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Robot Framework Essentials

Run in parallel with Pabot

Chapter lab: Team toolingch25-team-tooling.zip · 15 KB

This lesson continues in the same lab as the lesson before it. If you don’t have it yet, download it here.

Download ch25-team-tooling.zip

Or fetch and unpack it from a terminal in VS Code:

Terminal window
curl -fsSLO https://manykarim.github.io/robotframework-essentials-web/labs/ch25-team-tooling.zip && unzip -q ch25-team-tooling.zip && rm ch25-team-tooling.zip

Open the folder in VS Code with code rfe-ch25-team-tooling (or File → Open Folder…) and accept the recommended RobotCode and Python extensions. Then set it up:

Terminal window
uv sync
Terminal window
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Keep the environment active in every terminal where you run lesson commands.

Terminal window
poetry install --no-root

Python 3.13 or newer is required; uv installs it when it is missing.

Open in browserNo setup? Try the lab right here: its files, an editor and a terminal, running in your browser.

What's inside
  • Directoryrfe-ch25-team-tooling/
    • Directory.vscode/
      • extensions.json
    • Directorychecks/
      • alpha.robot
      • beta.robot
      • unformatted.robot
    • .gitignore
    • .python-version
    • LAB.md
    • pyproject.toml
    • README.md
    • requirements.txt
    • uv.lock

As a suite grows, a serial run gets slow — each test waits for the one before it. Pabot runs suites (or even individual tests) in parallel, each in its own process, so a run that took a minute serially can finish in seconds.

Pabot is a drop-in: it produces the same output.xml as robot, so all your reports, rebot, and CI wiring keep working unchanged.

Pabot splits a run across workershub diagram. Same output.xml as robot, so rebot and reports still workalpha workerbeta workermerged output.xmlpabotone command, many processesSame output.xml as robot, so rebot and reports still work

Task 1 — Run the suites in parallel

Section titled “Task 1 — Run the suites in parallel”
Run

Run the two clean suites at the same time:

Terminal window
uv run pabot --outputdir results checks/alpha.robot checks/beta.robot
Terminal window
pabot --outputdir results checks/alpha.robot checks/beta.robot
Terminal window
poetry run pabot --outputdir results checks/alpha.robot checks/beta.robot

Both suites start at once and finish together:

uv run pabot --outputdir results checks/alpha.robot checks/beta.robotpabot --outputdir results checks/alpha.robot checks/beta.robotpoetry run pabot --outputdir results checks/alpha.robot checks/beta.robot
[0] EXECUTING Alpha
[1] EXECUTING Beta
[1] PASSED Beta in 0.5 seconds
[0] PASSED Alpha in 0.5 seconds
4 tests, 4 passed, 0 failed, 0 skipped

Pabot runs alpha and beta concurrently and merges their results into one results/output.xml — covering every test from both suites.

Done when

the parallel run produces a report with all four tests, passing.

Check your understanding

Quick recall. Your first answer stays in this browser; the quiz never blocks your progress.

  1. What does Pabot do?

    Show the answer

    Answer: runs suites/tests in parallel processes — Pabot parallelises execution and still produces a normal output.xml.

  2. After a Pabot run, your reporting…

    Show the answer

    Answer: keeps working — it produces the same output.xml — Pabot is a drop-in: rebot, logs, and CI wiring work unchanged.

Key terms

pabotcommand
Run suites/tests in parallel; produces a standard output.xml.

All terms in the glossary →