testing-quality-standards

---
name: testing-quality-standards
description: Defines testing quality metrics, coverage thresholds, and anti-patterns. Use when establishing test gates or validating a test suite's coverage targets.
license: MIT
---

# Testing Quality Standards

Shared quality standards and metrics for testing across all plugins in the Claude Night Market ecosystem.


## When To Use

- Establishing test quality gates and coverage targets
- Validating test suite against quality standards

## When NOT To Use

- Exploratory testing or spike work
- Projects with established quality gates that meet requirements

## Table of Contents

1. [Coverage Thresholds](#coverage-thresholds)
2. [Quality Metrics](#quality-metrics)
3. [Detailed Topics](#detailed-topics)

## Coverage Thresholds

| Level | Coverage | Use Case |
|-------|----------|----------|
| Minimum | 60% | Legacy code |
| Standard | 80% | Normal development |
| High | 90% | Critical systems |
| detailed | 95%+ | Safety-critical |

## Quality Metrics

### Structure
- [ ] Clear test organization
- [ ] Meaningful test names
- [ ] Proper setup/teardown
- [ ] Isolated test cases

### Coverage
- [ ] Critical paths covered
- [ ] Edge cases tested
- [ ] Error conditions handled
- [ ] Integration points verified

### Maintainability
- [ ] DRY test code
- [ ] Reusable fixtures
- [ ] Clear assertions
- [ ] Minimal mocking

### Reliability
- [ ] No flaky tests
- [ ] Deterministic execution
- [ ] No order dependencies
- [ ] Fast feedback loop

## Detailed Topics

For implementation patterns and examples:

- **[Anti-Patterns](modules/anti-patterns.md)** - Common testing mistakes with before/after examples
- **[Best Practices](modules/best-practices.md)** - Core testing principles and exit criteria
- **[Content Assertion Levels](modules/content-assertion-levels.md)** - L1/L2/L3 taxonomy for testing LLM-interpreted markdown files

## Integration with Plugin Testing

This skill provides foundational standards referenced by:
- `pensive:test-review` - Uses coverage thresholds and quality metrics
- `parseltongue:python-testing` - Uses anti-patterns and best practices
- `sanctum:test-*` - Uses quality checklist and content assertion levels for test validation
- `imbue:proof-of-work` - Uses content assertion levels to enforce Iron Law on execution markdown

Reference in your skill's frontmatter:
```yaml
dependencies: [leyline:testing-quality-standards]
```
**Verification:** Run `pytest -v` to verify tests pass.
## Troubleshooting

### Common Issues

**Tests not discovered**
Ensure test files match pattern `test_*.py` or `*_test.py`. Run `pytest --collect-only` to verify.

**Import errors**
Check that the module being tested is in `PYTHONPATH` or install with `pip install -e .`

**Async tests failing**
Install pytest-asyncio and decorate test functions with `@pytest.mark.asyncio`

## Exit Criteria

- [ ] Coverage threshold met for the project tier: 60% minimum for
  legacy code, 80% for normal development, 90% for critical
  systems, 95%+ for safety-critical; measured with
  `pytest --cov` and threshold enforced in `pyproject.toml`
- [ ] All four quality metric checklists pass: Structure (clear
  organization, meaningful names, setup/teardown, isolation),
  Coverage (critical paths, edge cases, error conditions,
  integration points), Maintainability (DRY fixtures, clear
  assertions, minimal mocking), Reliability (no flaky tests,
  deterministic execution, no order dependencies)
- [ ] Test files match discovery pattern `test_*.py` or `*_test.py`
  confirmed by `pytest --collect-only` returning no errors
- [ ] No snapshot tests present on non-deterministic output (hash
  maps, timestamps, UUIDs); any found flagged as anti-patterns
  per `modules/anti-patterns.md`