Integration Tests

Integration tests in conda test the application from a high level where each test can potentially cover large portions of the code. These tests may also use the local file system and/or perform network calls. In the following sections, we cover several examples of exactly how these tests look. When writing your own integration tests, these should serve as a good starting point.

conda_cli Fixture: Running CLI level tests

CLI level tests are the highest level integration tests you can write. This means that the code in the test is executed as if you were running it from the command line. For example, you may want to write a test to confirm that an environment is created after successfully running conda create. A test like this would look like the following:

Integration test for conda create

import json
from pathlib import Path

from conda.testing.integration import CondaCLIFixture


def test_conda_create(conda_cli: CondaCLIFixture, tmp_path: Path):
    # setup, create environment
    out, err, code = conda_cli("create", "--prefix", tmp_path, "--yes")

    assert f"conda activate {tmp_path}" in out
    assert not err  # no errors
    assert not code  # success!

    # verify everything worked using the `conda env list` command
    out, err, code = conda_cli("env", "list", "--json")

    assert any(
        tmp_path.samefile(path)
        for path in json.loads(out).get("envs", [])
    )
    assert not err  # no errors
    assert not code  # success!

    # cleanup, remove environment
    out, err, code = conda_cli("remove", "--all", "--prefix", tmp_path)

    assert out
    assert not err  # no errors
    assert not code  # success!

Let’s break down exactly what is going on in the code snippet above:

First, we rely on a fixture (conda_cli) that allows us to run a command using the current running process. This is much more efficient and quicker than running CLI tests via subprocesses.

In the test itself, we first create a new environment by effectively running conda create. This function returns the standard out, standard error, and the exit code of the command. This allows us to perform our inspections in order to determine whether the command ran successfully.

The second part of the test again uses the conda_cli fixture to call conda env list. This time, we pass the --json flag, which allows capturing JSON that we can better parse and more easily inspect. We then assert whether the environment we just created is actually in the list of environments available.

Finally, we destroy the environment we just created and ensure the standard error and the exit code are what we expect them to be.

Warning

It is preferred to use temporary directories (e.g., tmp_path) whenever possible for automatic cleanup after tests are run. Otherwise, remember to remove anything created during the test since it will be present when other tests are run and may result in unexpected race conditions.

tmp_env Fixture: Creating a temporary environment

The tmp_env fixture is a convenient way to create a temporary environment for use in tests:

Integration test for creating an environment with numpy

from conda.testing.integration import CondaCLIFixture, TmpEnvFixture


def test_environment_with_numpy(
    tmp_env: TmpEnvFixture,
    conda_cli: CondaCLIFixture,
):
    with tmp_env("numpy") as prefix:
        out, err, code = conda_cli("list", "--prefix", prefix)

        assert out
        assert not err  # no error
        assert not code  # success!

path_factory Fixture: Creating a unique (non-existing) path

The path_factory fixture extends pytest’s tmp_path fixture to provide unique, unused paths. This makes it easier to generate new paths in tests:

Integration test for renaming an environment

from conda.testing.integration import (
    CondaCLIFixture,
    PathFactoryFixture,
    TmpEnvFixture,
)


def test_conda_rename(
    path_factory: PathFactoryFixture,
    tmp_env: TmpEnvFixture,
    conda_cli: CondaCLIFixture,
    tmp_path: Path,
):
    # each call to `path_factory` returns a unique path
    assert path_factory() != path_factory()

    # each call to `path_factory` returns a path that is a child of `tmp_path`
    assert path_factory().parent == path_factory().parent == tmp_path

    with tmp_env() as prefix:
        out, err, code = conda_cli("rename", "--prefix", prefix, path_factory())

        assert out
        assert not err  # no error
        assert not code  # success!

Tests with fixtures

Sometimes in integration tests, you may want to re-use the same type of environment more than once. Copying and pasting this setup and teardown code into each individual test can make these tests more difficult to read and harder to maintain.

To overcome this, conda tests make extensive use of pytest fixtures. Below is an example of the previously-shown test, except that we now make the focus of the test the conda env list command and move the creation and removal of the environment into a fixture:

Integration test for conda create

import json
from pathlib import Path

from conda.testing.integration import CondaCLIFixture


@pytest.fixture
def env_one(tmp_env: TmpEnvFixture) -> Path:
    with tmp_env() as prefix:
        yield prefix


def test_conda_create(env_one: Path, conda_cli: CondaCLIFixture):
    # verify everything worked using the `conda env list` command
    out, err, code = conda_cli("env", "list", "--json")

    assert any(
        env_one.samefile(path)
        for path in json.loads(out).get("envs", [])
    )
    assert not err  # no errors
    assert not code  # success!

In the fixture named env_one, we create a new environment using the tmp_env fixture. We yield to mark the end of the setup. Since the tmp_env fixture extends tmp_path no additional teardown is needed.

This fixture will be run using the default scope in pytest, which is function. This means that the setup and teardown will occur before and after each test that requests this fixture. If you need to share an environment or other pieces of data between tests, just remember to set the fixture scope appropriately. Read here for more information on pytest fixture scopes.