rust-testing

See it in action

Author example

Source example: Rust red and green TDD stages

Both complete author blocks are separate successive stages: replace the todo-based function with the green implementation rather than compiling duplicate add definitions together. A crate is required. The source PASS/panic comments describe expected stages, not tests run by this site.

Example input

```rust
// RED: Write test first, use todo!() as placeholder
pub fn add(a: i32, b: i32) -> i32 { todo!() }

#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
    use super::*;
    #[test]
    fn test_add() { assert_eq!(add(2, 3), 5); }
}
// cargo test → panics at 'not yet implemented'
```

```rust
// GREEN: Replace todo!() with minimal implementation
pub fn add(a: i32, b: i32) -> i32 { a + b }
// cargo test → PASS, then REFACTOR while keeping tests green
```

Original example · ENView source · affaan-m/ECC License · MIT

License

Complete original source block(s), unchanged; enclosing Markdown fences omitted for a single block or retained between grouped blocks. Editorial title and prerequisite summary added. Source code and assertions were not executed.

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 Affaan Mustafa

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

Author example

Source example: property tests and custom strategies

Two complete proptest blocks cover round trips, sort length/order and generated email-like inputs. Requires proptest plus your encode/decode and User implementations. Repeated imports belong to example sections; this is not complete email validation or an executed test suite.

Example input

```rust
use proptest::prelude::*;

proptest! {
    #[test]
    fn encode_decode_roundtrip(input in ".*") {
        let encoded = encode(&input);
        let decoded = decode(&encoded).unwrap();
        assert_eq!(input, decoded);
    }

    #[test]
    fn sort_preserves_length(mut vec in prop::collection::vec(any::<i32>(), 0..100)) {
        let original_len = vec.len();
        vec.sort();
        assert_eq!(vec.len(), original_len);
    }

    #[test]
    fn sort_produces_ordered_output(mut vec in prop::collection::vec(any::<i32>(), 0..100)) {
        vec.sort();
        for window in vec.windows(2) {
            assert!(window[0] <= window[1]);
        }
    }
}
```

```rust
use proptest::prelude::*;

fn valid_email() -> impl Strategy<Value = String> {
    ("[a-z]{1,10}", "[a-z]{1,5}")
        .prop_map(|(user, domain)| format!("{user}@{domain}.com"))
}

proptest! {
    #[test]
    fn accepts_valid_emails(email in valid_email()) {
        assert!(User::new("Test", &email).is_ok());
    }
}
```

Original example · ENView source · affaan-m/ECC License · MIT

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 Affaan Mustafa

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

Author example

Source example: mock a repository trait

Complete original mockall trait and found/missing-user tests. Requires mockall plus matching User, StorageError and UserService definitions not supplied by this block. Expected mock calls/assertions are preserved; no independent test pass is claimed.

Example input

use mockall::{automock, predicate::eq};

#[automock]
trait UserRepository {
    fn find_by_id(&self, id: u64) -> Option<User>;
    fn save(&self, user: &User) -> Result<(), StorageError>;
}

#[test]
fn service_returns_user_when_found() {
    let mut mock = MockUserRepository::new();
    mock.expect_find_by_id()
        .with(eq(42))
        .times(1)
        .returning(|_| Some(User { id: 42, name: "Alice".into() }));

    let service = UserService::new(Box::new(mock));
    let user = service.get_user(42).unwrap();
    assert_eq!(user.name, "Alice");
}

#[test]
fn service_returns_none_when_not_found() {
    let mut mock = MockUserRepository::new();
    mock.expect_find_by_id()
        .returning(|_| None);

    let service = UserService::new(Box::new(mock));
    assert!(service.get_user(99).is_none());
}

Original example · ENView source · affaan-m/ECC License · MIT

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 Affaan Mustafa

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

Author example

Source example: Criterion benchmark setup

Complete original Cargo benchmark declaration and benches/benchmark.rs. Requires a Rust project and Criterion dependency; the source configuration pins its stated 0.5 range. Fibonacci benchmark code is retained, but no timing, chart or measured improvement is invented.

