| name | testing-strategies |
| description | Build confidence with comprehensive CLI testing. Unit tests catch logic bugs with fakes, integration tests verify API contracts, E2E tests validate workflows. |
Testing Strategies
When to Use This Skill
A well-tested CLI uses different testing strategies at different levels. This section covers:
Implementation
See the full implementation guide in the source documentation.
Key Principles
| Practice | Description |
|---|
| Interface first | Design for testability with interfaces |
| Table-driven tests | Cover edge cases systematically |
| Parallel tests | Use t.Parallel() where safe |
| Build tags | Separate integration tests with //go:build integration |
| Clean up | Always clean up test resources |
Test at the right level. Unit tests catch logic bugs. Integration tests catch API issues. E2E tests catch workflow bugs.
Techniques
Overview
A well-tested CLI uses different testing strategies at different levels. This section covers:
Testing Pyramid
graph TB
E2E[E2E Tests<br/>Full workflow in real cluster]
Integration[Integration Tests<br/>Real API server with kind/envtest]
Unit[Unit Tests<br/>Fake clients and mock interfaces]
E2E --> Integration --> Unit
%% Ghostty Hardcore Theme
style E2E fill:#9e6ffe,color:#1b1d1e
style Integration fill:#65d9ef,color:#1b1d1e
style Unit fill:#a7e22e,color:#1b1d1e
Test Organization
myctl/
├── cmd/
│ ├── check.go
│ └── check_test.go # Command tests
├── pkg/
│ ├── k8s/
│ │ ├── client.go
│ │ ├── client_test.go # Unit tests with fakes
│ │ └── fake_client.go # Test doubles
│ └── selector/
│ ├── selector.go
│ └── selector_test.go
└── test/
├── e2e/ # E2E tests
└── fixtures/ # Test resources
Makefile Targets
.PHONY: test test-unit test-integration test-e2e
test: test-unit
test-unit:
go test -v -race ./...
test-integration:
go test -v -tags=integration ./pkg/...
test-e2e:
./test/e2e/run.sh
Best Practices
| Practice | Description |
|---|
| Interface first | Design for testability with interfaces |
| Table-driven tests | Cover edge cases systematically |
| Parallel tests | Use t.Parallel() where safe |
| Build tags | Separate integration tests with //go:build integration |
| Clean up | Always clean up test resources |
Test at the right level. Unit tests catch logic bugs. Integration tests catch API issues. E2E tests catch workflow bugs.
Examples
See examples.md for code examples.
References
