What is Conversational Testing?
Conversational testing uses AI agents to conduct realistic dialogue with your MCP server. Instead of testing individual API calls, you test complete user journeys through natural conversation flows.Key Benefits
- Real user simulation - AI agents behave like actual users
- Context persistence - Tests maintain conversation history
- Natural language evaluation - Success criteria in plain English
- Multi-turn interactions - Test complex workflows that span multiple exchanges
How It Works
Example Flow
Configuration
Test Case Structure
Required Fields
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
test_id | string | Unique identifier for the test case |
user_message | string | Initial message that starts the conversation |
success_criteria | string | Natural language description of successful outcome |
Optional Fields
| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
max_turns | integer | 10 | Maximum conversation turns (runtime uses 20, safety limit: 50) |
metadata | object | null | Additional test metadata |
Suite Configuration
Basic Suite Setup
Advanced Suite Settings
Suite-Level Options
| Option | Values | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
user_patience_level | low, medium, high | medium | How patient the simulated user is |
parallelism | integer | 5 | Number of concurrent test executions |
Test Patterns
1. Onboarding Flow
Test how new users discover your server’s capabilities:2. Feature Discovery
Test users learning about specific functionality:3. Complex Workflow
Test multi-step user goals:4. Error Recovery
Test how well your server handles confused users:5. Edge Case Handling
Test unusual but realistic user behavior:Writing Effective Success Criteria
✅ Good Examples
❌ Bad Examples
User Personality Simulation
Patience Levels
Low Patience- “Impatient and want things done quickly. You provide minimal details”
- Likely to abandon if confused
- Needs clear, fast responses
- “Reasonably patient but want to get things done efficiently”
- Willing to provide some clarification
- Balanced between speed and thoroughness
- “Very patient and understanding. You’re willing to provide detailed information”
- Provides detailed information
- Tolerates longer interactions
Conversation Styles
Natural- Realistic user language and patterns
- Mix of clear and ambiguous requests
- Natural conversation flow
- Direct, impatient communication
- High expectations for performance
- Tests stress response
- Unclear requirements
- Frequent misunderstandings
- Tests guidance and clarification
- Technical language and concepts
- Advanced feature usage
- Tests depth of functionality
Running Conversational Tests
Create and Run Conversational Tests
Example Output
Best Practices
Design Realistic Scenarios
- Base tests on actual user feedback and support tickets
- Include both happy paths and common confusion points
- Test edge cases that real users encounter
Balance Coverage and Efficiency
- Core workflows - Test every critical user journey
- Happy paths - Ensure basic functionality works smoothly
- Error recovery - Validate graceful failure handling
- Edge cases - Use AI creativity to discover unusual scenarios
Write Clear Success Criteria
- Be specific about expected outcomes
- Focus on user value, not implementation details
- Include both functional and conversation quality aspects
Optimize Conversation Length
- Most real conversations are 3-8 turns
- Test config default: 10 turns, runtime default: 20 turns, safety limit: 50
- Use
max_turnsto prevent infinite loops - Test both brief interactions and complex workflows
Integration with Other Test Types
Conversational testing works well alongside:Compliance Testing
- Start with compliance to ensure basic protocol functionality
- Add conversational tests for user-facing behavior
Security Testing
- Use conversational tests to verify auth flows feel natural
- Test that security measures don’t break user experience
Next Steps
- Create your first conversational test suite
- Learn about compliance testing for protocol validation
- Explore security testing for auth and vulnerability checks