Brokle Testing Skill

Expert guidance for writing pragmatic, high-value tests following Brokle's testing philosophy.

Testing Philosophy

Core Principle: Test Business Logic, Not Framework Behavior

What We Test ✅

1. Complex Business Logic: Calculations, retry mechanisms, state machines
2. Batch Operations: Bulk processing, partial success/failure handling
3. Multi-Step Orchestration: Multiple repository calls, cross-service workflows
4. Error Handling Patterns: Domain error mapping, retry logic with backoff
5. Analytics & Aggregations: Time-based queries, statistical calculations

What We Don't Test ❌

1. Simple CRUD: Basic Create/Read/Update/Delete with no business logic
2. Field Validation: Already tested in domain layer
3. Trivial Constructors: Simple object creation
4. Framework Behavior: ULID generation, time.Now(), errors.Is (stdlib)
5. Static Definitions: Constant strings, enum type checkers

Coverage Guidelines

Target Metrics:

• Service Layer: ~1:1 test-to-code ratio (focus on business logic)
• Domain Layer: Minimal (only complex calculations)
• Handler Layer: Critical workflows only

Acceptable Ratios:

• ✅ 0.8:1 to 1.2:1 - Healthy coverage
• ⚠️ < 0.5:1 - Missing critical coverage
• ⚠️ > 2:1 - Testing too many trivial operations

Service Layer Test Pattern

// ============================================================================
// Mock Repositories (Full Interface Implementation)
// ============================================================================

type MockUserRepository struct {
    mock.Mock
}

func (m *MockUserRepository) Create(ctx context.Context, user *authDomain.User) error {
    args := m.Called(ctx, user)
    return args.Error(0)
}

func (m *MockUserRepository) GetByID(ctx context.Context, id ulid.ULID) (*authDomain.User, error) {
    args := m.Called(ctx, id)
    if args.Get(0) == nil {
        return nil, args.Error(1)
    }
    return args.Get(0).(*authDomain.User), args.Error(1)
}

// Implement ALL interface methods (even if not used in test)

// ============================================================================
// HIGH-VALUE TESTS: Complex Business Logic
// ============================================================================

func TestUserService_CreateUser(t *testing.T) {
    tests := []struct {
        name        string
        input       *CreateUserRequest
        mockSetup   func(*MockUserRepository)
        expectedErr error
        checkResult func(*testing.T, *CreateUserResponse)
    }{
        {
            name: "success - valid user",
            input: &CreateUserRequest{
                Email: "test@example.com",
                Name:  "Test User",
            },
            mockSetup: func(repo *MockUserRepository) {
                // Expect email check (not found)
                repo.On("GetByEmail", mock.Anything, "test@example.com").
                    Return(nil, authDomain.ErrNotFound)

                // Expect user creation
                repo.On("Create", mock.Anything, mock.MatchedBy(func(user *authDomain.User) bool {
                    return user.Email == "test@example.com" && user.Name == "Test User"
                })).Return(nil)
            },
            expectedErr: nil,
            checkResult: func(t *testing.T, resp *CreateUserResponse) {
                assert.NotNil(t, resp)
                assert.NotEqual(t, ulid.ULID{}, resp.User.ID)
                assert.Equal(t, "test@example.com", resp.User.Email)
            },
        },
        {
            name: "error - user already exists",
            input: &CreateUserRequest{
                Email: "existing@example.com",
                Name:  "Existing User",
            },
            mockSetup: func(repo *MockUserRepository) {
                // Return existing user
                existingUser := &authDomain.User{
                    ID:    ulid.New(),
                    Email: "existing@example.com",
                }
                repo.On("GetByEmail", mock.Anything, "existing@example.com").
                    Return(existingUser, nil)

                // No create call expected
            },
            expectedErr: errors.New("conflict"),  // Check error message, not sentinel
            checkResult: nil,
        },
        {
            name: "error - repository failure",
            input: &CreateUserRequest{
                Email: "test@example.com",
                Name:  "Test User",
            },
            mockSetup: func(repo *MockUserRepository) {
                repo.On("GetByEmail", mock.Anything, "test@example.com").
                    Return(nil, authDomain.ErrNotFound)
                repo.On("Create", mock.Anything, mock.Anything).
                    Return(fmt.Errorf("database error"))
            },
            expectedErr: errors.New("internal"),  // Check error message, not sentinel
            checkResult: nil,
        },
    }

    for _, tt := range tests {
        t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
            // Setup mocks
            mockRepo := new(MockUserRepository)
            tt.mockSetup(mockRepo)

            // Create service
            service := NewUserService(mockRepo)

            // Execute
            result, err := service.CreateUser(context.Background(), tt.input)

            // Assert errors
            if tt.expectedErr != nil {
                assert.Error(t, err)
                assert.ErrorIs(t, err, tt.expectedErr)
            } else {
                assert.NoError(t, err)
            }

            // Assert results
            if tt.checkResult != nil {
                tt.checkResult(t, result)
            }

            // Verify all mock expectations were met
            mockRepo.AssertExpectations(t)
        })
    }
}

