Console Test Writing Guide

Testing conventions and patterns for the akash-network/console monorepo.

Deciding What Type of Test to Write

Choose the lowest-effective test level:

Functional tests should only fail when functional requirements change, not from refactoring. Don't write functional tests for simple routes — test the service layer directly.

Universal Rules (All Test Types)

The setup Function Pattern

This is the most important convention. Never use beforeEach with shared mutable variables.

• Define a setup() function at the bottom of the root describe block
• It constructs the unit under test and returns it along with all mocked dependencies
• It accepts a single parameter with an inline type definition
• Do not specify the return type — let TypeScript infer it
• Each test calls setup() independently — no shared mutable state across tests

describe(BalancesService.name, () => {
  it("returns balances for a given address", async () => {
    const { service, balanceRepository } = setup();
    balanceRepository.findByAddress.mockResolvedValue([{ denom: "uakt", amount: "1000" }]);

    const result = await service.getBalances("akash1abc...");

    expect(result).toEqual([{ denom: "uakt", amount: "1000" }]);
  });

  it("returns empty array when no balances found", async () => {
    const { service, balanceRepository } = setup();
    balanceRepository.findByAddress.mockResolvedValue([]);

    const result = await service.getBalances("akash1xyz...");

    expect(result).toEqual([]);
  });

  function setup(input?: { customConfig?: Partial<BalancesConfig> }) {
    const balanceRepository = mock<BalanceRepository>();
    const config = mockConfigService<BalancesConfig>({ ...input?.customConfig });
    const service = new BalancesService(balanceRepository, config);
    return { service, balanceRepository, config };
  }
});

Skip setup only if creating the object under test is trivially simple (e.g., testing a pure function with no dependencies).

Test Description Conventions

Root describe: Use SubjectUnderTest.name (the actual reference, not a string). This enables IDE refactoring and reference-finding.

// Good
describe(StripeWebhookService.name, () => { ... });

// Bad
describe("StripeWebhookService", () => { ... });

Nested describe: Use either a method name or a "when ..." condition.

describe(StripeWebhookService.name, () => {
  describe("handleChargeRefunded", () => { ... });
  describe("when payment method is missing", () => { ... });
});

it blocks: Use present simple, 3rd person singular. Do NOT prepend with "should".

// Good
it("returns early when customer ID is missing", async () => { ... });
it("updates both limits and isTrialing when endTrial is true", async () => { ... });

// Bad
it("should return early when customer ID is missing", async () => { ... });

Mocking: mock<T>() from vitest-mock-extended

Always use mock<T>() for typed mocks. Never use jest.mock() or vi.mock() for module-level mocking — it causes OOM with heavy component trees and couples tests to implementation details.

import { mock } from "vitest-mock-extended";

const userRepository = mock<UserRepository>();
const stripeService = mock<StripeService>();
const logger = mock<LoggerService>();

Prefer mock<T>() over as unknown as <Type> for hand-built doubles. When stubbing a hook return value or service that has many fields, build it with mock<T>() and override only the fields the test cares about. Hand-built objects coerced through as unknown as silently survive contract changes upstream and hide real regressions.

// Good — stays in sync with the real type, lets the test focus on what matters
const useCustomUser: typeof DEPENDENCIES.useCustomUser = () =>
  mock<ReturnType<typeof DEPENDENCIES.useCustomUser>>({
    user: { username: "alice" },
    isLoading: false
  });

// Bad — `UseCustomUser` could grow a required field and this still compiles
const useCustomUser = () =>
  ({ user: { username: "alice" }, isLoading: false }) as unknown as ReturnType<typeof DEPENDENCIES.useCustomUser>;

Reserve as unknown as for the rare case where the type is structurally incompatible (e.g. branded types) and mock<T>() cannot satisfy it.

For config services, use mockConfigService<T>() (in apps/api/test/mocks/config-service.mock.ts):

const billingConfig = mockConfigService<BillingConfigService>({
  DEPLOYMENT_GRANT_DENOM: "uakt",
  TRIAL_ALLOWANCE_EXPIRATION_DAYS: 14
});

Vitest Imports

Always explicitly import from vitest:

import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";

Explicit imports make dependencies visible and simplify TypeScript types.

No if Statements in Assertions

Never use conditional logic in test expectations. If you need to narrow a type, use as assertions. Otherwise, skipped assertions silently pass when they shouldn't.

