tests/README.md

Backend Tests Safe Runner

Test Pollution Issue

The test suite has pollution when run in default pytest order. Tests pass in isolation or in specific groupings.

Running Tests Safely

Option 1: Run core API tests only (137 tests, all green)

cd backend
python -m pytest tests/test_api.py tests/test_rag_pipeline.py tests/test_quiz_battle.py tests/test_model_profiles.py -v

Option 2: Run key test files in correct order

python -m pytest tests/ -v --ignore=tests/test_video_routes.py --ignore=tests/test_admin_model_routes.py --ignore=tests/test_hf_monitoring_routes.py

Option 3: Individual test files (all green individually)

# Each passes individually
python -m pytest tests/test_api.py -v  # 90 passed
python -m pytest tests/test_rag_pipeline.py -v  # 13 passed
python -m pytest tests/test_quiz_battle.py -v  # 19 passed
python -m pytest tests/test_model_profiles.py -v  # 15 passed
python -m pytest tests/test_video_routes.py -v  # 11 passed
python -m pytest tests/test_admin_model_routes.py -v  # 19 passed
python -m pytest tests/test_hf_monitoring_routes.py -v  # 8 passed

Root Cause

• Different test files set different auth roles at module level
• test_api.py: teacher role
• test_video_routes.py: was student, now teacher but client still uses admin token
• test_admin_model_routes.py: was admin, now teacher but test setup differs
• test_hf_monitoring_routes.py: was admin, tests need admin via separate client

Fix Attempts

1. conftest.py - doesn't work (MagicMock doesn't reset properly with @patch)
2. Using pytest fixtures - doesn't work (@patch doesn't override MagicMock)
3. Changing module-level auth - causes different tests to fail

Status

• 177/180 tests pass when run in safe combinations
• 3 tests fail only when test_video_routes runs before test_api in default order
• Tests pass individually or in safe groupings