Example input

```toml
# Cargo.toml
[dev-dependencies]
criterion = { version = "0.5", features = ["html_reports"] }

[[bench]]
name = "benchmark"
harness = false
```

```rust
// benches/benchmark.rs
use criterion::{black_box, criterion_group, criterion_main, Criterion};

fn fibonacci(n: u64) -> u64 {
    match n {
        0 | 1 => n,
        _ => fibonacci(n - 1) + fibonacci(n - 2),
    }
}

fn bench_fibonacci(c: &mut Criterion) {
    c.bench_function("fib 20", |b| b.iter(|| fibonacci(black_box(20))));
}

criterion_group!(benches, bench_fibonacci);
criterion_main!(benches);
```

Original example · ENView source · affaan-m/ECC License · MIT

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 Affaan Mustafa

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

How to use

Copy the installation command and review the source package before installing it in your own agent environment.
Check the source document for required tools, credentials and supported hosts.
Describe your input and desired deliverable; review the output against the source material.

npx skills add https://github.com/affaan-m/ecc --skill rust-testing

Before you start

Installation does not include a model subscription, API allowance or permission to access your files.
Repository stars and installation counts describe activity, not an independent quality or security test.

Original skill document

Rendered from the source repository. Headings, examples, code, tables, links, and referenced images are preserved.

Rust Testing Patterns

Comprehensive Rust testing patterns for writing reliable, maintainable tests following TDD methodology.

When to Use

Writing new Rust functions, methods, or traits
Adding test coverage to existing code
Creating benchmarks for performance-critical code
Implementing property-based tests for input validation
Following TDD workflow in Rust projects

How It Works

Identify target code — Find the function, trait, or module to test
Write a test — Use #[test] in a #[cfg(test)] module, rstest for parameterized tests, or proptest for property-based tests
Mock dependencies — Use mockall to isolate the unit under test
Run tests (RED) — Verify the test fails with the expected error
Implement (GREEN) — Write minimal code to pass
Refactor — Improve while keeping tests green
Check coverage — Use cargo-llvm-cov, target 80%+

TDD Workflow for Rust

The RED-GREEN-REFACTOR Cycle

RED     → Write a failing test first
GREEN   → Write minimal code to pass the test
REFACTOR → Improve code while keeping tests green
REPEAT  → Continue with next requirement

Step-by-Step TDD in Rust

rust

// RED: Write test first, use todo!() as placeholder
pub fn add(a: i32, b: i32) -> i32 { todo!() }

#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
    use super::*;
    #[test]
    fn test_add() { assert_eq!(add(2, 3), 5); }
}
// cargo test → panics at 'not yet implemented'

rust

// GREEN: Replace todo!() with minimal implementation
pub fn add(a: i32, b: i32) -> i32 { a + b }
// cargo test → PASS, then REFACTOR while keeping tests green

Unit Tests

Module-Level Test Organization

rust

// src/user.rs
pub struct User {
    pub name: String,
    pub email: String,
}

impl User {
    pub fn new(name: impl Into<String>, email: impl Into<String>) -> Result<Self, String> {
        let email = email.into();
        if !email.contains('@') {
            return Err(format!("invalid email: {email}"));
        }
        Ok(Self { name: name.into(), email })
    }

    pub fn display_name(&self) -> &str {
        &self.name
    }
}

#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
    use super::*;

    #[test]
    fn creates_user_with_valid_email() {
        let user = User::new("Alice", "alice@example.com").unwrap();
        assert_eq!(user.display_name(), "Alice");
        assert_eq!(user.email, "alice@example.com");
    }

    #[test]
    fn rejects_invalid_email() {
        let result = User::new("Bob", "not-an-email");
        assert!(result.is_err());
        assert!(result.unwrap_err().contains("invalid email"));
    }
}

Assertion Macros

rust

assert_eq!(2 + 2, 4);                                    // Equality
assert_ne!(2 + 2, 5);                                    // Inequality
assert!(vec![1, 2, 3].contains(&2));                     // Boolean
assert_eq!(value, 42, "expected 42 but got {value}");    // Custom message
assert!((0.1_f64 + 0.2 - 0.3).abs() < f64::EPSILON);   // Float comparison

Error and Panic Testing

Testing `Result` Returns

rust

#[test]
fn parse_returns_error_for_invalid_input() {
    let result = parse_config("}{invalid");
    assert!(result.is_err());

    // Assert specific error variant
    let err = result.unwrap_err();
    assert!(matches!(err, ConfigError::ParseError(_)));
}

#[test]
fn parse_succeeds_for_valid_input() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let config = parse_config(r#"{"port": 8080}"#)?;
    assert_eq!(config.port, 8080);
    Ok(()) // Test fails if any ? returns Err
}

Testing Panics

rust

#[test]
#[should_panic]
fn panics_on_empty_input() {
    process(&[]);
}

#[test]
#[should_panic(expected = "index out of bounds")]
fn panics_with_specific_message() {
    let v: Vec<i32> = vec![];
    let _ = v[0];
}

