api-testing

name	api-testing
description	Testing patterns for MCP tool/resource handlers using `createMockContext` and Vitest. Covers mock context options, handler testing, McpError assertions, format testing, Vitest config setup, and test isolation conventions.
metadata	{"author":"cyanheads","version":"1.6","audience":"external","type":"reference"}

Overview

Tests target handler behavior directly — call handler(input, ctx), assert on the return value or thrown error. The framework's handler factory (try/catch, formatting, telemetry) is not involved. Use createMockContext from @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/testing to construct the ctx argument.

Additional exports from /testing: createMockSession() binds a mock handler context to an HTTP session; createFetchMock() provides a strict upstream HTTP fake; runToolContract() executes a definition through schema, handler, formatting, enrichment/content, and production-shaped error-envelope checks. createMockLogger() returns a standalone MockContextLogger, and createInMemoryStorage(options?) provides a real StorageService backed by InMemoryProvider.

Philosophy: Test behavior, not implementation. Refactors should not break tests. Match the repo's existing test layout: fresh scaffolds use tests/, while colocated src/**/*.test.ts files are also supported. Integration tests at I/O boundaries over unit tests of internals.

---

mcpTest — fixture-based Vitest test

mcpTest is a test.extend-based Vitest test that provides ctx, session, fetchMock, and storage as per-test fixtures — fresh instances for every test, eliminating boilerplate and enforcing isolation automatically. fetchMock is installed as globalThis.fetch only when requested by a test and restored afterward.

import { mcpTest } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/testing/vitest';

mcpTest('echoes the message', async ({ ctx }) => {
  const result = await echoTool.handler(echoTool.input.parse({ message: 'hi' }), ctx);
  expect(result.message).toBe('hi');
});

mcpTest('uses storage fixture', async ({ ctx, storage }) => {
  const svc = new MyService(config, storage);
  const result = await svc.doWork(ctx);
  expect(result).toBeDefined();
});

mcpTest('stubs an upstream HTTP boundary', async ({ fetchMock }) => {
  fetchMock.route({
    match: 'https://api.example.test/items/42',
    respond: Response.json({ id: '42' }),
  });
  await expect(loadItem('42')).resolves.toMatchObject({ id: '42' });
});

Fixtures

Fixture	Type	Per-test?	Notes
ctx	Context	Yes	Fresh createMockContext() each test
session	MockSession	Yes	Fresh { sessionId, tenantId?, ctx } from createMockSession()
fetchMock	FetchMockHarness	Yes	Strict fetch fake installed/restored around the requesting test
storage	StorageService	Yes	Fresh createInMemoryStorage() each test

Extending with the function form

Override fixtures using the function form (async ({}, use) => { ... }) to preserve per-test freshness. A bare-value override shares one mutable instance across the entire file — defeating the fixture's isolation guarantee.

import { createMockContext } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/testing/vitest';

// Correct — function form gives each test a fresh context:
const tenantTest = mcpTest.extend({
  ctx: async ({}, use) => { await use(createMockContext({ tenantId: 'test-tenant' })); },
});

// Wrong — bare value shares one ctx across every test in the file:
// const tenantTest = mcpTest.extend({ ctx: createMockContext({ tenantId: 'test-tenant' }) });

The portable /testing helpers are re-exported from @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/testing/vitest so fixture overrides don't need a second import.

---

Upstream HTTP testing with createFetchMock

Use the fetch harness at real outbound I/O boundaries. Stub the external service, not server-owned services or handlers.

import { createFetchMock } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/testing';

const http = createFetchMock([
  {
    method: 'GET',
    match: 'https://api.example.test/items/42',
    respond: Response.json({ id: '42', name: 'Example' }),
  },
]);

http.install();
try {
  await expect(loadItem('42')).resolves.toEqual({ id: '42', name: 'Example' });
  expect(http.calls[0]?.request.url).toBe('https://api.example.test/items/42');
} finally {
  http.restore();
}

Routes match in registration order. match accepts an exact URL, RegExp, or request predicate; respond accepts a clonable Response or response factory. Set once: true for one-shot behavior. Unmatched requests throw unless onUnhandled is provided.

