/comprehensive-testing

name: comprehensive-testing
description: Complete testing strategy covering TDD workflow, test pyramid, unit/integration/E2E/property testing, framework best practices (Jest, Vitest, pytest), mock strategies, and CI integration. Use when writing tests, reviewing test quality, or establishing testing standards.
allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Glob, Bash, Edit, Write

Comprehensive Testing

> Based on [Anthropic's Claude Code Best Practices](https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/claude-code-best-practices) and community patterns

Core Philosophy

> "Claude performs best when it has a clear target to iterate against—a test case provides concrete success criteria."

Testing is not about proving code works; it's about **designing code that is testable** and **documenting expected behavior**.

---

Test Pyramid

        /\
       /  \        E2E Tests (10%)
      /----\       - Full user flows
     /      \      - Slowest, most brittle
    /--------\
   /          \    Integration Tests (20%)
  /------------\   - Component interaction
 /              \  - Real dependencies
/----------------\
       Unit Tests (70%)
       - Single function/method
       - Fast, isolated, many

| Level | Speed | Scope | When to Use | |-------|-------|-------|-------------| | Unit | <10ms | Single function | All logic | | Integration | <1s | Multiple components | APIs, DB | | E2E | <30s | Full flow | Critical paths |

---

TDD Workflow (Anthropic Recommended)

The 6-Step Process

1. WRITE TESTS FIRST
   ↓
2. VERIFY TESTS FAIL
   ↓
3. COMMIT TEST SUITE
   ↓
4. IMPLEMENT CODE
   ↓
5. VERIFY WITH SUBAGENT
   ↓
6. COMMIT IMPLEMENTATION

Step 1: Write Tests First

Be EXPLICIT about TDD to avoid mock implementations:

"I want to implement [feature] using TDD.
First, write tests for [expected behavior] with these input/output pairs:
- Input: X → Expected: Y
- Input: A → Expected: B
Do NOT create any implementation yet."

Step 2: Verify Tests Fail

# Run tests and confirm they fail for the RIGHT reason
npm test  # or pytest, go test, etc.

# Expected: "function not found" or "undefined"
# NOT: syntax error, wrong import

Step 3: Commit Test Suite

git add tests/
git commit -m "test: Add tests for [feature] (RED phase)"

Step 4: Implement Incrementally

"Now implement the code to make these tests pass.
Do NOT modify the tests.
Run tests after each change until all pass."

Claude will enter an autonomous loop:

Write code → Run tests → Analyze failures → Adjust → Repeat

Step 5: Verify with Subagent

"Use a subagent to independently verify the implementation:
- Is it overfitting to tests?
- Are edge cases handled?
- Is the code maintainable?"

Step 6: Commit Implementation

git add src/
git commit -m "feat: Implement [feature] (GREEN phase)"

---

Test Structure Patterns

AAA Pattern (Arrange-Act-Assert)

describe('UserService', () => {
  it('should create user with valid email', async () => {
    // Arrange - Setup test data and dependencies
    const userRepo = new InMemoryUserRepository();
    const service = new UserService(userRepo);
    const input = { email: 'test@example.com', name: 'Test' };

    // Act - Execute the code under test
    const user = await service.create(input);

    // Assert - Verify the results
    expect(user.email).toBe('test@example.com');
    expect(user.id).toBeDefined();
    expect(await userRepo.findById(user.id)).toEqual(user);
  });
});

Given-When-Then Pattern

def test_order_total_with_discount():
    """
    Given an order with items totaling $100
    When a 20% discount is applied
    Then the total should be $80
    """
    # Given
    order = Order()
    order.add_item(Item(price=50))
    order.add_item(Item(price=50))

    # When
    order.apply_discount(Percentage(20))

    # Then
    assert order.total == Money(80)

---

Framework Best Practices

Jest / Vitest (JavaScript/TypeScript)

// Structure
describe('ModuleName', () => {
  describe('methodName', () => {
    it('should [expected behavior] when [condition]', () => {});
  });
});

// Setup/Teardown
beforeAll(async () => { /* one-time setup */ });
beforeEach(() => { /* per-test setup */ });
afterEach(() => { /* per-test cleanup */ });
afterAll(async () => { /* one-time cleanup */ });

// Async testing
it('handles async operations', async () => {
  const result = await asyncFunction();
  expect(result).toBe(expected);
});

// Error testing
it('throws on invalid input', () => {
  expect(() => validate(null)).toThrow('Input required');
});

// Snapshot testing (use sparingly)
it('renders correctly', () => {
  const tree = renderer.create(<Component />).toJSON();
  expect(tree).toMatchSnapshot();
});

// Table-driven tests
it.each([
  [1, 1, 2],
  [2, 2, 4],
  [0, 0, 0],
])('add(%i, %i) = %i', (a, b, expected) => {
  expect(add(a, b)).toBe(expected);
});

**vitest.config.ts:**

export default defineConfig({
  test: {
    globals: true,
    environment: 'node',
    coverage: {
      provider: 'v8',
      reporter: ['text', 'json', 'html'],
      thresholds: {
        lines: 80,
        branches: 70,
        functions: 80,
      },
    },
  },
});

pytest (Python)

import pytest
from mymodule import Calculator

# Fixtures for dependency injection
@pytest.fixture
def calculator():
    return Calculator()

@pytest.fixture
def database():
    db = TestDatabase()
    yield db
    db.cleanup()

# Parametrized tests
@pytest.mark.parametrize("a,b,expected", [
    (1, 1, 2),
    (2, 2, 4),
    (0, 0, 0),
    (-1, 1, 0),
])
def test_add(calculator, a, b, expected):
    assert calculator.add(a, b) == expected

# Exception testing
def test_divide_by_zero(calculator):
    with pytest.raises(ZeroDivisionError):
        calculator.divide(1, 0)

# Async testing
@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_async