---
title: "CircleCI"
metaTitle: "CircleCI Integration Guide | LoadFocus"
metaDescription: "CircleCI Integration Guide | LoadFocus — step-by-step LoadFocus documentation for cloud load testing, API monitoring, and performance insights."
order: 4
---

This guide explains how to integrate the LoadFocus JMeter API Client with CircleCI for automated performance testing.

## Setup Steps

### 1. Add Environment Variables

Store your LoadFocus API credentials as environment variables in CircleCI:

1. Navigate to your project in CircleCI
2. Go to Project Settings > Environment Variables
3. Add the following variables:
   - `LOADFOCUS_API_KEY`: Your LoadFocus API key
   - `LOADFOCUS_TEAM_ID`: Your LoadFocus team ID

### 2. Configure CircleCI Workflow

Create or update your `.circleci/config.yml` file to include performance testing:

```yaml
version: 2.1
jobs:
  performance_test:
    docker:
      - image: cimg/node:16.13
    steps:
      - checkout
      - run:
          name: Install LoadFocus JMeter API Client
          command: npm install -g @loadfocus/loadfocus-api-client
      - run:
          name: Configure LoadFocus API Client
          command: |
            loadfocus-api config set apikey $LOADFOCUS_API_KEY
            loadfocus-api config set teamid $LOADFOCUS_TEAM_ID
      - run:
          name: Run Performance Tests
          command: |
            loadfocus-api jmeter run-test \
              --name "CircleCI_${CIRCLE_PROJECT_REPONAME}_${CIRCLE_BRANCH}" \
              --thresholds "avgresponse<=200,errors==0,p95<=250" \
              --format json > performance_results.json
      - store_artifacts:
          path: performance_results.json
          destination: performance-test-results

workflows:
  version: 2
  build_test_deploy:
    jobs:
      - build_and_test
      - performance_test:
          requires:
            - build_and_test
      - deploy:
          requires:
            - performance_test
          filters:
            branches:
              only: main
```

### 3. Fail the Build on Performance Issues

To make your pipeline fail when performance thresholds are not met, modify the "Run Performance Tests" step:

```yaml
- run:
    name: Run Performance Tests
    command: |
      loadfocus-api jmeter run-test \
        --name "CircleCI_${CIRCLE_PROJECT_REPONAME}_${CIRCLE_BRANCH}" \
        --thresholds "avgresponse<=200,errors==0,p95<=250" \
        --format json > performance_results.json

      # Check exit code - the command will exit with code 1 if thresholds are not met
      if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
        echo "Performance test failed to meet thresholds"
        exit 1
      fi
```

## Advanced Configuration

### Parallel Testing

For running multiple performance tests in parallel:

```yaml
performance_tests:
  docker:
    - image: cimg/node:16.13
  parallelism: 3
  steps:
    - checkout
    - run:
        name: Install LoadFocus JMeter API Client
        command: npm install -g @loadfocus/loadfocus-api-client
    - run:
        name: Configure LoadFocus API Client
        command: |
          loadfocus-api config set apikey $LOADFOCUS_API_KEY
          loadfocus-api config set teamid $LOADFOCUS_TEAM_ID
    - run:
        name: Run Performance Tests
        command: |
          # Get test name based on index
          TESTS=("API_Test" "Frontend_Test" "Database_Test")
          INDEX=$(( $CIRCLE_NODE_INDEX % 3 ))
          TEST_NAME=${TESTS[$INDEX]}

          echo "Running test: $TEST_NAME"

          loadfocus-api jmeter run-test \
            --name "$TEST_NAME" \
            --thresholds "avgresponse<=200,errors==0,p95<=250" \
            --format json > "performance_results_${TEST_NAME}.json"
    - store_artifacts:
        path: performance_results_*.json
        destination: performance-test-results
```

## Tips for CircleCI Integration

1. **Resource Allocation**: Ensure your CircleCI plan has sufficient resources for running performance tests, especially if they're long-running.

2. **Timeout Settings**: For longer tests, adjust the job timeout in CircleCI:

   ```yaml
   - run:
       name: Run Performance Tests
       command: loadfocus-api jmeter run-test --name "Test_Name" --waitTimeout 3600
       no_output_timeout: 60m
   ```

3. **Conditional Testing**: Only run performance tests on specific branches or for specific commits:

   ```yaml
   performance_test:
     # Only run if commit message contains [PERF-TEST]
     when:
       condition:
         or:
           - equal: [ main, << pipeline.git.branch >> ]
           - matches:
               pattern: ".*\\[PERF-TEST\\].*"
               value: << pipeline.git.commit.message >>
   ```

4. **Notifications**: Set up notifications for performance test failures:

   ```yaml
   - run:
       name: Notify on Performance Test Failure
       command: |
         if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
           curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
             -d '{"text":"Performance test failed for $CIRCLE_PROJECT_REPONAME"}' \
             $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL
         fi
       when: on_fail
   ```

For more information, refer to the [CircleCI documentation](https://circleci.com/docs/) and the [LoadFocus API Client documentation](https://bitbucket.com/loadfocus/loadfocus-api-client).