Testing Way¶

Source: hooks/ways/softwaredev/code/testing/testing.md

Frontmatter

Field	Value
`description`	test coverage, test structure, assertions, fixtures, what and how to test, choosing the lowest test level that proves the contract, and synthetic fixtures instead of a copy of production data
`vocabulary`	`test coverage assertion framework spec fixture describe expect verify unit integration contract end-to-end e2e golden snapshot property evaluation test level mock synthetic seed data production copy sample anonymize mask`
`commands`	`npm\ test\|yarn\ test\|jest\|pytest\|cargo\ test\|go\ test\|rspec`
`refire`	`0.2`
`scope`	`agent, subagent`

What to Cover¶

For each function under test: 1. Happy path — expected input produces expected output 2. Empty/null input — handles absence gracefully 3. Boundary values — min, max, off-by-one, empty collections 4. Error conditions — invalid input, dependency failures

Structure¶

Arrange-Act-Assert: setup, call, verify
Name tests: should [behavior] when [condition]
One logical assertion per test — test one behavior, not one line
Tests must be independent — no shared mutable state between tests

What to Assert¶

Observable outputs and side effects only
Never assert on method call counts or internal variable values
If you need to reach into private state, the design needs rethinking

Test Levels¶

Pick the lowest level that proves the contract.

Level	What it proves
Unit	Pure logic (a transformation, parser, or validator) gives the right output
Integration	The code crosses a real adapter (database, file, network, SDK, model) correctly
Contract	An endpoint, message, or structured output matches its published schema
End-to-end	A critical user flow works through the whole stack; one or two per flow
Golden	A deterministic transform, prompt, or renderer still produces the reviewed baseline
Property	An algorithm holds an invariant across generated inputs
Evaluation	Model behavior meets a rubric at a stated pass threshold

A unit test that mocks three layers belongs one level up. An end-to-end test of a pure function belongs several levels down.

Test Data¶

Fixtures, seed data, demo environments, and examples in prompts are synthetic: generated to match the shape and constraints of real records without being any real record. Masking is not anonymization. A production sample copied to reproduce a bug is a disclosure.

Project Detection¶

Detect the test framework from project files (package.json, requirements.txt, Cargo.toml, go.mod). Follow its conventions for file placement and naming.