2026-02-10 –, Building Smarter Automation with Pabot: Mastering Parallel Execution in Robot Framework
Do your Robot Framework tests take too long to finish? Learn how to speed them up with Pabot! In this hands-on tutorial, you’ll discover how to use Pabot’s powerful parameters to control execution order, parallelism, and scheduling—so your test runs are faster and smarter. We’ll cover setup, configuration, and best practices for turning long test suites into efficient, scalable automation pipelines.
As your Robot Framework test suites grow, so does execution time. Slow feedback loops can hurt productivity and block continuous delivery. Pabot—an open-source parallel executor for Robot Framework—solves this problem by enabling safe, efficient parallel test execution.
In this interactive, hands-on workshop, we’ll dive deep into how to use Pabot effectively and intelligently.
What participants will learn:
- How Pabot distributes and manages test execution across multiple processes.
- How to control parallelism with parameters to balance speed and stability.
- How to define and influence test execution order using --ordering configurations.
- How to manage scheduling and dependency handling so that resource-intensive tests or shared environments are handled gracefully.
We’ll also explore practical exercises demonstrating how changes in Pabot parameters affect runtime and execution behavior. Participants will learn how to tune performance dynamically for different environments (local vs. CI).
By the end of the workshop, attendees will be able to:
- Configure and customize Pabot for projects of any scale.
- Optimize test execution with fine-grained control over order, concurrency, and scheduling.
Avoid common pitfalls related to shared resources and data-driven tests.
Confidently integrate parallel execution into their automation pipelines.
Format:
- Short introduction to Pabot internals and architecture
- Guided setup and configuration demo
- Hands-on exercises with provided test suites
- Q&A and best practices discussion
This session suits Robot Framework users, test automation engineers, and CI/CD practitioners who want to take their automation to the next level by combining speed, reliability, and control.
Key takeaways:
- Deep understanding of how Pabot manages parallelism.
- Hands-on experience using key Pabot parameters (--processes, --ordering, --resourcefile, etc.).
- Techniques for scheduling and balancing workloads in large-scale test suites.
- Practical know-how to reduce runtime while keeping results stable and traceable.
Empower participants to confidently use Pabot parameters to control execution order, concurrency, and scheduling—achieving faster, more predictable, and more efficient automation pipelines.
Categorize / Tags:pabot
Is this suitable for ..?: Intermediate RF User, Advanced RF User In-Person or Online talk/workshop?:In-person, but maybe online is okay too
Pabot maintainer and active Robot Framework community member. I focus on improving test scalability and execution speed through parallelization and open-source development.