// Good
const result = await service.validate(cert) as CertValidationResultError;
expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
expect(result.code).toBe("unknownCertificate");

// Bad
const result = await service.validate(cert);
if (!result.ok) {
  expect(result.code).toBe("unknownCertificate");
}

Arrange-Act-Assert (AAA)

Follow the AAA pattern. Setup prepares state; the test validates it. Don't mix concerns.

it("creates a deployment grant", async () => {
  // Arrange
  const { service, grantService } = setup();
  grantService.create.mockResolvedValue(mockGrant);

  // Act
  const result = await service.createGrant("akash1abc...");

  // Assert
  expect(result).toEqual(mockGrant);
  expect(grantService.create).toHaveBeenCalledWith("akash1abc...");
});

Test Error Paths the Code Handles

If a service catches and transforms errors, test those paths. Don't skip error coverage just because the happy path works — and flag unhandled error scenarios rather than ignoring them.

Frontend Tests (deploy-web)

Read @references/frontend-patterns.md for the full set of frontend-specific patterns including the DEPENDENCIES pattern, hook testing, query testing, and container testing.

Key points:

• Use getBy* for presence assertions (toBeInTheDocument()), and queryBy* for absence assertions (not.toBeInTheDocument())
• Use the DEPENDENCIES export + dependencies prop for component DI (never vi.mock) — this covers components, hooks, and any other heavy imports
• Use MockComponents() helper to auto-mock dependencies
• Services are injected via useServices hook, not via DEPENDENCIES prop
• Use setupQuery() utility for React Query hook tests
• Use renderHook from @testing-library/react for hook tests

API Unit Tests

Read @references/api-patterns.md for the full set of API-specific patterns including service testing, config mocking, and seeder patterns.

Key points:

• Construct services manually with mock<T>() dependencies
• Use seeders for test data (apps/api/test/seeders/)
• Use function-based seeders (not class-based)
• Use @faker-js/faker for randomized data in seeders
• Seeder accepts Partial<T> overrides with sensible defaults

API Functional Tests

Read @references/api-patterns.md for functional test setup details.

Key points:

• Whitebox seeding, blackbox testing: Seed data at the DB/repository level, but interact only through HTTP
• Each spec file gets its own database via TestDatabaseService (auto-created, migrated, dropped)
• Don't resolve controllers/services from the DI container — don't call application services or other endpoints to set up state
• Mock external HTTP calls with nock, not internal services
• Use a plain HTTP client (fetch()-based helpers) for Hono apps, supertest for NestJS — avoid framework-internal methods like app.request()
• Each test verifies a single endpoint's behavior in isolation
• Use function-based seeders to create test fixtures in the real database
• Write race condition tests for upsert operations

Notifications Tests (NestJS)

• Use @nestjs/testing Test.createTestingModule() for DI
• Use MockProvider() helper to create NestJS providers with vitest-mock-extended mocks
• Functional tests use supertest with a real NestJS app and per-file test databases

E2E / Playwright Tests

• Use semantic locators: getByRole, getByLabel, getByPlaceholder — never CSS selectors or data-testid
• getByRole('button', { name: /Submit/ }) — don't add redundant aria-label to buttons that already have text
• Page Objects abstract UI interactions but must NOT contain assertions
• Use waitFor(...) instead of setTimeout — timeouts cause flakiness
• No console.log or manual screenshots — use Playwright's built-in traces (npx playwright --ui)
• No randomness in test data — it causes flaky failures
• Use Promise.all with context.waitForEvent("page") for navigation patterns

Test File Organization

• Test files are co-located with source: my-service.ts → my-service.spec.ts
• Frontend: *.spec.tsx for components, *.spec.ts for logic
• API unit: src/**/*.spec.ts
• API integration: src/**/*.integration.ts
• API functional: test/functional/**/*.spec.ts
• API e2e: test/e2e/**/*.spec.ts
• Seeders: test/seeders/ in each app

After Writing Tests

Verify before committing:

1. Run the test suite in the affected app: npm test (or npm run test:unit / npm run test:functional depending on scope)
2. Check for type errors: npx tsc --noEmit in the app directory
3. Run the linter: npm run lint -- --quiet
4. Review test output — ensure no skipped tests, no unexpected console warnings, and all assertions are meaningful (not just expect(true).toBe(true))
5. Verify coverage — the new test should cover the behavior described in the issue or PR, not just hit lines