One product, three doors: testing a FinTech platform through a web portal, a Telegram Mini App and a bot
For about a year I tested a FinTech platform that customers could reach in three ways: a web client portal, a Telegram Mini App and a Telegram bot. Payments, billing and reports were the same underneath, but each channel showed them differently, and each one could break in its own way. This is what I learned about testing that kind of product. It is not a complete guide to Telegram Mini Apps. It…
For about a year, the author tested a FinTech platform that customers could access through three different channels: a web client portal, a Telegram Mini App, and a Telegram bot. All three channels communicated with the same backend, making the API the most efficient place to identify most issues. The author's daily tools included Swagger/OpenAPI, Postman, DBeaver, Docker, Browser DevTools, and Playwright.
A Telegram Mini App is essentially a web application that runs within Telegram's interface. While it largely follows standard web testing principles, there are some unique considerations. The app runs inside Telegram's own browser view, behaves differently across iOS, Android, desktop, and web versions, and requires verification of the user's identity by Telegram.
The small screen size and shared interface elements, such as the on-screen keyboard and themes, also impact the user's experience. Debugging can be more challenging due to these factors.
The bot, on the other hand, serves as a channel for notifications. In a FinTech product, the bot message is often the first information a customer receives about their financial transactions. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that the bot messages are accurate. The author checked bot messages for correct amounts, currencies, statuses, timing, formatting, and duplication.
The author also emphasized the importance of comparing numbers across all channels to ensure consistency, as discrepancies could indicate underlying issues. This habit eventually led to the creation of a tool called LogiParity, which helps compare data across various channels.
To streamline the testing process, the author developed smoke and regression suites covering all three channels, which reduced regression time by approximately 40%. By testing each business flow once and then verifying each step in every channel, the author was able to identify gaps and improve overall product quality. The key takeaway for anyone testing a product with a web portal, Telegram Mini App, and bot is to focus on the places where the channels are expected to agree, as most bugs arise from these discrepancies.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.