Fixtures

Framework-provided fixtures, custom feature fixtures, scope rules, and patterns for creating test data.

Table of contents

Framework fixtures
Custom fixtures
Scope rules
See also

Framework fixtures

Provided by splent_framework.fixtures.fixtures. Import them in your conftest.py:

from splent_framework.fixtures.fixtures import *  # noqa: F401,F403

All fixtures share a _reset_db() helper that drops and recreates all tables with FK checks disabled.

`test_app` — session scope

Creates the Flask app once and initializes the schema.

@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
def test_app():
    app = get_create_app_in_testing_mode()
    with app.app_context():
        _reset_db()
    yield app

Use when: you need the app object for data fixtures or config access.

`test_client` — function scope

Flask test client with clean DB per test.

@pytest.fixture(scope="function")
def test_client(test_app):
    with test_app.app_context():
        _reset_db()
    with test_app.test_client() as client:
        yield client

Use when: most tests. Each starts with a clean slate.

`test_client_module` — module scope

Same but scoped to the file. Tests share DB state within the module.

Use when: tests form a sequence (create → update → delete).

Module-scoped tests are order-dependent. Default to function scope.

`clean_database` — function scope

Manually resets DB within a test. Combine with test_client_module for selective resets.

Custom fixtures

Add feature-specific fixtures after the framework import:

# splent_feature_auth/tests/conftest.py
from splent_framework.fixtures.fixtures import *  # noqa: F401,F403
import pytest
from splent_io.splent_feature_auth.models import User
from splent_framework.db import db

@pytest.fixture(scope="function")
def auth_test_user(test_app):
    with test_app.app_context():
        user = User(email="user1@example.com", active=True)
        user.set_password("1234")
        db.session.add(user)
        db.session.commit()
        db.session.expunge(user)
        return user

@pytest.fixture(scope="function")
def logged_in_client(test_client, auth_test_user):
    test_client.post("/login", data={"email": "user1@example.com", "password": "1234"}, follow_redirects=True)
    return test_client

Why `db.session.expunge()`

Detaches the object from the session so it can be returned to test functions without DetachedInstanceError. Always expunge objects you return from a fixture.

Composing fixtures

test_app (session)
  └─ test_client (function) ─── resets DB
       └─ auth_test_user (function) ─── creates user
            └─ logged_in_client (function) ─── logs in
            └─ sample_note (function) ─── creates note

pytest resolves the chain automatically.

Cross-feature data

Import upstream models directly:

from splent_io.splent_feature_auth.models import User

Works because feature:test sets PYTHONPATH to include all features.

Scope rules

Scope	Resets DB?	Shared across	Use for
`function`	Per test	Nothing	Independent tests (default)
`module`	Per file	Tests in same file	Sequential flows
`session`	Once	All tests	App creation only

Golden rules:

Default to function scope
Module scope only for sequential flows
Never create data at session scope
Match fixture scope to client scope

Fixtures

Framework fixtures

test_app — session scope

test_client — function scope

test_client_module — module scope

clean_database — function scope