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ImageApi/.agents/skills/tdd/mocking.md
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Cameron Cordes 5b5314631b chore(agents): install mattpocock skills + per-repo agent config
- 38 skills from mattpocock/skills into .agents/skills/ (symlinked into
  .claude/skills/ for Claude Code)
- skills-lock.json for reproducible installs
- docs/agents/: issue-tracker (Gitea via tea CLI), triage-labels
  (default five-role vocabulary), domain docs (single-context)
- CLAUDE.md: add '## Agent skills' section pointing at docs/agents/
- .gitignore: un-ignore docs/agents/ under the local /docs/* rule
2026-09-24 13:24:29 -04:00

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When to Mock

Mock at system boundaries only:

  • External APIs (payment, email, etc.)
  • Databases (sometimes - prefer test DB)
  • Time/randomness
  • File system (sometimes)

Don't mock:

  • Your own classes/modules
  • Internal collaborators
  • Anything you control

Designing for Mockability

At system boundaries, design interfaces that are easy to mock:

1. Use dependency injection

Pass external dependencies in rather than creating them internally:

// Easy to mock
function processPayment(order, paymentClient) {
  return paymentClient.charge(order.total);
}

// Hard to mock
function processPayment(order) {
  const client = new StripeClient(process.env.STRIPE_KEY);
  return client.charge(order.total);
}

2. Prefer SDK-style interfaces over generic fetchers

Create specific functions for each external operation instead of one generic function with conditional logic:

// GOOD: Each function is independently mockable
const api = {
  getUser: (id) => fetch(`/users/${id}`),
  getOrders: (userId) => fetch(`/users/${userId}/orders`),
  createOrder: (data) => fetch('/orders', { method: 'POST', body: data }),
};

// BAD: Mocking requires conditional logic inside the mock
const api = {
  fetch: (endpoint, options) => fetch(endpoint, options),
};

The SDK approach means:

  • Each mock returns one specific shape
  • No conditional logic in test setup
  • Easier to see which endpoints a test exercises
  • Type safety per endpoint