---

Tool conformance with toolContractSuite

Point the reusable suite at a definition plus representative success and failure inputs. It checks input/output schemas, invokes the real handler, applies formatting/enrichment/content, and validates both public error surfaces.

import { JsonRpcErrorCode } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/errors';
import { toolContractSuite } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/testing/vitest';

toolContractSuite(searchTool, {
  success: [{ name: 'returns matches', input: { query: 'mcp' } }],
  errors: [{
    name: 'reports an empty query',
    input: { query: '' },
    code: JsonRpcErrorCode.InvalidParams,
    reason: 'empty_query',
  }],
});

Use runToolContract(definition, input, { context }) from /testing when a custom test runner or an imperative assertion is a better fit. It intentionally skips transport auth and telemetry; those belong in transport/integration tests.

---

createMockContext options

import { createMockContext } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/testing';

createMockContext()                                           // minimal — ctx.state operations throw without tenantId
createMockContext({ tenantId: 'test-tenant' })               // enables ctx.state (tenant-scoped in-memory storage)
createMockContext({ errors: myTool.errors })                 // attaches typed ctx.fail keyed by the contract reasons
createMockContext({ elicit: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(...) }) // with elicitation
createMockContext({ progress: true })                        // with task progress (ctx.progress populated)
createMockContext({ requestId: 'my-id' })                    // override request ID (default: 'test-request-id')
createMockContext({ notifyResourceListChanged: () => {} })   // with resource-list change notifier
createMockContext({ notifyResourceUpdated: (_uri) => {} })   // with resource update notifier
createMockContext({ signal: controller.signal })             // custom AbortSignal
createMockContext({ auth: { clientId: 'test', scopes: [], sub: 'test-user' } }) // with auth context
createMockContext({ uri: new URL('myscheme://item/123') })   // for resource handler testing

MockContextOptions interface:

interface MockContextOptions {
  auth?: AuthContext;
  elicit?: (message: string, schema: z.ZodObject<z.ZodRawShape>) => Promise<ElicitResult>;
  errors?: readonly ErrorContract[];
  notifyPromptListChanged?: () => void;
  notifyResourceListChanged?: () => void;
  notifyResourceUpdated?: (uri: string) => void;
  notifyToolListChanged?: () => void;
  progress?: boolean;
  sessionId?: string;
  requestId?: string;
  signal?: AbortSignal;
  tenantId?: string;
  uri?: URL;
}

Option	Effect
(none)	Minimal context — ctx.state operations throw without tenantId; ctx.elicit/ctx.progress are undefined
auth	Sets ctx.auth for scope-checking tests
elicit	Assigns a function to ctx.elicit for testing elicitation calls
errors	Attaches a typed ctx.fail against the contract — same wiring the production handler factory uses. Pass myTool.errors directly.
notifyPromptListChanged	Assigns ctx.notifyPromptListChanged for prompt-list change notification tests
notifyResourceListChanged	Assigns ctx.notifyResourceListChanged for resource notification tests
notifyResourceUpdated	Assigns ctx.notifyResourceUpdated for resource update notification tests
notifyToolListChanged	Assigns ctx.notifyToolListChanged for tool-list change notification tests
sessionId	Sets ctx.sessionId for handlers that branch on session ID
progress	Populates ctx.progress with real state-tracking implementation (see below)
requestId	Overrides ctx.requestId (default: 'test-request-id')
signal	Overrides ctx.signal — useful for cancellation testing
tenantId	Sets ctx.tenantId and enables ctx.state operations with in-memory storage
uri	Sets ctx.uri for resource handler testing

