---
title: How to view a report
description: Learn how to open and view Allure test reports locally.
---

# How to View a Report

Test reports generated with Allure Report are basically small HTML websites intended to be viewed in a web browser. This page describes how to open and view such a report once you have generated one or received one from your colleague.

## Open a Single HTML File

If you (or another person responsible for generating the test reports) use the single-file mode of the [Allure Awesome plugin](/docs/v3/generate-report/#generating-reports-with-the-allure-awesome-plugin) (the `--single-file` option), then good news! Such a report is the easiest to view: just open the HTML file in your preferred web browser, and that's it.

Consider switching to the single-file mode if you haven't already, so that opening test reports will be that easy every time.

There could be, however, reasons not to do this — most notably, to avoid potential issues when browsing really huge projects (lots of test results, tons of attachments). In such a case, please keep reading below.

## Start a Local Web Server

By default, a test report is not one file, but rather a directory containing various files (HTML, JSON and other types), sometimes distributed as a ZIP archive. The most reliable method of opening such a report is to use the `allure open` command in a terminal.

1. If you got the test report in a ZIP archive, unpack all its content into a directory on your device.

1. Run the `allure open` command, providing it with the path to the directory. For example:

   ```bash
   allure open <reportDir>
   ```

   The command starts a local web server configured to show the report directory's contents. The command then automatically opens the main page of the report in a web browser. By default, the web server works at a local IP address (such as **127.0.1.1**) and a randomly generated port. You may override this behavior with the `--port` argument.

   Use the `--live` argument to reload pages on any file change in the served directory.

1. When you finish viewing the report, you may stop the server by pressing **Ctrl+C** in the terminal window.