Performance Test Planning
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when:
- Performance Test Planning tasks - Designing load profiles, capacity planning, SLA validation
- Planning or design - Need guidance on performance testing approaches
- Best practices - Want to follow established patterns and standards
Overview
Performance testing validates that systems meet non-functional requirements under expected and peak loads. Effective planning identifies critical paths, defines realistic load profiles, and establishes measurable success criteria.
Performance Test Types
| Type | Purpose | Load Pattern | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Load Test | Validate expected load | Normal traffic | 15-60 min |
| Stress Test | Find breaking point | Increasing until failure | Until failure |
| Soak Test | Find memory leaks | Sustained normal load | 4-24 hours |
| Spike Test | Handle sudden bursts | Sharp increase/decrease | 10-30 min |
| Capacity Test | Determine max capacity | Incremental increase | Variable |
| Scalability Test | Validate horizontal scale | Increasing with resources | Variable |
Load Profile Patterns
Ramp-Up Pattern
Users
│
100├────────────────────────●
│ ●────
│ ●────
50├ ●────
│ ●────
│●────
0└─────────────────────────►
0 1 2 3 4 5 minSpike Pattern
Users
│ ●
│ ╱ ╲
500├──────╱ ╲──────
│ ╱ ╲
│ ╱ ╲
100├───● ●───
│
0└─────────────────────────►
0 5 10 15 20 minQuick Reference: Metrics Targets
| Metric | Target | Critical Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Response Time (p50) | < 100ms | < 200ms |
| Response Time (p95) | < 200ms | < 500ms |
| Response Time (p99) | < 500ms | < 1000ms |
| Throughput | > 1000 RPS | > 500 RPS |
| Error Rate | < 0.1% | < 1% |
| CPU Utilization | < 70% | < 90% |
Key Formulas
Little's Law: L = λ × W (Concurrent requests = Arrival rate × Response time)
Throughput: Concurrent Users / Average Response Time
Apdex: (Satisfied + Tolerating/2) / Total
References
| Reference | Content | When to Load |
|---|---|---|
| performance-strategy-template.md | Full strategy template, scope, environment, scenarios | Planning performance test strategy |
| nbomber-examples.md | Basic load test, complex scenarios, data-driven tests | Implementing.NET performance tests |
| capacity-planning.md | Little's Law, throughput, Apdex, BenchmarkDotNet | Capacity planning calculations |
Integration Points
Inputs from:
- Non-functional requirements → SLA targets
- Architecture documents → Component topology
test-strategy-planningskill → Test scope
Outputs to:
- CI/CD pipeline → Automated performance gates
- Monitoring systems → Baseline metrics
- Capacity planning → Infrastructure sizing
Test Scenarios
Scenario 1: Planning performance strategy
Query: "Help me create a performance test plan for our API"
Expected: Skill activates, provides strategy template, guides through objectives and scope
Scenario 2: Implementing load tests
Query: "Show me how to use NBomber for load testing in.NET"
Expected: Skill activates, loads nbomber-examples.md reference, provides code examples
Scenario 3: Capacity planning
Query: "How do I calculate capacity requirements for 10,000 users?"
Expected: Skill activates, loads capacity-planning.md reference, provides formulas and templates
Last Updated: 2025-12-28
Version History
- v1.1.0 (2025-12-28): Refactored to progressive disclosure - extracted templates/examples to references/
- v1.0.0 (2025-12-26): Initial release