fixture-governance

name	fixture-governance
description	Create and review deterministic RPM fixtures for safe, non-mutating tests. Use when tests need package manifests, lockfiles, registry metadata, install projects, expected outputs, or regression fixtures.

Fixture Governance

Core Rule

Fixtures are immutable test inputs. Tests may copy fixtures into a temporary directory, but must not modify fixture files in place.

Use fixtures to make package-manager behavior reproducible without live network state or root repository files.

Fixture Categories

• fixtures/package-json/: manifest parser tests
• fixtures/lockfile/: lockfile parse/write compatibility tests
• fixtures/registry/: offline npm metadata tests
• fixtures/install-projects/: integration-style install tests with expected output

Test Workflow

1. Copy fixture into a temporary directory.
2. Run code against the temp directory.
3. Compare output to expected/ when applicable.
4. Leave the original fixture unchanged.

Rules

• Keep fixtures small.
• Prefer explicit expected outputs.
• Avoid live network in unit tests and resolver tests.
• Do not use root package.json or rpm.lock as test input.
• Prefer fake registry metadata over real npm calls for resolver tests.
• Add a fixture when fixing behavior that can regress.

When To Read References

Read references/fixture-layout.md when choosing fixture directories, examples, or review checklist details.