Key Testing Patterns

1. Table-Driven Tests

tests := []struct {
    name        string
    input       InputType
    mockSetup   func(*MockRepo)
    expectedErr error
    checkResult func(*testing.T, *Result)
}{
    {
        name: "success case",
        input: validInput,
        mockSetup: func(repo *MockRepo) {
            repo.On("Method", mock.Anything, mock.Anything).Return(nil)
        },
        expectedErr: nil,
        checkResult: func(t *testing.T, result *Result) {
            assert.NotNil(t, result)
        },
    },
}

2. Complete Mock Interface Implementation

type MockUserRepository struct {
    mock.Mock
}

// Implement ALL methods from interface
func (m *MockUserRepository) Create(ctx context.Context, user *User) error {
    args := m.Called(ctx, user)
    return args.Error(0)
}

func (m *MockUserRepository) GetByID(ctx context.Context, id ulid.ULID) (*User, error) {
    args := m.Called(ctx, id)
    if args.Get(0) == nil {
        return nil, args.Error(1)
    }
    return args.Get(0).(*User), args.Error(1)
}

// Implement all other methods even if unused

3. Mock Setup Functions

mockSetup: func(userRepo *MockUserRepo, orgRepo *MockOrgRepo) {
    // Use mock.MatchedBy for complex validation
    userRepo.On("Create", mock.Anything, mock.MatchedBy(func(user *User) bool {
        return user.Email != "" && user.Name != ""
    })).Return(nil)

    // Multiple expectations in order
    orgRepo.On("GetByID", mock.Anything, orgID).Return(org, nil)
    orgRepo.On("Update", mock.Anything, mock.Anything).Return(nil)
}

4. Result Validation Functions

checkResult: func(t *testing.T, result *CreateUserResponse) {
    assert.NotNil(t, result)
    assert.NotEqual(t, ulid.ULID{}, result.User.ID)
    assert.Equal(t, "test@example.com", result.User.Email)
    assert.NotNil(t, result.User.CreatedAt)
    assert.Equal(t, "active", result.User.Status)
}

5. Mock Expectation Verification

// ALWAYS call AssertExpectations on all mocks
mockUserRepo.AssertExpectations(t)
mockOrgRepo.AssertExpectations(t)
mockPublisher.AssertExpectations(t)

Domain Layer Tests

Only test complex business logic:

// ✅ HIGH-VALUE: Business logic calculation
func TestSpan_CalculateLatency(t *testing.T) {
    startTime := time.Now()
    endTime := startTime.Add(150 * time.Millisecond)

    tests := []struct {
        name     string
        span      *Span
        expected *int
    }{
        {
            name: "with valid end time",
            span: &Span{
                StartTime: startTime,
                EndTime:   &endTime,
            },
            expected: func() *int { val := 150; return &val }(),
        },
        {
            name: "without end time",
            span: &Span{
                StartTime: startTime,
                EndTime:   nil,
            },
            expected: nil,
        },
    }

    for _, tt := range tests {
        t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
            result := tt.obs.CalculateLatency()
            if tt.expected == nil {
                assert.Nil(t, result)
            } else {
                assert.NotNil(t, result)
                assert.Equal(t, *tt.expected, *result)
            }
        })
    }
}

Integration Tests

func TestUserService_Integration(t *testing.T) {
    // Skip if not running integration tests
    if testing.Short() {
        t.Skip("Skipping integration test")
    }

    // Setup test database
    db := setupTestDB(t)
    defer cleanupTestDB(t, db)

    // Setup real dependencies
    userRepo := repository.NewUserRepository(db)
    service := services.NewUserService(userRepo)

    // Test complete workflow
    user := &CreateUserRequest{
        Email: "integration@test.com",
        Name:  "Integration Test",
    }

    result, err := service.CreateUser(context.Background(), user)
    require.NoError(t, err)
    require.NotEqual(t, ulid.ULID{}, result.User.ID)

    // Verify persistence
    retrieved, err := service.GetUser(context.Background(), result.User.ID)
    require.NoError(t, err)
    assert.Equal(t, result.User.Email, retrieved.User.Email)
}

Running Tests

# All tests
make test

# Unit tests only (skip integration)
make test-unit

# Integration tests with real databases
make test-integration

# With coverage
make test-coverage

# Specific package
go test ./internal/core/services/observability -v

# Specific test
go test ./internal/core/services/observability -run TestUserService_Create -v

# With race detection
go test -race ./...

# Skip integration tests
go test -short ./...

Test Quality Checklist

Before Writing Tests:

• Identify business logic (not CRUD)
• Check if complex enough to warrant testing
• Review similar tests in

  internal/core/services/observability/*_test.go

• Plan test scenarios (success, validation errors, repository errors)

Test Implementation:

• Table-driven test pattern
• Complete mock interface implementations
• Mock expectations verified with

  AssertExpectations(t)

• Result validation functions for complex assertions
• Clear test names describing scenarios
• ~1:1 test-to-code ratio for business logic

What NOT to Test:

• ❌ Simple CRUD operations
• ❌ Field validation (domain layer)
• ❌ Trivial constructors
• ❌ Framework behavior
• ❌ Static constants

References

• docs/TESTING.md

  - Complete testing guide

• internal/core/services/observability/*_test.go

  - Reference implementations

• prompts/testing.txt

  - AI-assisted test generation