Testing Strategy

Testing Strategy

Core Principle

Testability drives design. The fn(args, deps) pattern exists because it makes functions trivially testable without vi.mock or module interception.

Test Pyramid

       Triangle  Chaos Tests ("Does it survive failures?")
      /|\
     / | \  Load Tests ("Does it scale?")
    /--+--\
   /   |   \ Integration Tests ("Does the stack work?")
  /----+----\
       |    Unit Tests ("Does the logic work?")

Required Behaviors

1. Unit Tests with Explicit Deps

Use vitest-mock-extended for typed mocks:

import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
import { mock } from 'vitest-mock-extended';
import { getUser, type GetUserDeps } from './get-user';

it('returns user when found', async () => {
  const mockUser = { id: '123', name: 'Alice', email: 'alice@test.com' };

  // Create typed mock from deps interface
  const deps = mock<GetUserDeps>();
  deps.db.findUser.mockResolvedValue(mockUser);

  const result = await getUser({ userId: '123' }, deps);

  expect(result.ok).toBe(true);
  if (result.ok) {
    expect(result.value).toEqual(mockUser);
  }
});

2. Integration Tests with Real Database

Use .test.int.ts suffix for integration tests:

// user.test.int.ts
import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll } from 'vitest';
import { createTestDb } from '../test-utils/db';
import { getUser } from './get-user';

describe('getUser integration', () => {
  let db: Database;

  beforeAll(async () => {
    db = await createTestDb();
  });

  it('returns user from real database', async () => {
    await db.saveUser({ id: '123', name: 'Alice' });

    const result = await getUser({ userId: '123' }, { db });

    expect(result.ok).toBe(true);
  });
});

3. Database Guardrails

Prevent tests from hitting non-localhost databases:

// vitest.setup.ts
const DB_URL = process.env.DATABASE_URL || '';

if (!DB_URL.includes('localhost') && !DB_URL.includes('127.0.0.1')) {
  throw new Error(
    'Integration tests must use localhost database. ' +
    `Current DATABASE_URL: ${DB_URL}`
  );
}

4. Load Tests with k6

// load/smoke.js - Quick validation
import http from 'k6/http';
import { check } from 'k6';

export const options = {
  vus: 1,
  duration: '30s',
  thresholds: {
    http_req_duration: ['p(95)<500'],
  },
};

export default function () {
  const res = http.get('http://localhost:3000/api/users/1');
  check(res, {
    'status is 200': (r) => r.status === 200,
    'response time < 500ms': (r) => r.timings.duration < 500,
  });
}

// load/stress.js - Find breaking point
export const options = {
  stages: [
    { duration: '2m', target: 100 },
    { duration: '5m', target: 100 },
    { duration: '2m', target: 200 },
    { duration: '5m', target: 200 },
    { duration: '2m', target: 0 },
  ],
};

Test File Naming

Why fn(args, deps) Enables Testing

With classes, you must satisfy the entire constructor:

// Class: must mock everything
new UserService(db, logger, mailer, cache, metrics);

// Even if getUser only needs db and logger

With fn(args, deps), you only mock what the function uses:

// Function: mock only what you need
const deps = mock<GetUserDeps>();  // Just { db, logger }
await getUser({ userId }, deps);

Testing Result Types

it('handles not found error', async () => {
  const deps = mock<GetUserDeps>();
  deps.db.findUser.mockResolvedValue(null);

  const result = await getUser({ userId: '123' }, deps);

  expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
  if (!result.ok) {
    expect(result.error).toBe('NOT_FOUND');
  }
});

Prisma Mocking with mockDeep

For Prisma clients, use mockDeep for nested method access. Create a helper function:

// src/test-utils/prisma-mock.ts
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';
import { mockDeep } from 'vitest-mock-extended';

export function createMockPrisma() {
  // mockDeep is essential for Prisma's nested fluent API
  // (e.g., db.order.findUnique) - it mocks all nested properties automatically
  const mockPrisma = mockDeep<PrismaClient>();