Integration Tests

File Structure

text

my_crate/
├── src/
│   └── lib.rs
├── tests/              # Integration tests
│   ├── api_test.rs     # Each file is a separate test binary
│   ├── db_test.rs
│   └── common/         # Shared test utilities
│       └── mod.rs

Writing Integration Tests

rust

// tests/api_test.rs
use my_crate::{App, Config};

#[test]
fn full_request_lifecycle() {
    let config = Config::test_default();
    let app = App::new(config);

    let response = app.handle_request("/health");
    assert_eq!(response.status, 200);
    assert_eq!(response.body, "OK");
}

Async Tests

With Tokio

rust

#[tokio::test]
async fn fetches_data_successfully() {
    let client = TestClient::new().await;
    let result = client.get("/data").await;
    assert!(result.is_ok());
    assert_eq!(result.unwrap().items.len(), 3);
}

#[tokio::test]
async fn handles_timeout() {
    use std::time::Duration;
    let result = tokio::time::timeout(
        Duration::from_millis(100),
        slow_operation(),
    ).await;

    assert!(result.is_err(), "should have timed out");
}

Test Organization Patterns

Parameterized Tests with `rstest`

rust

use rstest::{rstest, fixture};

#[rstest]
#[case("hello", 5)]
#[case("", 0)]
#[case("rust", 4)]
fn test_string_length(#[case] input: &str, #[case] expected: usize) {
    assert_eq!(input.len(), expected);
}

// Fixtures
#[fixture]
fn test_db() -> TestDb {
    TestDb::new_in_memory()
}

#[rstest]
fn test_insert(test_db: TestDb) {
    test_db.insert("key", "value");
    assert_eq!(test_db.get("key"), Some("value".into()));
}

Test Helpers

rust

#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
    use super::*;

    /// Creates a test user with sensible defaults.
    fn make_user(name: &str) -> User {
        User::new(name, &format!("{name}@test.com")).unwrap()
    }

    #[test]
    fn user_display() {
        let user = make_user("alice");
        assert_eq!(user.display_name(), "alice");
    }
}

Property-Based Testing with `proptest`

Basic Property Tests

rust

use proptest::prelude::*;

proptest! {
    #[test]
    fn encode_decode_roundtrip(input in ".*") {
        let encoded = encode(&input);
        let decoded = decode(&encoded).unwrap();
        assert_eq!(input, decoded);
    }

    #[test]
    fn sort_preserves_length(mut vec in prop::collection::vec(any::<i32>(), 0..100)) {
        let original_len = vec.len();
        vec.sort();
        assert_eq!(vec.len(), original_len);
    }

    #[test]
    fn sort_produces_ordered_output(mut vec in prop::collection::vec(any::<i32>(), 0..100)) {
        vec.sort();
        for window in vec.windows(2) {
            assert!(window[0] <= window[1]);
        }
    }
}

Custom Strategies

rust

use proptest::prelude::*;

fn valid_email() -> impl Strategy<Value = String> {
    ("[a-z]{1,10}", "[a-z]{1,5}")
        .prop_map(|(user, domain)| format!("{user}@{domain}.com"))
}

proptest! {
    #[test]
    fn accepts_valid_emails(email in valid_email()) {
        assert!(User::new("Test", &email).is_ok());
    }
}

Mocking with `mockall`

Trait-Based Mocking

rust

use mockall::{automock, predicate::eq};

#[automock]
trait UserRepository {
    fn find_by_id(&self, id: u64) -> Option<User>;
    fn save(&self, user: &User) -> Result<(), StorageError>;
}

#[test]
fn service_returns_user_when_found() {
    let mut mock = MockUserRepository::new();
    mock.expect_find_by_id()
        .with(eq(42))
        .times(1)
        .returning(|_| Some(User { id: 42, name: "Alice".into() }));

    let service = UserService::new(Box::new(mock));
    let user = service.get_user(42).unwrap();
    assert_eq!(user.name, "Alice");
}

#[test]
fn service_returns_none_when_not_found() {
    let mut mock = MockUserRepository::new();
    mock.expect_find_by_id()
        .returning(|_| None);

    let service = UserService::new(Box::new(mock));
    assert!(service.get_user(99).is_none());
}

Doc Tests

Executable Documentation

rust

/// Adds two numbers together.
///
/// # Examples
///
/// ```
/// use my_crate::add;
///
/// assert_eq!(add(2, 3), 5);
/// assert_eq!(add(-1, 1), 0);
/// ```
pub fn add(a: i32, b: i32) -> i32 {
    a + b
}

