Folder Structure for a Scalable Selenium Framework

A scalable Selenium framework should be:

Modular (easy to extend)

Maintainable (clear separation of concerns)

Reusable (components shared across tests)

CI/CD friendly (consistent structure)

Configurable (environment, browser, test data)

Based on Page Object Model (POM)

Below is a standard folder structure used in modern automation teams.

✅ Recommended Folder Structure

selenium-framework/

│

├── config/

│ ├── base_config.yaml

│ ├── qa_config.yaml

│ ├── prod_config.yaml

│ └── browser_config.json

│

├── tests/

│ ├── smoke/

│ ├── regression/

│ ├── integration/

│ └── api/ # optional if API tests included

│

├── pages/

│ ├── login_page.py

│ ├── dashboard_page.py

│ ├── product_page.py

│ └── base_page.py

│

├── utils/

│ ├── logger.py

│ ├── helpers.py

│ ├── wait_utils.py

│ ├── driver_factory.py

│ └── screenshot.py

│

├── data/

│ ├── testdata.csv

│ ├── users.json

│ └── sample_payloads/

│

├── drivers/

│ ├── chromedriver.exe

│ ├── geckodriver.exe

│ └── edgedriver.exe

│

├── resources/

│ ├── locators/

│ ├── test_files/

│ └── sample_downloads/

│

├── reports/

│ ├── html/

│ ├── junit/

│ └── screenshots/

│

├── logs/

│ └── automation.log

│

├── ci/

│ ├── github-actions.yaml

│ ├── jenkinsfile

│ └── gitlab-ci.yaml

│

├── requirements.txt or pom.xml or package.json

├── .env

└── README.md

🔍 Folder-by-Folder Explanation

1. config/

Stores environment-specific and browser configurations.

Examples:

URLs (QA, Stage, Prod)

User credentials (loaded from secrets)

Browser type (chrome/firefox/headless)

Timeout settings

2. tests/

Organize test suites by type:

smoke → quick checks

regression → full coverage

integration → cross-component tests

api (optional) → API + UI combined testing

Each test module should follow a consistent naming pattern:

test_login.py

test_checkout.py

3. pages/ (Page Object Model)

Each page class represents a web page.

Example login_page.py:

Locators

Actions (login(), enter_username(), click_submit())

Validations

Include a base_page.py for shared Selenium functions:

click()

send_keys()

wait_for_element()

4. utils/

Contains helper modules used across the framework.

Examples:

logger.py → central logging setup

wait_utils.py → WebDriverWait wrappers

helpers.py → random data, date functions

driver_factory.py → Start browser based on config

screenshot.py → capture screenshots on failures

5. data/

Includes all test data:

CSV datasets

JSON user accounts

XML files

Payloads for API integration

6. drivers/

WebDriver binaries for:

Chrome

Firefox

Edge

(Optional if using WebDriverManager)

7. resources/

Supporting files like:

Element locator repositories

Documents for file upload tests

Sample downloads

Static reference files

8. reports/

For storing test results:

HTML reports

Allure reports

Screenshots on failure

JUnit XML outputs (for CI tools like Jenkins/GitHub Actions)

9. logs/

Centralized logging for debugging failed tests.

10. ci/

CI/CD automation scripts for:

Jenkins

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

Keeps CI configs clean and versioned.

11. Root-Level Files

requirements.txt (Python) or pom.xml (Java) or package.json (JS)

.env → environment variables

README.md → documentation and setup instructions

⭐ Best Practices for a Scalable Selenium Framework

✔ Follow Page Object Model (POM)

Keeps tests clean and pages reusable.

✔ Add a BasePage for common Selenium actions

Prevents duplicate code across pages.

✔ Avoid hardcoded values

Use:

Config files

Environment variables

Test data files

✔ Use a Driver Factory

Supports:

Multiple browsers

Headless mode

Remote WebDriver (Selenium Grid / Docker)

✔ Integrate reporting

Use:

Allure

ExtentReports

PyTest HTML report

✔ Enable parallel test execution

Use:

PyTest-xdist

TestNG (Java)

JUnit 5

✔ CI-ready from day one

Framework should run smoothly in:

Jenkins

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

Azure DevOps

🎉 Summary

A scalable Selenium framework must be modular, clean, and CI-friendly.

The structure above supports:

Separation of concerns

Reusability of pages and utilities

Environment-based testing

Easy onboarding for new team members

Growth as your application expands

Learn Selenium with JAVA Training in Hyderabad

Read More

Building a Modular Selenium Framework in Java

🧱 Framework Building & Design

Using Config Files for Environment Management

Reading Environment Variables in Selenium Tests

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December 12, 2025

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