14 KiB
Testing
TDD shape, table-driven tests, require vs assert, snapshot tests, property-based tests, integration tests with testcontainers, goroutine-leak detection. The discipline in programming/SKILL.md (Given/When/Then, less mock the better, efficient AND accurate) — this document gives the Go-specific recipes.
Tools
| Need | Use |
|---|---|
| Assertions | stretchr/testify/require (and assert only inside table loops) |
| Mocks | go.uber.org/mock (gomock successor) |
| Goroutine leaks | go.uber.org/goleak |
| Snapshots / golden | hexops/autogold/v2 |
| Property-based | pgregory.net/rapid |
| HTTP mocks (outbound) | h2non/gock |
| HTTP test server (inbound) | stdlib net/http/httptest |
| Integration containers | testcontainers/testcontainers-go |
| TUI | charm.land/bubbletea/v2/teatest |
| Bench tooling | stdlib testing.B + perf.dev/benchstat |
Test naming — Given / When / Then in the name
// ──── PATTERN ────
// Test_<Subject>_<Outcome>_when_<Condition>
// OR
// Test_<Subject>_<Action>_<ExpectedOutcome>
func Test_Email_NewEmail_lowercases_input(t *testing.T)
func Test_Email_NewEmail_rejects_input_without_at_sign(t *testing.T)
func Test_UserService_Create_persists_user_when_inputs_valid(t *testing.T)
func Test_UserService_Create_returns_validation_error_when_email_invalid(t *testing.T)
A test name should answer "what behavior is this asserting?" without reading the body. Names that need a comment to explain them are misnamed.
Single test — explicit Given/When/Then
func Test_Email_NewEmail_rejects_input_without_at_sign(t *testing.T) {
// Given
raw := "not-an-email"
// When
_, err := domain.NewEmail(raw)
// Then
require.Error(t, err)
require.ErrorIs(t, err, domain.ErrInvalidEmail)
}
require.* fails the test immediately on miss. Use require for preconditions and primary assertions. Use assert.* only inside table-driven loops where you want all cases to report.
Table-driven tests
func Test_Email_NewEmail(t *testing.T) {
tests := []struct {
name string
input string
want string
wantErr error
}{
{"lowercases", "ALICE@example.com", "alice@example.com", nil},
{"trims whitespace", " bob@example.com ", "bob@example.com", nil},
{"rejects missing @", "no-at-sign", "", domain.ErrInvalidEmail},
{"rejects empty", "", "", domain.ErrInvalidEmail},
{"rejects too long", strings.Repeat("a", 256) + "@e.com", "", domain.ErrInvalidEmail},
}
for _, tt := range tests {
t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
// When
got, err := domain.NewEmail(tt.input)
// Then
if tt.wantErr != nil {
require.ErrorIs(t, err, tt.wantErr)
return
}
require.NoError(t, err)
assert.Equal(t, tt.want, got.String())
})
}
}
Rules:
- One scenario per row, not one assertion per row.
- Subtest names are sentences in lowercase;
t.Run(tt.name, ...)makes them filterable:go test -run Test_Email_NewEmail/rejects_missing_@. - The loop body itself is Given/When/Then in shape.
- For Go 1.22+, the loop var capture works correctly without the
tt := ttshadow line — thecopyloopvarlinter enforces the new style.
Less mocks — the priority order
In Go specifically:
- Real implementation. Domain types, pure functions, value objects — instantiate them. They are fast.
- In-memory fake that satisfies the interface. Has its own test suite proving behavioral parity with the real impl.
httptest.Serverfor HTTP collaborators (real wire, no internet).testcontainersfor stateful collaborators (Postgres, Redis, S3-compatible, Kafka).- gomock ONLY for: clocks, randomness, third-party SaaS with no sandbox.
Example: an in-memory fake
// Real interface
type UserRepo interface {
Save(ctx context.Context, u domain.User) error
Get(ctx context.Context, id domain.UserID) (domain.User, error)
}
// In-memory fake — production-quality, tested separately
type FakeUserRepo struct {
mu sync.RWMutex
users map[domain.UserID]domain.User
}
func NewFakeUserRepo() *FakeUserRepo {
return &FakeUserRepo{users: map[domain.UserID]domain.User{}}
}
func (r *FakeUserRepo) Save(ctx context.Context, u domain.User) error {
r.mu.Lock(); defer r.mu.Unlock()
r.users[u.ID] = u
return nil
}
func (r *FakeUserRepo) Get(ctx context.Context, id domain.UserID) (domain.User, error) {
r.mu.RLock(); defer r.mu.RUnlock()
u, ok := r.users[id]
if !ok { return domain.User{}, domain.ErrUserNotFound }
return u, nil
}
The fake has the same observable behavior as the real one. Tests against FakeUserRepo survive when the production repo's internals change. Tests against a gomock stub of UserRepo break.
