Custom UI Testing: The UI tests have been skipped because no tests have been found

[MeasurableBusinessResults]

I am trying to run my cypress ui tests in a development full stack pipeline on a develop environment.
But I always get the error message:
Custom UI Testing: The UI tests have been skipped because no tests have been found

In addition, there are no logs to investigate because the execution is skipped completely.

My ui.tests folder has been set up according to the maven archetype. I can also build the docker image locally, and I can run the tests locally, both inside the docker image and directly from the test-modules folder. All this works fine.
Still the Adobe pipelines do not execute the tests.

I also added the testing.properties file like described here:
https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-manager-cloud-service/content/implementing/usi... 

The whole documentation from Adobe on ui testing is confusing imho, just as an example:
- sometimes it suggests to modify files like the pom.xml and assembly-ui-test-docker-context.xml e.g.

here: https://github.com/adobe/aem-test-samples/tree/aem-cloud/ui-cypress 

and here: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-manager-cloud-service/content/implementing/usi... 

and here: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-manager-cloud-service/content/implementing/usi... 

- in other places it says one must not modify the pom.xml, Dockerfile and assembly-ui-test-docker-context.xml (in particular in the files themselves as generated by the archetype)

So whats correct now?

Finally, when using IP based whitelisting (which is normal for a DEV environment), one has to allow access for the Adobe cloud as well?
See: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-cloud-kcs/kbarticles/ka-26654 
Sorry, but why can't Adobe automatically and transparently add internal technical IP ranges themselves? If Adobe provides the cloud infra for testing, they should manage the whitelist.

[SantoshSai]

Hi @MeasurableBusinessResults,

I believe, when Cloud Manager simply doesn’t recognize your ui.tests module, even though everything works fine locally. 

Here’s what you can validate:

1. Cloud Manager is VERY picky about the module structure

It only looks for a module literally named:

ui.tests

and it has to sit at the top level of your project, not under a custom folder like /test-modules/ or /frontend/tests/.

It also expects the exact archetype structure:

ui.tests/
  ├── pom.xml
  ├── src/tests/ui   <-- your cypress tests MUST live here
  └── src/main/resources (Dockerfile + assembly xml)

If anything is off, Adobe pretends your tests don’t exist.

2. Don’t touch the Dockerfile or the assembly XML

This is the most confusing part because the docs and sample repos make it look like you should customize them.

But in reality:

If you modify the Dockerfile or assembly-ui-test-docker-context.xml, Cloud Manager stops recognizing the module.

Even adding comments or reordering lines can break it.

So:

• Edit pom.xml if needed

• Edit Cypress config

• Add testing.properties

• Don’t change Dockerfile

• Don’t change the assembly XML

3. testing.properties is important for Cloud Manager

Locally it doesn’t matter, but Cloud Manager checks for it.

Place it here:

ui.tests/src/main/resources/testing.properties

At minimum:

browser=chrome
baseUrl=https://your-dev-author.adobeaemcloud.com

If the file isn’t packaged or isn’t in the exact place -> CM thinks there’s nothing to run.

4. Check the pipeline settings

In your full-stack pipeline:

• Enable Run UI Tests

• Confirm it’s running against your DEV environment

Pipelines cloned from older configs often have this disabled.

5. IP allow-listing absolutely blocks tests

If your DEV environment uses an IP allowlist:

• Cloud Manager’s Cypress container cannot hit your DEV site unless you manually whitelist Adobe’s IPs.

• When it can’t reach the site, Adobe silently skips the tests. No logs, no failure… just “no tests”.

Adobe won’t auto-add their own IP ranges (it’s a “customer-controlled access boundary” thing).
You have to whitelist the IPs from this doc:

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-cloud-kcs/kbarticles/ka-26654

You only need to whitelist Cloud Manager / Pipeline infra.

6. Common reasons it gets skipped

Here are the usual culprits:

• Wrong module name (must be ui.tests)

• Module nested too deep

• Cypress tests not under src/tests/ui

• Dockerfile/assembly file modified

• Missing testing.properties

• Pipeline UI testing disabled

• ENV not reachable due to IP whitelist

Any one of these -> Adobe skips everything.