Tests Integration Strategy

Goal

Validate real boundaries without polluting the fast unit-test suite or creating flaky tests.

For real boundary examples and anti-patterns, see BOUNDARIES.md.

When To Use Integration Tests

Use integration tests when the real dependency is part of what must be trusted:

• database schema, queries, migrations, constraints, triggers, transactions
• filesystem paths, permissions, or file formats
• HTTP clients/servers and serialization contracts
• queues, events, schedulers, jobs, and message formats
• browser/UI behavior that cannot be proven below the UI
• framework routing, middleware, dependency injection, or configuration
• legacy behavior before refactoring