Mock progress

When progress: true, ctx.progress is a real state-tracking object — not vi.fn() spies. It maintains internal state accessible via inspection properties:

const ctx = createMockContext({ progress: true });
// ctx.progress is typed as ContextProgress, but the mock exposes internal state:
const progress = ctx.progress as ContextProgress & {
  _total: number;
  _completed: number;
  _messages: string[];
};

await ctx.progress!.setTotal(10);
await ctx.progress!.increment(3);
await ctx.progress!.update('step message');

expect(progress._total).toBe(10);
expect(progress._completed).toBe(3);
expect(progress._messages).toContain('step message');

Mock logger

ctx.log captures all log calls for inspection. Import MockContextLogger from @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/testing and cast ctx.log to access the .calls array (the cast is necessary because createMockContext returns Context, which types log as ContextLogger):

import { createMockContext, type MockContextLogger } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/testing';

const ctx = createMockContext();
const log = ctx.log as MockContextLogger;

await myTool.handler(input, ctx);
expect(log.calls.some(c => c.level === 'info' && c.msg.includes('Processing'))).toBe(true);

---

Full test example

// tests/tools/my-tool.tool.test.ts
import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
import { createMockContext } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/testing';
import { myTool } from '@/mcp-server/tools/definitions/my-tool.tool.js';

describe('myTool', () => {
  it('returns expected output', async () => {
    const ctx = createMockContext();
    const input = myTool.input.parse({ query: 'hello' });
    const result = await myTool.handler(input, ctx);
    expect(result.result).toBe('Found: hello');
  });

  it('throws on invalid state', async () => {
    const ctx = createMockContext();
    const input = myTool.input.parse({ query: 'TRIGGER_ERROR' });
    await expect(myTool.handler(input, ctx)).rejects.toThrow();
  });

  it('formats response completely', () => {
    const result = { result: 'test' };
    const blocks = myTool.format!(result);
    expect(blocks[0].type).toBe('text');
    expect((blocks[0] as { text?: string }).text).toContain('test');
  });
});

Parse input through myTool.input.parse(...) to validate against the Zod schema and produce the typed input the handler expects. Call myTool.handler(input, ctx) directly, not through the MCP SDK or any framework wrapper. Assert on the return value for happy paths; use .rejects.toThrow() for error paths. Test format separately if the tool defines one — it's a pure function and needs no ctx. Verify the rendered text includes the fields the LLM needs, and for projection-style tools, add a case with non-default field selections.

---

Testing with optional capabilities

it('uses elicitation when available', async () => {
  const elicit = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
    action: 'accept',
    content: { format: 'json' },
  });
  const ctx = createMockContext({ elicit });
  const input = myTool.input.parse({ query: 'hello' });
  await myTool.handler(input, ctx);
  expect(elicit).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
});

it('handles missing elicitation gracefully', async () => {
  // ctx.elicit is undefined — handler must check before calling
  const ctx = createMockContext();
  const input = myTool.input.parse({ query: 'hello' });
  // Should not throw even when ctx.elicit is absent
  await expect(myTool.handler(input, ctx)).resolves.toBeDefined();
});

---

Testing with form-based client payloads

LLM clients only send populated fields. Form-based clients (MCP Inspector, web UIs) submit the full schema shape — optional object fields arrive with empty-string inner values instead of undefined. Both are valid MCP usage. Test that handlers handle both gracefully.

describe('form-client payloads', () => {
  it('skips optional object when inner fields are empty strings', async () => {
    const ctx = createMockContext();
    // Form client sends the object with empty values instead of omitting it
    const input = myTool.input.parse({
      query: 'test',
      dateRange: { minDate: '', maxDate: '' },
    });
    const result = await myTool.handler(input, ctx);
    // Should succeed — empty dateRange is ignored, not passed downstream
    expect(result.items).toBeDefined();
  });

  it('uses optional object when inner fields have real values', async () => {
    const ctx = createMockContext();
    const input = myTool.input.parse({
      query: 'test',
      dateRange: { minDate: '2025-01-01', maxDate: '2025-12-31' },
    });
    const result = await myTool.handler(input, ctx);
    // Should apply the date filter
    expect(result.items).toBeDefined();
  });
});

The pattern: parse through the schema (confirms Zod accepts the payload), call the handler, assert the empty-value case produces correct results — no errors, no corrupted downstream queries. Same applies to optional arrays: test with [] to verify the handler skips rather than passes through.