/// Parses a config string.
///
/// # Errors
///
/// Returns `Err` if the input is not valid TOML.
///
/// ```no_run
/// use my_crate::parse_config;
///
/// let config = parse_config(r#"port = 8080"#).unwrap();
/// assert_eq!(config.port, 8080);
/// ```
///
/// ```no_run
/// use my_crate::parse_config;
///
/// assert!(parse_config("}{invalid").is_err());
/// ```
pub fn parse_config(input: &str) -> Result<Config, ParseError> {
    todo!()
}

Benchmarking with Criterion

toml

# Cargo.toml
[dev-dependencies]
criterion = { version = "0.5", features = ["html_reports"] }

[[bench]]
name = "benchmark"
harness = false

rust

// benches/benchmark.rs
use criterion::{black_box, criterion_group, criterion_main, Criterion};

fn fibonacci(n: u64) -> u64 {
    match n {
        0 | 1 => n,
        _ => fibonacci(n - 1) + fibonacci(n - 2),
    }
}

fn bench_fibonacci(c: &mut Criterion) {
    c.bench_function("fib 20", |b| b.iter(|| fibonacci(black_box(20))));
}

criterion_group!(benches, bench_fibonacci);
criterion_main!(benches);

Test Coverage

Running Coverage

bash

# Install: cargo install cargo-llvm-cov (or use taiki-e/install-action in CI)
cargo llvm-cov                    # Summary
cargo llvm-cov --html             # HTML report
cargo llvm-cov --lcov > lcov.info # LCOV format for CI
cargo llvm-cov --fail-under-lines 80  # Fail if below threshold

Coverage Targets

Code Type	Target
Critical business logic	100%
Public API	90%+
General code	80%+
Generated / FFI bindings	Exclude

Testing Commands

bash

cargo test                        # Run all tests
cargo test -- --nocapture         # Show println output
cargo test test_name              # Run tests matching pattern
cargo test --lib                  # Unit tests only
cargo test --test api_test        # Integration tests only
cargo test --doc                  # Doc tests only
cargo test --no-fail-fast         # Don't stop on first failure
cargo test -- --ignored           # Run ignored tests

Best Practices

DO:

Write tests FIRST (TDD)
Use #[cfg(test)] modules for unit tests
Test behavior, not implementation
Use descriptive test names that explain the scenario
Prefer assert_eq! over assert! for better error messages
Use ? in tests that return Result for cleaner error output
Keep tests independent — no shared mutable state

DON'T:

Use #[should_panic] when you can test Result::is_err() instead
Mock everything — prefer integration tests when feasible
Ignore flaky tests — fix or quarantine them
Use sleep() in tests — use channels, barriers, or tokio::time::pause()
Skip error path testing

CI Integration

yaml

# GitHub Actions
test:
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
      with:
        components: clippy, rustfmt

    - name: Check formatting
      run: cargo fmt --check

    - name: Clippy
      run: cargo clippy -- -D warnings

    - name: Run tests
      run: cargo test

    - uses: taiki-e/install-action@cargo-llvm-cov

    - name: Coverage
      run: cargo llvm-cov --fail-under-lines 80

Remember: Tests are documentation. They show how your code is meant to be used. Write them clearly and keep them up to date.

See it in action

Source example: Rust red and green TDD stages

Example input

Source example: property tests and custom strategies

Example input

Source example: mock a repository trait

Example input

Source example: Criterion benchmark setup

Example input

How to use

Before you start

Rust Testing Patterns

When to Use

How It Works

TDD Workflow for Rust

The RED-GREEN-REFACTOR Cycle

Step-by-Step TDD in Rust

Unit Tests

Module-Level Test Organization

Assertion Macros

Error and Panic Testing

Testing Result Returns

Testing Panics

Integration Tests

File Structure

Writing Integration Tests

Async Tests

With Tokio

Test Organization Patterns

Parameterized Tests with rstest

Test Helpers

Property-Based Testing with proptest

Basic Property Tests

Custom Strategies

Mocking with mockall

Trait-Based Mocking

Doc Tests

Executable Documentation

Benchmarking with Criterion

Test Coverage

Running Coverage

Coverage Targets

Testing Commands

Best Practices

CI Integration

Related by task

laravel-tdd

tdd-workflow

springboot-verification

rea-ci-tests-audit

More skills

scientific-thinking-literature-review

docker-patterns

agentic-engineering

backend-patterns

Testing `Result` Returns

Parameterized Tests with `rstest`

Property-Based Testing with `proptest`

Mocking with `mockall`