A test passing against a fake AND a test passing against the real impl is the gold standard. Run the same test suite twice — once with the fake, once with testcontainers. The fakes earn their keep when the suites diverge.
Example: gomock for the unmockable
//go:generate mockgen -source=clock.go -destination=mocks/clock_mock.go -package=mocks
type Clock interface {
Now() time.Time
}
// In a test:
ctrl := gomock.NewController(t)
clock := mocks.NewMockClock(ctrl)
clock.EXPECT().Now().Return(fixedTime).AnyTimes()
Mock the narrowest seam. Never mock UserRepo if a fake suffices.
E2E scenario tests
//go:build e2e
func Test_E2E_user_can_signup_then_login(t *testing.T) {
// Given — full server in a goroutine
ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 30*time.Second)
defer cancel()
pool := newTestDB(t) // testcontainers Postgres
server := startServer(t, pool) // real gin engine on a random port
defer server.Close()
client := server.Client()
// When — sign up
resp, err := client.Post(server.URL+"/api/v1/users",
"application/json",
strings.NewReader(`{"email":"a@b.com","username":"alice","password":"PassWord!23"}`),
)
require.NoError(t, err)
require.Equal(t, 201, resp.StatusCode)
// When — log in
resp, err = client.Post(server.URL+"/api/v1/auth/login",
"application/json",
strings.NewReader(`{"email":"a@b.com","password":"PassWord!23"}`),
)
require.NoError(t, err)
require.Equal(t, 200, resp.StatusCode)
var body struct{ Token string `json:"token"` }
require.NoError(t, json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&body))
require.NotEmpty(t, body.Token)
// Then — token works on protected endpoint
req, _ := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, "GET", server.URL+"/api/v1/me", nil)
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+body.Token)
resp, err = client.Do(req)
require.NoError(t, err)
require.Equal(t, 200, resp.StatusCode)
}
Patterns:
//go:build e2ebuild tag separates slow E2E from fast unit tests. Run withgo test -tags=e2e ./....- One narrative per test: "user can sign up then log in". One
Test_E2E_*per user-visible outcome. - Real DB via testcontainers, real gin engine, real HTTP. No mocks. The point is to catch integration bugs.
- Bounded context — every E2E gets a
context.WithTimeoutso failures don't hang CI.
Goroutine leak detection
package mypkg
import (
"testing"
"go.uber.org/goleak"
)
func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
goleak.VerifyTestMain(m,
goleak.IgnoreTopFunction("github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus.(*Registry)..."),
)
}
One line at the top of every package that spawns goroutines. Catches the bug class the race detector cannot.
Snapshot / golden tests — autogold
import "github.com/hexops/autogold/v2"
func Test_RenderHelp_matches_snapshot(t *testing.T) {
// Given
cmd := newRootCmd()
// When
out := captureOutput(t, func() { _ = cmd.Help() })
// Then
autogold.ExpectFile(t, out)
}
First run: go test -update ./... writes testdata/Test_RenderHelp.golden. Future runs compare; failures show a diff. Re-approve intentional changes with -update.
Use snapshots for STRUCTURE, not BEHAVIOR. Good targets:
- CLI
--helpoutput - JSON response shape
- Generated SQL queries
- Rendered prompts (assert the structure, not exact wording — see SKILL.md prompt-test rule)
Bad targets: a function's return value where you should require.Equal on the actual structure.
Property-based tests — rapid
import "pgregory.net/rapid"
func Test_Email_NewEmail_then_String_roundtrips(t *testing.T) {
rapid.Check(t, func(t *rapid.T) {
// Given — generate valid emails
local := rapid.StringMatching(`[a-z]{3,10}`).Draw(t, "local")
domain := rapid.StringMatching(`[a-z]{3,10}\.com`).Draw(t, "domain")
raw := local + "@" + domain
// When
e, err := domain.NewEmail(raw)
require.NoError(t, err)
// Then — round-trip property
e2, err := domain.NewEmail(e.String())
require.NoError(t, err)
require.Equal(t, e, e2)
})
}
rapid shrinks failing cases to minimal counterexamples. Use for:
- Round-trips (parse → serialize → parse).
- Algebraic properties (sort produces ordered, dedup is idempotent, JSON marshal/unmarshal is involutive).
- Invariants under random input (validator never panics, serializer never produces invalid UTF-8).