  // Handle $transaction by executing the callback with the mock
  mockPrisma.$transaction.mockImplementation(async (callback) => {
    return callback(mockPrisma);
  });

  return mockPrisma;
}

Now in your unit tests:

import { createMockPrisma } from '../test-utils/prisma-mock';

it('creates user in database', async () => {
  const prisma = createMockPrisma();
  prisma.user.create.mockResolvedValue({ id: '1', name: 'Alice', email: 'alice@test.com' });

  const deps = { db: prisma, logger: mock<Logger>() };
  const result = await createUser({ name: 'Alice', email: 'alice@test.com' }, deps);

  expect(result.ok).toBe(true);
  expect(prisma.user.create).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
    data: { name: 'Alice', email: 'alice@test.com' },
  });
});

Test Data with Faker

Use Faker for realistic test data. Create helper functions for integration tests:

// src/test-utils/stubs.ts
import { faker } from '@faker-js/faker';
import prisma from '../db';

/**
 * Creates a customer with realistic fake data.
 * Use in integration tests that need a real database record.
 */
export async function createTestCustomer(overrides: {
  email?: string;
  name?: string;
} = {}) {
  return prisma.customer.create({
    data: {
      email: overrides.email ?? faker.internet.email(),
      name: overrides.name ?? faker.person.fullName(),
      phone: faker.phone.number(),
      createdAt: faker.date.past(),
    },
  });
}

/**
 * Creates a customer with associated orders for integration testing.
 */
export async function createTestCustomerWithOrders(overrides: {
  orderCount?: number;
  orderStatus?: 'pending' | 'shipped' | 'delivered';
} = {}) {
  const customer = await createTestCustomer();

  const orders = await Promise.all(
    Array.from({ length: overrides.orderCount ?? 1 }).map(() =>
      prisma.order.create({
        data: {
          customerId: customer.id,
          status: overrides.orderStatus ?? 'pending',
          total: faker.number.int({ min: 1000, max: 100000 }),
          shippingAddress: faker.location.streetAddress(),
        },
      })
    )
  );

  return { customer, orders };
}

Why no cleanup? Each test uses faker.string.uuid() for IDs and faker.internet.email() for emails. Tests create their own unique data and query only that data. No shared state means no cleanup needed, and tests can run in parallel.

For unit tests, create stub objects (no database):

// src/test-utils/stubs.ts (continued)

/**
 * Creates realistic stub data for unit tests (no database).
 * Use when you need typed test data but don't want database overhead.
 */
export const stubs = {
  customer: (overrides: Partial<Customer> = {}): Customer => ({
    id: faker.string.uuid(),
    email: faker.internet.email(),
    name: faker.person.fullName(),
    phone: faker.phone.number(),
    createdAt: faker.date.past(),
    ...overrides,
  }),

  order: (overrides: Partial<Order> = {}): Order => ({
    id: faker.string.uuid(),
    customerId: faker.string.uuid(),
    status: 'pending',
    total: faker.number.int({ min: 1000, max: 100000 }),
    shippingAddress: faker.location.streetAddress(),
    createdAt: faker.date.past(),
    ...overrides,
  }),
};

// Usage in unit tests:
const order = stubs.order({ status: 'shipped' });
deps.db.findOrder.mockResolvedValue(order);

vitest.setup.ts Configuration

// vitest.setup.ts
import { beforeAll, afterAll, afterEach } from 'vitest';

// Database guardrails
const DB_URL = process.env.DATABASE_URL || '';
if (!DB_URL.includes('localhost') && !DB_URL.includes('127.0.0.1')) {
  throw new Error(
    'Integration tests must use localhost database. ' +
    `Current DATABASE_URL: ${DB_URL}`
  );
}

// Global test timeout
beforeAll(() => {
  vi.setConfig({ testTimeout: 10000 });
});

// Reset mocks between tests
afterEach(() => {
  vi.clearAllMocks();
});

// Cleanup
afterAll(async () => {
  // Close database connections, etc.
});

Add to vitest.config.ts:

export default defineConfig({
  test: {
    setupFiles: ['./vitest.setup.ts'],
    globals: true,
  },
});

The Rules

1. Unit tests mock deps explicitly - No vi.mock or module mocking
2. Integration tests use real database - localhost only
3. Database guardrails prevent accidents - Fail if not localhost
4. Load tests validate scalability - k6 scripts per endpoint
5. Name files by test type - .test.ts, .test.int.ts
6. Use mockDeep for Prisma - Handles nested method chains
7. Use Faker for test data - Realistic, consistent test fixtures

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