running-tests-locally

name	running-tests-locally
description	Use when running OPA policy unit tests, BATS bash tests, shellcheck, hadolint, or conftest integration tests locally. Covers test commands, coverage requirements, test data, and prerequisites.

Running Tests Locally

Overview

Tests are split into OPA Rego unit tests (policies/), BATS bash tests (utils.sh), conftest integration tests (policy/data integration), and linters (shellcheck, hadolint, yamllint).

When to Use

• Running tests before pushing
• Debugging test failures
• Checking code coverage
• Understanding test infrastructure

Quick Reference

Command	What it does
opa test policies unittests unittests/test_data -c	OPA policy unit tests with coverage
bats unittests_bash	All BATS bash unit tests
shellcheck -s bash test/utils.sh	Lint bash functions
hadolint Dockerfile	Lint Dockerfile (ignore DL3003,DL3013,DL3041,DL4006)
yamllint .	Lint all YAML files

OPA Policy Tests

Prerequisites: install opa binary (v0.56.0 used in CI)

Command: opa test policies unittests unittests/test_data -c

Coverage requirement: 100% — every line of policy code must be covered by at least one test. CI enforces this with jq assertion: coverage >= 100.00.

Coverage reporting:

opa test --coverage --format json policies unittests unittests/test_data \
  | opa eval --data hack/simplecov.rego data.simplecov.from_opa > coverage.json

This generates codecov-compatible JSON for CI upload.

BATS Bash Tests

Prerequisites: bats v1.8.2, jq, cosign

Run all tests:

bats unittests_bash

Run single test file:

bats unittests_bash/test_utils.bats

Run tests matching pattern:

bats unittests_bash/test_utils.bats -f "test name pattern"

Tests source test/utils.sh directly and mock external tools (skopeo, opm, cosign).

Conftest Integration Tests

File: test/conftest.sh (BATS format, separate from unit tests)

Setup:

export POLICY_PATH=policies

Run:

bats test/conftest.sh

Tests the actual conftest CLI invocation against real policies, not just Rego logic. Uses three namespaces:

• --namespace required_checks — blocking policies
• --namespace optional_checks — advisory policies
• --namespace fbc_checks — FBC-specific policies

Image Smoke Test

File: test/selftest.sh

Validates the built Docker image has:

• Required binaries: yq, skopeo, snyk, ec, cosign
• conftest CLI working with all three namespaces
• parse_test_output bash function correct
• Clair/scanning API integration functional

Run inside the container after building the image (automated in integration test pipeline).

Linters

Shellcheck:

shellcheck -s bash test/utils.sh

Ignores conftest.sh and selftest.sh (they have special formats).

Hadolint:

hadolint Dockerfile

Ignores rules: DL3003, DL3013, DL3041, DL4006

Yamllint:

yamllint .

Uses .yamllint config, ignores /vendor.

Common Mistakes

Problem	Fix
OPA coverage < 100%	Add test for every policy rule and helper function
BATS test fails "command not found"	Install prerequisites: jq, cosign, bats 1.8.2
Shellcheck SC2086	Quote variables: "${var}" not $var
OPA test "undefined ref"	Check import path matches test_data filename (no extension)
conftest.sh fails	Set export POLICY_PATH=policies before running