Rails Testing for Production Systems

Production-focused testing guidance supporting both RSpec and Minitest. Detect the project's testing framework and apply appropriate patterns.

Framework Detection

Check for testing framework in use:

# RSpec if present
grep -q "rspec-rails" Gemfile && echo "RSpec"

# Check for spec directory
ls -d spec 2>/dev/null && echo "RSpec"

# Minitest (Rails default)
ls -d test 2>/dev/null && echo "Minitest"

RSpec Patterns

Directory Structure

spec/
├── factories/           # FactoryBot definitions
├── fixtures/files/      # File fixtures (images, PDFs)
├── models/              # Model specs
├── requests/            # Request specs (API testing)
├── services/            # Service object specs
├── system/              # System specs (browser testing)
├── support/             # Helpers, shared examples
│   ├── factory_bot.rb
│   ├── capybara.rb
│   └── shared_examples/
└── rails_helper.rb

Request Specs (API Testing)

# spec/requests/api/v1/orders_spec.rb
RSpec.describe "Orders API", type: :request do
  let(:user) { create(:user) }
  let(:headers) { { "Authorization" => "Bearer #{user.api_token}" } }

  describe "GET /api/v1/orders" do
    let!(:orders) { create_list(:order, 3, user: user) }

    it "returns user orders" do
      get "/api/v1/orders", headers: headers

      expect(response).to have_http_status(:ok)
      expect(json_response["orders"].size).to eq(3)
    end

    it "excludes other users orders" do
      other_order = create(:order)

      get "/api/v1/orders", headers: headers

      expect(json_response["orders"].map { |o| o["id"] })
        .not_to include(other_order.id)
    end
  end

  describe "POST /api/v1/orders" do
    let(:valid_params) do
      {
        order: {
          shipping_address_id: create(:address, user: user).id,
          line_items_attributes: [
            { product_id: create(:product).id, quantity: 2 }
          ]
        }
      }
    end

    it "creates an order" do
      expect {
        post "/api/v1/orders", params: valid_params, headers: headers
      }.to change(Order, :count).by(1)

      expect(response).to have_http_status(:created)
    end

    context "with invalid params" do
      it "returns validation errors" do
        post "/api/v1/orders",
             params: { order: { line_items_attributes: [] } },
             headers: headers

        expect(response).to have_http_status(:unprocessable_entity)
        expect(json_response["errors"]).to include(/line items/i)
      end
    end
  end

  private

  def json_response
    JSON.parse(response.body)
  end
end

Model Specs

# spec/models/order_spec.rb
RSpec.describe Order, type: :model do
  describe "validations" do
    it { is_expected.to validate_presence_of(:user) }
    it { is_expected.to validate_presence_of(:status) }

    it "requires at least one line item" do
      order = build(:order, line_items: [])
      expect(order).not_to be_valid
      expect(order.errors[:line_items]).to include("can't be empty")
    end
  end

  describe "associations" do
    it { is_expected.to belong_to(:user) }
    it { is_expected.to have_many(:line_items).dependent(:destroy) }
    it { is_expected.to have_many(:products).through(:line_items) }
  end

  describe "scopes" do
    describe ".pending" do
      it "returns only pending orders" do
        pending = create(:order, :pending)
        completed = create(:order, :completed)

        expect(Order.pending).to include(pending)
        expect(Order.pending).not_to include(completed)
      end
    end
  end

  describe "#total" do
    it "calculates sum of line item totals" do
      order = create(:order)
      create(:line_item, order: order, price: 10, quantity: 2)
      create(:line_item, order: order, price: 5, quantity: 1)

      expect(order.total).to eq(25)
    end
  end
end

System Specs (Browser Testing)

# spec/system/checkout_spec.rb
RSpec.describe "Checkout", type: :system do
  let(:user) { create(:user) }
  let(:product) { create(:product, name: "Widget", price: 99) }

  before do
    sign_in user
    create(:cart_item, user: user, product: product, quantity: 2)
  end

  it "completes checkout successfully" do
    visit cart_path

    expect(page).to have_content("Widget")
    expect(page).to have_content("$198.00")

    click_on "Proceed to Checkout"

    fill_in "Street address", with: "123 Main St"
    fill_in "City", with: "Portland"
    select "Oregon", from: "State"
    fill_in "Zip", with: "97201"

    click_on "Place Order"

    expect(page).to have_content("Order confirmed")
    expect(page).to have_content("Order #")
  end

