rust-testing-code-review

Rust Testing Code Review

Review Workflow

1. Check test organization — Unit tests in #[cfg(test)] modules, integration tests in tests/ directory
2. Check async test setup — #[tokio::test] for async tests, proper runtime configuration
3. Check assertions — Meaningful messages, correct assertion type
4. Check test isolation — No shared mutable state between tests, proper setup/teardown
5. Check coverage patterns — Error paths tested, edge cases covered

Output Format

Report findings as:

[FILE:LINE] ISSUE_TITLE
Severity: Critical | Major | Minor | Informational
Description of the issue and why it matters.

Quick Reference

Issue Type	Reference
Unit tests, assertions, naming, snapshots, rstest, doc tests	references/unit-tests.md
Integration tests, async testing, fixtures, test databases	references/integration-tests.md

Review Checklist

Test Structure

• Unit tests in #[cfg(test)] mod tests within source files
• Integration tests in tests/ directory (one file per module or feature)
• use super::* in test modules to access parent module items
• Test function names describe the scenario: test_<function>_<scenario>_<expected>
• Tests are independent — no reliance on execution order

Async Tests

• #[tokio::test] used for async test functions
• #[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread")] when testing multi-threaded behavior
• No block_on inside async tests (use .await directly)
• Test timeouts set for tests that could hang

Assertions

• assert_eq! / assert_ne! used for value comparisons (better error messages than assert!)
• Custom messages on assertions that aren't self-documenting
• matches! macro used for enum variant checking
• Error types checked with matches! or pattern matching, not string comparison
• One assertion per test where practical (easier to diagnose failures)

Mocking and Test Doubles

• Traits used as seams for dependency injection (not concrete types)
• Mock implementations kept minimal — only what the test needs
• No mocking of types you don't own (wrap external dependencies behind your own trait)
• Test fixtures as helper functions, not global state

Error Path Testing

• Result::Err variants tested, not just happy paths
• Specific error variants checked (not just "is error")
• #[should_panic] used sparingly — prefer Result-returning tests

Test Naming

• Test names read like sentences describing behavior (not test_happy_path)
• Related tests grouped in nested mod blocks for organization
• Test names follow pattern: <function>_should_<behavior>_when_<condition>

Snapshot Testing

• cargo insta used for complex structural output (JSON, YAML, HTML, CLI output)
• Snapshots are small and focused (not huge objects)
• Redactions used for unstable fields (timestamps, UUIDs)
• Snapshots committed to git in snapshots/ directory
• Simple values use assert_eq!, not snapshots

Parametrized Testing

• rstest used to avoid duplicated test functions for similar inputs
• #[rstest] with #[case::name] attributes for descriptive parametrized tests
• #[fixture] used for shared test setup when multiple tests need same construction
• Parametrized tests still have descriptive case names (not just #[case(1)])
• Combined with async: #[rstest] #[tokio::test] for async parametrized tests

Doc Tests

• Public API functions have /// # Examples with runnable code
• Doc tests serve as both documentation and correctness checks
• Hidden setup lines prefixed with # to keep examples clean
• cargo test --doc passes (nextest doesn't run doc tests)

Severity Calibration

Critical

• Tests that pass but don't actually verify behavior (assertions on wrong values)
• Shared mutable state between tests causing flaky results
• Missing error path tests for security-critical code

Major

• #[should_panic] without expected message (catches any panic, including wrong ones)
• unwrap() in test setup that hides the real failure location
• Tests that depend on execution order

Minor

• Missing assertion messages on complex comparisons
• assert!(x == y) instead of assert_eq!(x, y) (worse error messages)
• Test names that don't describe the scenario
• Redundant setup code that could be extracted to a helper

Informational

• Suggestions to add property-based tests via proptest or quickcheck
• Suggestions to add snapshot testing for complex output
• Coverage improvement opportunities

Valid Patterns (Do NOT Flag)

• unwrap() / expect() in tests — Panicking on unexpected errors is the correct test behavior
• use super::* in test modules — Standard pattern for accessing parent items
• #[allow(dead_code)] on test helpers — Helper functions may not be used in every test
• clone() in tests — Clarity over performance
• Large test functions — Integration tests can be long; extracting helpers isn't always clearer
• assert! for boolean checks — Fine when the expression is clearly boolean (.is_some(), .is_empty())
• Multiple assertions testing one logical behavior — Sometimes one behavior needs multiple checks
• unwrap() on Result-returning test functions — Propagating with ? is also fine but not required

Before Submitting Findings

Load and follow beagle-rust:review-verification-protocol before reporting any issue.