Testing Guidelines

Follow these principles when writing tests.

Core Principles

1. Mock External Services, Use Real Fixtures

ALWAYS mock third-party network services. ALWAYS use fixtures based on real-world data.

• Fixtures must be scrubbed of PII (use dummy data like foo@example.com, user-123)
• Capture real API responses, then sanitize them
• Never make actual network calls in tests

2. Prefer Integration Tests Over Unit Tests

Focus on end-to-end style tests that validate inputs and outputs, not implementation details.

• Test the public interface, not internal methods