Testing Guide

How to run the backend test suite, where test files live, and how unit and integration tests work.

Quick Reference

# Run all unit tests
npm run utest

# Run all integration tests
npm run itest

# Run both
npm test

# Run unit tests for a specific service
npm run utest -- users

# Run a specific unit test function
npm run utest -- users userCreate

All commands run from the serverless-biztechapp-1/ root directory.

Test Framework

The backend uses Mocha + Chai (expect style) for both unit and integration tests. ES6 module support is provided by babel-core/register.

Unit Tests

Unit tests invoke Lambda handlers locally without making real AWS calls. AWS services are mocked.

File Location

services/<service>/test/<functionName>.js

Example:

services/users/test/userCreate.js
services/users/test/userGet.js
services/users/test/userGetAll.js
services/events/test/eventCreate.js

How They Work

Each test file uses the serverless-mocha-plugin wrapper to load and invoke a single Lambda handler:

import mochaPlugin from 'serverless-mocha-plugin'
const expect = mochaPlugin.chai.expect
let wrapped = mochaPlugin.getWrapper('create', '/handler', 'create')

describe('createUser', () => {
  it('should create a new user', async () => {
    const event = {
      body: JSON.stringify({ id: 'test@test.com', fname: 'Test' }),
    }
    const response = await wrapped.run(event)
    expect(response.statusCode).to.equal(201)
  })
})

The wrapper simulates a Lambda invocation with the provided event object and returns the Lambda response.

Runner

Script: scripts/run_utests.js

The runner:

1. Accepts optional args: service (default: "all") and function (default: "all")
2. When service=all, iterates every subdirectory in services/ and runs sls invoke test in each
3. When a specific function is given, passes --function <name> to scope the test run
4. Uses --compilers js:babel-core/register for ES6 support

Integration Tests

Integration tests call real deployed Lambda functions on the dev stage via the AWS SDK.

File Location

services/<service>/test_integration/<name>.js

Example:

services/users/test_integration/user.js
services/events/test_integration/events.js
services/registrations/test_integration/registration.js

How They Work

Integration tests use the invokeLambda() helper from lib/testHelpers.js:

import { invokeLambda } from '../../../lib/testHelpers'

describe('Users integration tests', () => {
  it('should create a user', async () => {
    const [statusCode, body] = await invokeLambda('users', 'create', {
      body: JSON.stringify({ id: 'test@test.com', fname: 'Test' }),
    })
    expect(statusCode).to.equal(201)
  })
})

The invokeLambda() function:

1. Calls Lambda.invoke() with the function name biztechApi-<service>-dev-<functionName>
2. Parses the response payload
3. Returns a [statusCode, body] tuple

Test Fixtures

Test constants are defined in constants/test.js:

All test events use year: 2020. Event/year combinations are prefixed with __INTEGRATION_TEST_ to avoid collisions with real data.

Test Coverage

Services without tests: payments, partnerships, btx, bots, emails, instagram, interactions (core handlers).

Key Files

Related Pages

• Local Dev & Debugging — running the backend locally
• Adding an API Endpoint — includes notes on adding tests
• Backend Architecture — service structure
• Backend Workflows — CI packaging checks (tests are not run in CI)