Establish a Testing Strategy

[spashii]

Establish a comprehensive testing strategy for Dembrane ECHO, starting from zero current test coverage. This is a foundational project that will shape the reliability and maintainability of our system.

System Context

• Distributed system with Python backend, React frontend
• Core services: Directus, PostgreSQL (with pgvector), Redis, RabbitMQ
• Critical workflows: Audio processing, transcription, ML pipelines
• File system operations for user assets (mp3, pdf, png)

Goals

1. Design and implement testing infrastructure
2. Establish testing patterns and documentation
3. Achieve meaningful coverage of critical paths - don't test for testing's sake
4. Create automated testing pipelines
5. Document testing approaches for future team members

Key Areas

1. Testing Infrastructure

• Test environment setup
  • Database configurations
  • Service mocking strategy
  • Environment isolation approach
• CI/CD integration
• Coverage reporting
• Documentation framework

2. Core Backend Testing

• Audio Pipeline Testing
  • Chunk processing validation
  • Storage/retrieval verification
  • Transcription workflow testing
• Task Processing Testing
  • Worker execution patterns
  • Queue management
  • Error handling & retries
• Data Layer Testing
  • Vector operations
  • Concurrent access
  • Data integrity

3. Integration Testing

• Service Communication
  • Inter-service messaging
  • State synchronization
  • Failure scenarios
• Authentication Flows
  • Token management
  • Session handling
  • Permission boundaries
• File System Operations
  • Upload/download flows
  • Storage consistency
  • Error conditions

4. Security Testing

• Authentication Testing
  • Token validation
  • Session management
• Authorization Testing
  • Permission verification
  • Resource access control
  • API security

5. Documentation & Standards

• Testing Patterns Guide
  • Best practices
  • Common patterns
  • Anti-patterns
• Test Writing Guidelines
  • Style guide
  • Coverage expectations
  • Review process
• Environment Setup Guide
  • Local setup
  • CI configuration
  • Troubleshooting

Technical Decisions Needed

1. Testing Framework Selection
   • Python testing framework
   • FastAPI testing
   • Mocking strategy
   • Coverage tools
   • Security testing tools
2. Test Data Strategy
   • Sample data management
   • Test database handling
   • Fixture patterns
   • Data cleanup approaches
3. Environment Management
   • Container strategy
   • Service virtualization
   • Resource isolation
   • CI/CD integration
4. Monitoring & Reporting
   • Coverage metrics
   • Test result reporting
   • Performance tracking
   • Security scan reporting

Success Criteria

1. Test infrastructure fully documented and operational
2. Critical paths covered by automated tests
3. CI pipeline integrated and running
4. Security testing automated
5. Documentation complete and reviewed
6. Team onboarding materials prepared

Future Considerations

1. Load testing strategy
2. Performance testing framework
3. Chaos testing implementation
4. Continuous monitoring integration
5. Automated security scanning

Resources Needed

1. Access to all system components
2. Development environment setup
3. Documentation access
4. Service credentials
5. Team context and knowledge sharing

[linear]

ECHO-69 Establish a Testing Strategy

[spashii]

Started writing tests under /server/tests