pytest Core Knowledge

Deep Knowledge: Use mcp__documentation__fetch_docs with technology: pytest for comprehensive documentation.

When NOT to Use This Skill

• JavaScript/TypeScript Testing - Use vitest or jest for JS/TS projects
• Java Testing - Use junit for Java/Spring projects
• E2E Web Testing - Use playwright for browser automation
• Load Testing - Use locust or pytest-benchmark for performance
• API Contract Testing - Use dedicated tools like Pact

Basic Tests

def test_addition():
    assert 1 + 1 == 2

def test_list_contains():
    items = [1, 2, 3]
    assert 2 in items

def test_raises_exception():
    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
        int("not a number")

class TestUserService:
    def test_create_user(self):
        user = create_user(name="John")
        assert user.name == "John"

Fixtures

import pytest

@pytest.fixture
def user():
    return User(name="John", email="john@example.com")

@pytest.fixture
def db():
    connection = create_db_connection()
    yield connection
    connection.close()

def test_user_name(user):
    assert user.name == "John"

def test_user_in_db(db, user):
    db.save(user)
    assert db.find(user.id) is not None

Parametrize

@pytest.mark.parametrize("input,expected", [
    (1, 2),
    (2, 4),
    (3, 6),
])
def test_double(input, expected):
    assert double(input) == expected

@pytest.mark.parametrize("email,valid", [
    ("test@example.com", True),
    ("invalid", False),
    ("", False),
])
def test_validate_email(email, valid):
    assert validate_email(email) == valid

Mocking

from unittest.mock import Mock, patch

def test_with_mock():
    mock_api = Mock()
    mock_api.get_users.return_value = [{"name": "John"}]

    result = process_users(mock_api)

    mock_api.get_users.assert_called_once()

@patch('myapp.api.requests.get')
def test_api_call(mock_get):
    mock_get.return_value.json.return_value = {"data": []}

    result = fetch_data()

    assert result == {"data": []}

Async Tests

import pytest

@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_async_function():
    result = await async_fetch_data()
    assert result is not None

# With pytest-asyncio 0.23+
@pytest.mark.asyncio(loop_scope="module")
async def test_shared_loop():
    pass

Property-Based Testing (Hypothesis)

from hypothesis import given, strategies as st

@given(st.integers(), st.integers())
def test_addition_commutative(a: int, b: int):
    assert a + b == b + a

@given(st.lists(st.integers()))
def test_sort_idempotent(items: list[int]):
    assert sorted(sorted(items)) == sorted(items)

@given(st.text(min_size=1))
def test_string_nonempty(s: str):
    assert len(s) >= 1

# Custom strategies
@given(st.builds(User, name=st.text(min_size=1), age=st.integers(0, 150)))
def test_user_creation(user: User):
    assert user.name
    assert 0 <= user.age <= 150

# Stateful testing
from hypothesis.stateful import RuleBasedStateMachine, rule

class SetMachine(RuleBasedStateMachine):
    def __init__(self):
        self.model = set()
        self.impl = MySet()

    @rule(value=st.integers())
    def add(self, value):
        self.model.add(value)
        self.impl.add(value)
        assert self.impl.contains(value)

Configuration

# pytest.ini
[pytest]
testpaths = tests
python_files = test_*.py
python_functions = test_*
addopts = -v --cov=src --cov-report=html

Production Readiness

Test Organization

# tests/conftest.py - Shared fixtures
import pytest
from sqlalchemy import create_engine
from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker

@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
def engine():
    """Database engine for all tests."""
    engine = create_engine("sqlite:///:memory:")
    Base.metadata.create_all(engine)
    yield engine
    engine.dispose()

@pytest.fixture(scope="function")
def db_session(engine):
    """Fresh database session for each test."""
    Session = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
    session = Session()
    yield session
    session.rollback()
    session.close()

@pytest.fixture
def client(db_session):
    """Test client with database session."""
    app.dependency_overrides[get_db] = lambda: db_session
    with TestClient(app) as client:
        yield client
    app.dependency_overrides.clear()

Coverage Configuration

# pyproject.toml
[tool.pytest.ini_options]
testpaths = ["tests"]
python_files = ["test_*.py"]
addopts = "-v --cov=src --cov-report=term-missing --cov-report=xml --cov-fail-under=80"
markers = [
    "slow: marks tests as slow",
    "integration: integration tests",
]

[tool.coverage.run]
source = ["src"]
omit = ["*/tests/*", "*/__init__.py"]

[tool.coverage.report]
exclude_lines = [
    "pragma: no cover",
    "if TYPE_CHECKING:",
    "raise NotImplementedError",
]

CI Configuration

# GitHub Actions
- name: Run tests
  run: |
    pytest --junitxml=test-results.xml --cov-report=xml

- name: Upload coverage
  uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
  with:
    files: ./coverage.xml

Factory Pattern

# tests/factories.py
import factory
from faker import Faker

fake = Faker()

class UserFactory(factory.Factory):
    class Meta:
        model = User

    name = factory.LazyAttribute(lambda _: fake.name())
    email = factory.LazyAttribute(lambda _: fake.email())
    is_active = True

# Usage
def test_user_creation(db_session):
    user = UserFactory()
    db_session.add(user)
    db_session.commit()
    assert user.id is not None

Monitoring Metrics

Checklist

• Fixtures in conftest.py
• Database isolation per test
• Coverage thresholds enforced
• CI/CD integration
• Factory pattern for test data
• Proper test markers
• Async tests with pytest-asyncio
• Mocking external services
• Parametrized edge cases
• Error paths tested

Anti-Patterns

Quick Troubleshooting

Hypothesis Configuration

# pyproject.toml
[tool.hypothesis]
deadline = 500  # ms
max_examples = 100
database = ".hypothesis"

[tool.pytest.ini_options]
addopts = "--hypothesis-show-statistics"

Reference Documentation

• Fixtures
• Mocking

Official docs:

• pytest: https://docs.pytest.org/
• hypothesis: https://hypothesis.readthedocs.io/