How to generate and export detailed performance reports in Provarity

If you need to show what your team or product is actually doing, you need reports that get to the point—without getting lost in dashboards or spreadsheet hell. This guide is for anyone who wants to wrangle useful, detailed performance reports out of Provarity, whether you’re a manager, tester, or just the person who drew the short straw in this week’s meeting.

Let’s cut through the noise. Here’s how to get the reports you need, skip what you don’t, and export it all without banging your head against the keyboard.

1. Prep: Know What You Want to Report On

First, don’t just open Provarity and start clicking around. That’s how you end up with a 70-page PDF no one reads. Before you touch the tool, ask:

  • What performance metrics matter for this report? (e.g., test run times, pass/fail rates, bottlenecks)
  • Who’s going to read it? (Execs want trends; devs want details)
  • How often do you need this? (One-off deep dive, or a weekly snapshot?)

Pro Tip: Jot down your must-have metrics now. It’ll save you from sifting through extra noise later.

2. Log In and Get Your Bearings

Assuming you have access, log into Provarity. The UI is mostly straightforward, but there are a few things to watch for:

  • Navigation bar: Most reporting tools live under the “Reports” or “Analytics” tab.
  • Permissions: If you can’t see reporting features, you might need different permissions. Don’t waste time hunting—ask your admin if you’re stuck.
  • Data freshness: Provarity sometimes lags a few minutes behind real-time. If you’re not seeing data you expect, give it a minute or two, or hit refresh.

3. Choose the Right Report Type

Provarity offers several reporting options. Here’s what actually matters:

  • Standard Performance Reports: Good for most use cases—test durations, pass/fail, and resource usage.
  • Custom Reports: Useful if you want to slice data differently (e.g., only certain test suites, or grouping by environment).
  • Dashboards: Great for live monitoring, but kind of useless for exporting detailed docs. Skip if you need something you can email or attach.

What to skip: “Summary” or “Overview” reports sound tempting but usually just spit out high-level stats that don’t help when someone asks, “Why did this test run take 40 minutes longer last week?”

4. Filter and Customize: Don’t Drown in Data

Default reports in Provarity are usually too broad. Narrow things down:

  • Time range: Set a specific window (last week, last release, etc.)
  • Test suites/modules: Only include what’s relevant. No one cares about ancient smoke tests.
  • Environment: If you test in multiple places, pick the one that matters for your audience.
  • Advanced filters: Some reports let you filter by tags, owners, or custom fields. Use these if you’re chasing a specific issue.

Custom Columns and Metrics

  • Most standard reports let you choose which columns to show. Hide the stuff you don’t need.
  • If you’re after specific metrics (like median test duration, not just average), check the “Customize” or “Columns” button.
  • Save your view if you’ll need this report again.

Pro Tip: Less is more. If you deliver a report with 50 columns, expect blank stares.

5. Generate the Report

Once you’ve filtered and customized, hit “Generate” or “Run Report.” This usually takes a few seconds, unless you’re running it over months of heavy tests.

  • If it’s slow: Try narrowing your filters. Provarity can choke on huge data sets.
  • If it errors out: Double-check your filters or try a smaller time window. Sometimes the backend just times out—don’t waste 30 minutes troubleshooting unless it happens every time.

6. Review Before Exporting

Don’t export blindly. Check your report:

  • Are all the columns populated? Sometimes filters can blank out fields.
  • Is the data accurate? Cross-check a couple of odd numbers against your project or known test results.
  • Are there obvious gaps? If you see “N/A” everywhere, your filters might be too tight.

Honest Take: Provarity’s visuals are decent but not groundbreaking. If you want slick charts, expect to tweak things after export.

7. Export Your Report

Now, to get your hard work out of Provarity:

Export Formats

  • CSV: Best for further analysis in Excel, Google Sheets, or to feed into another reporting tool.
  • PDF: Good for sharing snapshots with folks who won’t edit the data.
  • XLSX: Sometimes offered, which is nice if you want Excel-friendly formatting.
  • JSON: Overkill unless you’re building integrations.

Export Steps

  1. Find and click the “Export” button (usually in the top-right of the report screen).
  2. Choose your format (CSV is safest for most uses).
  3. Pick your options. Some exports let you choose “Current view” (just what you see) or “Full data” (everything, even hidden columns).
  4. Download and check the file—make sure nothing got mangled. Sometimes special characters or long text fields break in CSVs.

Pro Tip: If your exported file is huge, try breaking your report down by a shorter time range or fewer test suites. No one wants a 20MB CSV.

8. Polish and Share (Optional, but Recommended)

Let’s be honest: direct exports from Provarity usually aren’t ready for prime time. Here’s how to get more mileage from them:

  • Open in Excel or Sheets: Clean up formatting, highlight key metrics, or add a summary tab.
  • Visuals: If charts matter, build them in your spreadsheet tool. Provarity’s built-in visuals are just OK.
  • Context: Add a cover note or intro, especially if you’re sending to non-technical folks. “Here’s what changed and why it matters” goes a long way.

What to skip: Don’t waste time making every column pretty. Most people scan for outliers or trends.

9. Automate (If You Need This Regularly)

If you’re generating the same report week after week, look for ways to automate:

  • Saved Reports: Provarity lets you save report templates. Use them.
  • Scheduled Exports: If your plan supports it, set up scheduled emails or exports. (But check your inbox—sometimes these get flagged as spam or arrive late.)
  • APIs: For the technically inclined, Provarity has an API for pulling report data. This is only worth it if you need to blend data with other tools or automate the whole process.

Reality check: Automation is only worth the setup if you’ll use the report more than a couple times. Otherwise, just run it manually.

10. Common Pitfalls and What to Ignore

Let’s call out what trips people up:

  • Over-reporting: More data isn’t better. Focus on what your audience actually cares about.
  • Ignoring permissions: If you can’t see or export what you need, check your user role first.
  • Forgetting to check exports: Always open your exported file before sending it on.
  • Relying on built-in visuals: They’re fine for a quick glance, but if you need something client-ready, plan to spruce it up yourself.
  • Chasing “real-time” data: Provarity isn’t truly real-time. Accept a short lag, and don’t stress over a few missing minutes.

Keep It Simple and Iterate

You don’t need to build the perfect report on your first try. Start with the basics, see what people actually use, and tweak your process from there. Most of the time, a clear CSV with a short summary beats a fancy dashboard no one understands.

Get in, get your data, and move on to more interesting work. If you run into weird issues, check Provarity’s docs, or just ask your admin—the tools are good, but they’re not magic.

Happy reporting!