HTTP testing — httptest
Server side
func Test_GetUser_returns_user_for_existing_id(t *testing.T) {
// Given
svc := newSvcWithFake(t)
r := gin.New()
h := &Handler{Users: svc}
h.Mount(r)
req := httptest.NewRequest("GET", "/api/v1/users/u-1", nil)
rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
// When
r.ServeHTTP(rec, req)
// Then
require.Equal(t, 200, rec.Code)
var body domain.User
require.NoError(t, json.Unmarshal(rec.Body.Bytes(), &body))
require.Equal(t, "u-1", string(body.ID))
}
Client side — httptest.NewServer
func Test_Client_retries_on_500(t *testing.T) {
// Given — fake upstream
var calls int
srv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
calls++
if calls < 3 {
w.WriteHeader(500)
return
}
w.WriteHeader(200)
_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"ok":true}`))
}))
defer srv.Close()
client := myclient.New(srv.URL)
// When
err := client.DoSomething(context.Background())
// Then
require.NoError(t, err)
require.Equal(t, 3, calls)
}
httptest.NewServer spins a real HTTP server on a random port. The fake handler implements the upstream contract. Test the client against the contract, not the implementation.
Determinism — the cardinal rules
- No
time.Sleepin tests. If you need delay, you need a Clock injection. go test -shuffle=onin every CI run.go test -count=1to defeat the cache.- Subscribe to the event, do not poll for it. Channels, callbacks,
t.Cleanupover polling. t.Parallel()for tests that share no state. Speeds up large suites by 4-8x.
A test that fails 1-in-10 runs is a bug, not flake. The race detector + -shuffle=on + ordering hygiene catches >95% of "flake".
Benchmarks — testing.B + benchstat
func Benchmark_NewEmail(b *testing.B) {
for b.Loop() { // Go 1.24+ idiom, replaces `for i := 0; i < b.N; i++`
_, _ = domain.NewEmail("alice@example.com")
}
}
Run:
go test -bench=. -count=10 -benchmem ./... | tee bench.txt
benchstat bench.txt # statistical comparison
Always -count=10 for stable means. -benchmem reports allocations. A 5%-slower benchmark in one run is noise; 10 runs + benchstat tells you what is real.
To compare before/after a change:
git stash
go test -bench=. -count=10 ./... > before.txt
git stash pop
go test -bench=. -count=10 ./... > after.txt
benchstat before.txt after.txt
Coverage — the right target
Run:
go test -race -shuffle=on -coverprofile=cover.out ./...
go tool cover -html=cover.out -o cover.html
Aim for 80%+ on internal/domain and internal/service. Boundary code (handlers, store mappers) is exercised by integration tests, where line coverage understates what is actually verified. Do not chase 100% — the last 5% is usually error paths that need fault-injection to hit.
The golangci-lint config does not enforce a minimum — coverage as a CI gate becomes a goal-displacement metric. Treat it as feedback, not requirement.
TUI testing — teatest
import teatest "charm.land/bubbletea/v2/teatest"
func Test_Counter_increments_on_space(t *testing.T) {
// Given
tm := teatest.NewTestModel(t, initial(), teatest.WithInitialTermSize(80, 24))
// When
tm.Send(tea.KeyPressMsg{Code: ' '})
// Then
final := tm.FinalModel(t).(model)
require.Equal(t, 1, final.count)
}
For full-view regression, snapshot the rendered output via autogold.
Antipatterns the skill rejects
| Bad | Why | Good |
|---|---|---|
if got != want { t.Errorf("expected %v got %v", want, got) } |
Reinvents require.Equal |
Use testify |
time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond) after triggering async work |
Flake | Subscribe to completion signal, bounded await |
t.Skip(...) to silence a known failure |
Buries the bug | Fix or open an issue; never silently skip |
| One mega-test asserting 12 things | First failure hides next 11 | Split by Then |
| Snapshot-everything | Locks formatting, not behavior | Snapshots for structure, asserts for values |
| Mock every collaborator | Test asserts implementation, not behavior | Real or fake, never mock everything |
Test calls private function via _test.go in same package only |
Couples test to implementation | Test through the public surface |
Sources
- testify: https://github.com/stretchr/testify
- goleak: https://github.com/uber-go/goleak
- autogold: https://github.com/hexops/autogold
- rapid: https://pkg.go.dev/pgregory.net/rapid
- testcontainers-go: https://golang.testcontainers.org
- benchstat: https://pkg.go.dev/golang.org/x/perf/cmd/benchstat
- "Go test naming conventions" (Dave Cheney): https://dave.cheney.net/practical-go/presentations/qcon-china.html