prowler-test-api

name	prowler-test-api
description	Testing patterns for Prowler API: JSON:API, Celery tasks, RLS isolation, RBAC. Trigger: When writing tests for api/ (JSON:API requests/assertions, cross-tenant isolation, RBAC, Celery tasks, viewsets/serializers).
license	Apache-2.0
metadata	{"author":"prowler-cloud","version":"1.1.0","scope":["root","api"],"auto_invoke":["Writing Prowler API tests","Testing RLS tenant isolation"]}
allowed-tools	Read, Edit, Write, Glob, Grep, Bash, WebFetch, WebSearch, Task

Critical Rules

• ALWAYS use response.json()["data"] not response.data
• ALWAYS use content_type = "application/vnd.api+json" for PATCH/PUT requests
• ALWAYS use format="vnd.api+json" for POST requests
• ALWAYS test cross-tenant isolation - RLS returns 404, NOT 403
• NEVER skip RLS isolation tests when adding new endpoints
• NEVER use realistic-looking API keys in tests (TruffleHog will flag them)
• ALWAYS mock BOTH .delay() AND Task.objects.get for async task tests

---

1. Fixture Dependency Chain

create_test_user (session) ─► tenants_fixture (function) ─► authenticated_client
                                     │
                                     └─► aws_provider ─► scans_fixture ─► findings_fixture

Key Fixtures

Fixture	Description
create_test_user	Session user ([e-mail])
tenants_fixture	3 tenants: [0],[1] have membership, [2] isolated
authenticated_client	Django test client with JWT for tenant[0]
authenticated_client_for_tenant_factory	Creates a Django test client with JWT for a specific user and tenant
provider_factory	Creates one validated provider with provider-specific defaults
aws_provider	1 AWS provider in tenant[0]
aws_provider_pair	2 AWS providers in tenant[0]
all_provider_types_fixture	1 provider for every supported provider type
tasks_fixture	2 Celery tasks with TaskResult

RBAC Fixtures

Fixture	Permissions
authenticated_client_rbac	All permissions (admin)
authenticated_client_rbac_noroles	Membership but NO roles
authenticated_client_no_permissions_rbac	All permissions = False

Use authenticated_client for normal view behavior tests. It uses a cheap JWT and still runs the real request authentication path. Use serializer-generated JWTs or API-key clients only when the test is specifically about token obtain/refresh, invalid tokens, expired tokens, tenant switching by token, API keys, or unauthenticated 401 behavior. Use authenticated_client_for_tenant_factory when a test needs a cheap JWT client for a different user or tenant.

---

2. JSON:API Requests

POST (Create)

response = client.post(
    reverse("provider-list"),
    data={"data": {"type": "providers", "attributes": {...}}},
    format="vnd.api+json",  # NOT content_type!
)

PATCH (Update)

response = client.patch(
    reverse("provider-detail", kwargs={"pk": provider.id}),
    data={"data": {"type": "providers", "id": str(provider.id), "attributes": {...}}},
    content_type="application/vnd.api+json",  # NOT format!
)

Reading Responses

data = response.json()["data"]
attrs = data["attributes"]
errors = response.json()["errors"]  # For 400 responses

---

3. RLS Isolation (Cross-Tenant)

RLS returns 404, NOT 403 - the resource is invisible, not forbidden.

def test_cross_tenant_access_denied(self, authenticated_client, tenants_fixture):
    other_tenant = tenants_fixture[2]  # Isolated tenant
    foreign_provider = Provider.objects.create(tenant_id=other_tenant.id, ...)

    response = authenticated_client.get(reverse("provider-detail", args=[foreign_provider.id]))
    assert response.status_code == status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND  # NOT 403!

---

4. Celery Task Testing

Testing Strategies

Strategy	Use For
Mock .delay() + Task.objects.get	Testing views that trigger tasks
task.apply()	Synchronous task logic testing
Mock chain/group	Testing Canvas orchestration
Mock connection	Testing @set_tenant decorator
Mock apply_async	Testing Beat scheduled tasks

Why NOT task_always_eager

Problem	Impact
No task serialization	Misses argument type errors
No broker interaction	Hides connection issues
Different execution context	self.request behaves differently

Instead, use: task.apply() for sync execution, mocking for isolation.

Full examples: See assets/api_test.py for TestCeleryTaskLogic, TestCeleryCanvas, TestSetTenantDecorator, TestBeatScheduling.

---

5. Fake Secrets (TruffleHog)

# BAD - TruffleHog flags these:
api_key = "sk-test1234567890T3BlbkFJtest1234567890"

# GOOD - obviously fake:
api_key = "sk-fake-test-key-for-unit-testing-only"

---

6. Response Status Codes

Scenario	Code
Successful GET	200
Successful POST	201
Async operation (DELETE/scan trigger)	202
Sync DELETE	204
Validation error	400
Missing permission (RBAC)	403
RLS isolation / not found	404

---

Commands

cd api && uv run pytest -x --tb=short
cd api && uv run pytest -k "test_provider"
cd api && uv run pytest api/src/backend/api/tests/test_rbac.py

---

Resources

• Full Examples: See assets/api_test.py for complete test patterns
• Fixture Reference: See references/test-api-docs.md
• Fixture Source: api/src/backend/conftest.py