auto-Correlation engine, substantially reducing the manual scripting required to create a reliable test.
The guided Test Wizard and Workflow Tree help configure test data, transactions, validations, user groups, workload patterns, browser and network characteristics, and other execution settings. When specialized scripting is required, StresStimulus also provides a scripting engine and expert scripting service through Premium Support.
See how StresStimulus Auto-Correlation reduces manual scripting
Auto-Correlate
Detect and handle dynamic values needed for reliable replay.
Parameterize Data
Supply predefined, unique, or variable test data to virtual users.
Validate Behavior
Verify that responses and business operations remain correct under load.
Define Workload
Configure users, ramp patterns, duration, pacing, and test profiles.
Run and Monitor the Test
During execution, StresStimulus creates concurrent virtual users that replay configured application scenarios and generate the workload needed to evaluate normal, peak, prolonged, and extreme operating conditions.
Load can be generated from the controller or distributed across multiple load agents on-premises or in private Azure and AWS environments. This makes it possible to scale tests and represent geographically distributed user populations.
While the test runs, StresStimulus displays response times, throughput, errors, user activity, and server performance metrics in real time. Threshold violations and failures can be surfaced as they occur so performance degradation can be examined in the context of changing load.
Test Different Performance Conditions
- Load testing for expected demand
- Stress testing beyond normal capacity
- Spike testing for sudden traffic increases
- Endurance testing under prolonged load
- Scalability and capacity testing
- Distributed and cloud load generation
Analyze Results and Find the Source of Performance Problems
After a test, StresStimulus provides detailed results for tests, test cases, transactions, pages, and requests. Response-time goals, validation failures, errors, timeouts, throughput, and server metrics can be examined together to understand how the application behaved under load.
Performance analysis extends beyond a single test run. Test Run History, baselines, regression detection, Trend Reports, Scalability Reports, and automated Performance Analysis help identify changes over time and focus investigation on the requests, transactions, and resources most associated with degradation.
- Interactive performance reports
- Request and transaction diagnostics
- Errors, timeouts, and validation failures
- Server and infrastructure monitoring
- Regression detection and trend analysis
- Scalability and automated performance analysis
- Telemetry and observability integration
Reuse the Same Tests Across Releases and CI/CD
Once a performance test is working, it can become a repeatable part of the delivery process. StresStimulus supports unattended execution, pass/fail criteria, CI/CD project generation, machine-readable result exports, notifications, performance history, and regression detection.
Teams can run tests before releases or as part of automated pipelines and use consistent scenarios to determine whether application performance has changed.
Built for Repeatable Testing
- GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Jenkins, and GitLab
- Performance pass/fail rules
- JUnit, NUnit, and JSON result exports
- Email, webhook, Microsoft Teams, and Slack notifications
- Baseline comparison and regression detection
Use the Workflow for Virtually Any Web Application Architecture
The same workflow can be applied to websites, enterprise applications, APIs, microservices, mobile backends, and customized business applications. Specialized capabilities help with demanding Microsoft and ERP environments while the core workflow remains consistent.
Enterprise Applications
Performance test customized enterprise workflows, including demanding applications with dynamic data and authentication requirements.
Explore Enterprise Application TestingMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Build realistic tests for Dynamics 365 business workflows with specialized scripting and Auto-Correlation capabilities.
Explore Dynamics 365 TestingAPIs & Microservices
Create and execute performance tests for API sequences and service-based application architectures.
Explore API & Microservices TestingBuild and Run Your First StresStimulus Performance Test
Evaluate StresStimulus with your own application and testing scenario. Trial users can test with up to 10,000 virtual users, and our team can help configure a working proof of concept so you can evaluate StresStimulus against your requirements.