testing-anti-patterns

Common unit testing anti-patterns include testing mock behavior instead of real code, creating production methods only used for tests, and using incomplete mocks. This Skill identifies these issues to ensure tests verify actual behavior.

To stop testing mock behavior in integration tests, you must ensure tests exercise real code paths and dependencies. This Skill guides JavaScript and TypeScript developers to replace partial mocks with complete, realistic structures and eliminate mock-centered assertions.

Remove test-only production methods by isolating test utilities from production code. This Skill analyzes your codebase to identify these anti-patterns and provides guidance on eliminating them to maintain clean boundaries between test logic and production logic.

No, this guidance specifically applies to unit and integration testing in JavaScript and TypeScript projects. It focuses on preventing mocking anti-patterns and enforcing real-behavior testing within those specific tech stacks.

Unit tests may pass but fail in production if they verify mock behavior rather than real behavior. Using incomplete mocks or test-only production methods creates false positives that this Skill helps identify and eliminate.

You should avoid mocking when it undermines test validity or when mocks do not accurately reflect real API structures. This Skill provides guardrails to ensure mocks are complete, well-documented, and used only for isolation rather than being the subject of assertions.