frappe-testing

name	frappe-testing
description	Write and run tests for Frappe/ERPNext apps — FrappeTestCase, test records, fixtures, mocking, permission tests, running with bench run-tests, and CI. Use when adding test coverage, doing TDD on a DocType or API, or setting up a test pipeline. Trigger on: "Frappe test", "FrappeTestCase", "bench run-tests", "unit test DocType", "test fixtures", "TDD frappe".

Frappe Testing

Frappe ships a unittest-based harness with DB isolation. Tests run in a transaction that's rolled back, so they don't pollute the site.

Basic test

# myapp/myapp/doctype/widget/test_widget.py
import frappe
from frappe.tests.utils import FrappeTestCase

class TestWidget(FrappeTestCase):
    def test_creates_with_defaults(self):
        w = frappe.get_doc({"doctype": "Widget", "title": "A"}).insert()
        self.assertEqual(w.status, "Open")

    def test_validation_blocks_bad_qty(self):
        with self.assertRaises(frappe.ValidationError):
            frappe.get_doc({"doctype": "Widget", "title": "B", "qty": -1}).insert()

FrappeTestCase wraps each test in a savepoint and rolls back — no manual cleanup needed.

Test records (fixtures)

# test_records.json next to the doctype → auto-loaded as dependencies
[ { "doctype": "Widget", "title": "Seed", "qty": 1 } ]

Or build inline with a helper:

def make_widget(**kw):
    return frappe.get_doc({"doctype": "Widget", "title": "T", **kw}).insert()

Permission tests

def test_clerk_cannot_submit(self):
    frappe.set_user("[e-mail]")
    self.assertFalse(frappe.has_permission("Widget", "submit"))
    frappe.set_user("Administrator")        # restore

Mocking external calls

from unittest.mock import patch

@patch("myapp.services.sync.requests.post")
def test_sync_calls_api(self, mock_post):
    mock_post.return_value.status_code = 200
    run_sync("W-0001")
    mock_post.assert_called_once()

Running

bench --site <site> run-tests --app myapp
bench --site <site> run-tests --doctype "Widget"
bench --site <site> run-tests --module myapp.tests.test_sync
bench --site <site> run-tests --app myapp --coverage
bench --site <site> run-tests --skip-test-records --skip-before-tests   # fast iteration
bench --site <site> run-tests --junit-xml-output=/tmp/junit.xml         # CI output

Enable a test site: bench --site <site> set-config allow_tests true. Tests must run on a site whose name starts with test_ to prevent accidental data loss on production sites.

Test planning (manual + regression)

Before automating, define smoke (login + one submit flow) and critical-path cases in a structured format (preconditions → steps → expected). Cover permissions, hooks, API/import paths — not only Desk happy path. Template and checklists: skills/frappe/test-planner.md.

Rules

• Use FrappeTestCase, not bare unittest.TestCase — you get DB rollback + helpers.
• Never hit production data; bench run-tests uses the site's test mode.
• Make tests independent — don't rely on records another test created (savepoints roll back).
• For background jobs, call the method synchronously (is_async=False) or invoke the function directly.
• Assert behaviour and side-effects (DB rows, status), not implementation details.

Source: https://docs.frappe.io/framework/user/en/guides/automated-testing/unit-testing