tomevault-io Test Review
Review test quality to ensure tests actually catch failures.
When to Use
- After writing new tests (before committing)
- When reviewing a PR with test changes
- When tests pass but behavior seems wrong
- Periodic test suite health check
Anti-Patterns to Catch
| Anti-Pattern | Problem | Fix |
|---|---|---|
assert True |
Always passes, tests nothing | Assert specific values |
@pytest.mark.skip without reason |
Hides failures silently | Add reason or remove |
@pytest.mark.xfail without ticket |
Accepted failures without tracking | Link to issue |
try/except: pass in test |
Swallows errors | Let exceptions propagate |
assert response is not None |
Only checks existence, not correctness | Assert status code + content |
assert len(items) > 0 |
Doesn't verify content | Assert specific items or properties |
| Empty test body | Test exists but does nothing | Implement or delete |
Hardcoded timeouts sleep(30) |
Flaky, slow | Use wait_for / retry pattern |
Review Checklist
- Assertive: Every test asserts specific expected values
- No silent skips:
@skiphas a reason and linked issue - No xfail without tracking:
@xfailreferences a ticket - Error cases tested: Not just happy path
- Deterministic: No flaky timing dependencies
- Isolated: Tests don't depend on execution order
- Named clearly: Test name describes what it verifies
- Cleanup: Resources created in test are cleaned up
Review Command
Search for anti-patterns in test files:
grep -rn "assert True\|assert False\|@pytest.mark.skip\|@pytest.mark.xfail\|pass$" kagenti/tests/
Search for weak assertions:
grep -rn "is not None\|!= None\|assert .*>" kagenti/tests/ | grep -v "# ok"
Related Skills
test:write- Write new tests following standardstest:run-kind- Run tests on Kindtest:run-hypershift- Run tests on HyperShifttdd:ci- TDD workflow that includes test review
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