  it "shows validation errors for invalid address" do
    visit checkout_path

    click_on "Place Order"

    expect(page).to have_content("Street address can't be blank")
  end
end

FactoryBot Patterns

# spec/factories/orders.rb
FactoryBot.define do
  factory :order do
    user
    status { :pending }

    transient do
      items_count { 1 }
    end

    after(:build) do |order, evaluator|
      if order.line_items.empty?
        evaluator.items_count.times do
          order.line_items << build(:line_item, order: order)
        end
      end
    end

    trait :pending do
      status { :pending }
    end

    trait :completed do
      status { :completed }
      completed_at { Time.current }
    end

    trait :with_payment do
      after(:create) do |order|
        create(:payment, order: order)
      end
    end
  end
end

Shared Examples

# spec/support/shared_examples/authenticatable.rb
RSpec.shared_examples "requires authentication" do
  context "without authentication" do
    let(:headers) { {} }

    it "returns unauthorized" do
      make_request
      expect(response).to have_http_status(:unauthorized)
    end
  end
end

# Usage
RSpec.describe "Orders API" do
  describe "GET /api/v1/orders" do
    it_behaves_like "requires authentication" do
      let(:make_request) { get "/api/v1/orders", headers: headers }
    end
  end
end

Minitest Patterns

Directory Structure

test/
├── fixtures/            # YAML fixtures
├── controllers/         # Functional tests
├── integration/         # Integration tests
├── models/              # Unit tests
├── system/              # System tests
├── helpers/             # Helper tests
└── test_helper.rb

Model Tests

# test/models/order_test.rb
class OrderTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
  test "validates presence of user" do
    order = Order.new(user: nil)
    assert_not order.valid?
    assert_includes order.errors[:user], "must exist"
  end

  test "calculates total correctly" do
    order = orders(:pending_order)
    assert_equal 150, order.total
  end

  test "scope pending returns only pending orders" do
    pending_orders = Order.pending
    assert pending_orders.all? { |o| o.status == "pending" }
  end
end

Controller Tests (Integration)

# test/controllers/orders_controller_test.rb
class OrdersControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
  setup do
    @user = users(:john)
    sign_in @user
  end

  test "should get index" do
    get orders_url
    assert_response :success
    assert_select "h1", "Your Orders"
  end

  test "should create order" do
    assert_difference("Order.count") do
      post orders_url, params: {
        order: {
          shipping_address_id: addresses(:home).id,
          line_items_attributes: [
            { product_id: products(:widget).id, quantity: 1 }
          ]
        }
      }
    end

    assert_redirected_to order_url(Order.last)
  end
end

System Tests

# test/system/checkouts_test.rb
class CheckoutsTest < ApplicationSystemTestCase
  setup do
    @user = users(:john)
    sign_in @user
    @cart = create_cart_with_items(@user)
  end

  test "completing checkout" do
    visit cart_url

    click_on "Checkout"

    fill_in "Street address", with: "123 Main St"
    fill_in "City", with: "Portland"
    click_on "Place Order"

    assert_text "Order confirmed"
  end
end

Fixtures

# test/fixtures/orders.yml
pending_order:
  user: john
  status: pending
  created_at: <%= 1.day.ago %>

completed_order:
  user: john
  status: completed
  completed_at: <%= 1.hour.ago %>

Testing Best Practices

Test Speed

# Use build instead of create when possible
order = build(:order)  # No database hit
order = create(:order) # Database hit

# Use build_stubbed for even faster tests
order = build_stubbed(:order)

# Disable callbacks when not needed
user = create(:user, :skip_callbacks)

Database Cleaner

# spec/support/database_cleaner.rb
RSpec.configure do |config|
  config.before(:suite) do
    DatabaseCleaner.clean_with(:truncation)
  end

  config.before(:each) do
    DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
  end

  config.before(:each, type: :system) do
    DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :truncation
  end

  config.around(:each) do |example|
    DatabaseCleaner.cleaning { example.run }
  end
end

Parallel Testing

# spec/rails_helper.rb
RSpec.configure do |config|
  config.before(:suite) do
    # Prepare database for parallel testing
    ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute("SET SESSION lock_timeout = '2s'")
  end
end

# Run tests in parallel
# PARALLEL_TEST_PROCESSORS=4 bundle exec rspec

Additional Resources

Reference Files

For detailed patterns and examples:

• references/testing-patterns.md - Advanced testing patterns, mocking, time testing
• references/ci-configuration.md - GitHub Actions, parallel testing setup