What should a manual tester automate first?

Start with a short check you already run by hand on every release, on a screen that has stopped changing, such as signing in and reaching the main page. Leave new features that are still moving, and anything where your judgement is the test, as manual for now.

This answer is one piece of Chapter 29: What to Automate.

What a Test Is Actually For
The Cost of a Test Over Its Lifetime
Where the Check Belongs: Unit, API or UI
Tests That Never Earn Their Keep
Answering "Automate Everything"

There is no single right answer, but there is a sensible order. Your first automated test should be one you are certain is worth having, so the effort goes into learning the tool, not into arguing about value. The regression checklist you already repeat every release is the best source, because every item on it has already earned its place.

Pick from it in this order: stable screens before screens still in design, short flows before long ones, and checks with a clear expected result before checks that need a person to look. Signing in is a common first choice: it is repeated constantly, it rarely changes shape, and if it breaks, nothing else can be tested.

What to leave manual is just as useful to know. A feature in its first weeks changes too often to be worth scripting. Exploratory testing finds problems nobody listed, and automation only re-checks what someone already thought of.

The example is that first test, run against the practice app: sign in with the demo manager account through the real form, wait for the orders page, and check its first page of ten orders loaded.

first.spec.js(https://practice.learnplayforge.com)

import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';

// The check you repeat by hand every release: sign in, reach the orders screen.
test('a manager can sign in and reach the orders list', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('/login.html?seed=42&next=orders.html');
  await page.getByLabel('Work email').fill('ops@meridian.test');
  await page.getByLabel('Password').fill('Passw0rd!');
  await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Sign in' }).click();
  await page.waitForURL(/orders\.html/);
  await expect(page.getByTestId('order-row')).toHaveCount(10);
});

Output

1 passed (3.6s)

Test yourself

Which is the better first candidate for automation, by the reasoning on this page?

AI can write the test now. The job is knowing whether it checks anything. That's what the course teaches, one chapter at a time.

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What should a manual tester automate first?

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