---

Testing with sparse upstream payloads

This is a different problem from form-client '' payloads. Here the upstream API omits fields entirely. The risk is either a validation failure from an over-strict schema or a quiet lie where missing data turns into a concrete fact.

describe('sparse upstream payloads', () => {
  it('preserves missing upstream fields as unknown', async () => {
    const upstream = {
      id: 'repo-123',
      name: 'Widget Repo',
      // archived and star_count omitted entirely
    };

    const normalized = normalizeRepo(upstream);
    expect(normalized).toEqual({
      id: 'repo-123',
      name: 'Widget Repo',
    });

    const output = repoSearchTool.output.parse({
      repos: [normalized],
    });
    const blocks = repoSearchTool.format!(output);
    expect((blocks[0] as { text: string }).text).toContain('Archived:** Not available');
    expect((blocks[0] as { text: string }).text).not.toContain('Archived:** No');
  });
});

What to verify:

• Fixtures omit fields entirely, not just set them to null or ''.
• Normalization/helpers tolerate missing fields without fabricating defaults.
• Handler output still validates against the declared output schema.
• format() uses explicit unknown-state fallbacks instead of inventing facts.
• Tool-semantic defaults are tested separately from upstream absence so the distinction stays clear.

---

Vitest config

Extend the framework's base config using mergeConfig. The base provides globals: true, pool: 'forks', isolate: true, tsconfigPaths, and a Zod SSR compatibility fix. Add only the @/ alias for your server's source:

// vitest.config.ts
import { defineConfig, mergeConfig } from 'vitest/config';
import coreConfig from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/vitest.config';

export default mergeConfig(coreConfig, defineConfig({
  resolve: {
    alias: { '@/': new URL('./src/', import.meta.url).pathname },
  },
}));

mergeConfig deep-merges the framework base with your overrides. The base sets globals: true (describe, it, expect, etc. available without imports), pool: 'forks' and isolate: true (test files run in separate worker processes), and ssr: { noExternal: ['zod'] } for Zod 4 compatibility. The resolve.alias entry maps @/ to src/, matching the paths alias in tsconfig.json so imports like @/services/... resolve correctly in tests.

---

Test isolation

Construct dependencies fresh in beforeEach. Never share mutable state across tests.

import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
import { initMyService } from '@/services/my-domain/my-service.js';

describe('myTool with service', () => {
  beforeEach(() => {
    // Re-initialize with a fresh instance before each test
    initMyService(mockConfig, mockStorage);
  });

  it('calls service correctly', async () => {
    const ctx = createMockContext({ tenantId: 'test-tenant' });
    // ...
  });
});

• Re-init services with initMyService() (or equivalent) in beforeEach when tests share a module-level singleton.
• Vitest runs test files in separate workers — parallel file execution is safe by default.
• Use createMockContext({ tenantId }) whenever the handler accesses ctx.state — omitting tenantId causes ctx.state to throw.

---

McpError assertions

import { McpError, JsonRpcErrorCode } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/errors';

it('throws NotFound for missing resource', async () => {
  const ctx = createMockContext();
  const input = myTool.input.parse({ id: 'nonexistent' });
  await expect(myTool.handler(input, ctx)).rejects.toMatchObject({
    code: JsonRpcErrorCode.NotFound,
  });
});

Use .rejects.toThrow(McpError) to assert type only. Use .rejects.toMatchObject({ code: ... }) when the specific error code matters.

