End-to-end (E2E) testing can often be hindered by issues such as fragile tests, late testing in the CI/CD pipeline, and lack of available test environments, leading to delays and inefficiencies. To address these challenges, the integration of ephemeral environments—also known as preview or temporary environments—into the software development lifecycle (SDLC) is advocated. These environments replicate the production environment, enabling full-stack, isolated, and independent testing early in the development process, which is known as "shift left" testing. At Shipyard, ephemeral environments are promoted as a solution that allows for testing before code merges, using tools like Cypress to run tests against remote environments and within CI/CD pipelines. This approach helps surface and fix flaky tests, allows for testing in parallel, and leverages database snapshots to identify regressions, thereby enhancing testing speed and efficiency. An upcoming webinar featuring experts from Cypress and Shipyard will demonstrate how to implement these practices to improve development velocity.