---

Output schema assertions

expect.schemaMatching (Vitest 4, Standard Schema) validates a value against any Zod schema — including the definition's own output. Use it to assert schema conformance without duplicating the shape in the test:

it('output conforms to the declared output schema', async () => {
  const ctx = createMockContext();
  const result = await myTool.handler(myTool.input.parse({ query: 'x' }), ctx);
  expect(result).toEqual(expect.schemaMatching(myTool.output));
});

It composes as an asymmetric matcher anywhere a value is expected — e.g. toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.schemaMatching(schema)). Prefer exact-value assertions when the expected output is fully known; reach for schemaMatching when the output is dynamic (timestamps, generated IDs) or the schema itself is the contract under test.

---

Testing handlers with errors[] (typed contract)

Tools and resources that declare an errors[] contract receive a typed ctx.fail helper at runtime. Pass the definition's own errors to createMockContext and the mock wires fail the same way the production handler factory does:

import { createMockContext } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/testing';
import { JsonRpcErrorCode } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/errors';
import { fetchItems } from '@/mcp-server/tools/definitions/fetch-items.tool.js';

it('throws ctx.fail("no_match") when no items resolve', async () => {
  const ctx = createMockContext({ errors: fetchItems.errors });

  const input = fetchItems.input.parse({ ids: ['missing'] });
  await expect(fetchItems.handler(input, ctx)).rejects.toMatchObject({
    code: JsonRpcErrorCode.NotFound,
    data: { reason: 'no_match' },
  });
});

For lower-level tests that need the raw fail helper without a full mock context (e.g. asserting the reason → code mapping), use createFail directly — see Testing the handler-side fail plumbing below.

Why test data.reason and not just code?

The contract reason is the stable machine-readable identifier — clients switch on it the same way they would on an HTTP status. A code alone (NotFound) doesn't disambiguate between contract entries that share a code ('no_match' vs 'withdrawn' both mapping to NotFound). Asserting on data.reason locks the test to the specific contract entry.

data.reason is overridable-proof

The framework spreads caller-supplied data first and writes reason last, so a handler that passes data: { reason: 'something_else' } cannot override the contract reason. Tests can rely on data.reason always equaling the contract entry's reason — write assertions that depend on it without paranoia.

Testing the handler-side fail plumbing

To verify the definition wires ctx.fail correctly without exercising the full handler factory, use the errors array directly:

import { createFail } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core';

it('builds an error with the contract code and reason', () => {
  const fail = createFail(myTool.errors!);
  const err = fail('no_match', 'not found', { itemId: '123' });
  expect(err.code).toBe(JsonRpcErrorCode.NotFound);
  expect(err.data).toEqual({ reason: 'no_match', itemId: '123' });
});

---

Fuzz testing

For schema-heavy or input-validation-critical handlers, the framework ships fuzz helpers under @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/testing/fuzz. They generate valid + adversarial inputs from your Zod schemas via fast-check and assert handler invariants (no crashes, no prototype pollution, no stack-trace leaks).

import { fuzzTool, fuzzResource, fuzzPrompt } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/testing/fuzz';

it('survives fuzz testing', async () => {
  const report = await fuzzTool(myTool, { numRuns: 100, numAdversarial: 30 });
  expect(report.crashes).toHaveLength(0);
  expect(report.leaks).toHaveLength(0);
  expect(report.prototypePollution).toBe(false);
});

Helper	Purpose
fuzzTool(def, opts) / fuzzResource(def, opts) / fuzzPrompt(def, opts)	Drive valid + adversarial inputs through the handler. Returns a FuzzReport.
zodToArbitrary(schema)	Convert a Zod schema to a fast-check Arbitrary for custom property-based tests.
adversarialArbitrary() / ADVERSARIAL_STRINGS	Targeted injection sets (prototype pollution probes, control characters, oversized payloads).

FuzzOptions: numRuns (default 50), numAdversarial (default 30), seed (reproducibility), timeout (per-call ms, default 5000), ctx (MockContextOptions for stateful handlers).