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test-contract

Generate protocol/interface test suites that any implementation must pass. Define the contract once, test every implementation. Use when designing protocols or swapping implementations.

Packaged view

This page reorganizes the original catalog entry around fit, installability, and workflow context first. The original raw source lives below.

Stars
101
Hot score
94
Updated
March 20, 2026
Overall rating
C2.7
Composite score
2.7
Best-practice grade
S96.0

Install command

npx @skill-hub/cli install rshankras-claude-code-apple-skills-test-contract

Repository

rshankras/claude-code-apple-skills

Skill path: skills/testing/test-contract

Generate protocol/interface test suites that any implementation must pass. Define the contract once, test every implementation. Use when designing protocols or swapping implementations.

Open repository

Best for

Primary workflow: Ship Full Stack.

Technical facets: Full Stack, Testing.

Target audience: everyone.

License: Unknown.

Original source

Catalog source: SkillHub Club.

Repository owner: rshankras.

This is still a mirrored public skill entry. Review the repository before installing into production workflows.

What it helps with

  • Install test-contract into Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, or OpenCode workflows
  • Review https://github.com/rshankras/claude-code-apple-skills before adding test-contract to shared team environments
  • Use test-contract for development workflows

Works across

Claude CodeCodex CLIGemini CLIOpenCode

Favorites: 0.

Sub-skills: 0.

Aggregator: No.

Original source / Raw SKILL.md

---
name: test-contract
description: Generate protocol/interface test suites that any implementation must pass. Define the contract once, test every implementation. Use when designing protocols or swapping implementations.
allowed-tools: [Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, Bash, AskUserQuestion]
---

# Test Contract

Define behavioral contracts as test suites. Any class conforming to a protocol must pass the contract tests. Ensures consistent behavior across implementations — human-written, AI-generated, or mock.

## When This Skill Activates

Use this skill when the user:
- Designs a protocol and wants to ensure conformance quality
- Has multiple implementations of the same interface (e.g., real + mock + in-memory)
- Says "test the protocol" or "contract test"
- Wants to swap implementations safely (e.g., CoreData → SwiftData)
- Wants to ensure AI-generated implementations meet the spec

## Why Contract Tests

```
Protocol: DataStore
  ├── SQLiteDataStore  → must pass contract tests
  ├── InMemoryDataStore → must pass contract tests
  ├── MockDataStore    → must pass contract tests
  └── CloudDataStore   → must pass contract tests
```

Write the contract once. Every implementation proves it works by passing the same tests.

## Process

### Phase 1: Identify the Protocol

```
Grep: "protocol.*\\{" to find protocols
Read: protocol definition
```

Understand:
- [ ] All required methods and properties
- [ ] Expected behavior for each method
- [ ] Error conditions and edge cases
- [ ] Thread safety requirements
- [ ] State invariants (e.g., count matches items.count)

### Phase 2: Define Contract Behaviors

For each protocol method, define required behaviors:

```markdown
## DataStore Contract

### save(_ item:)
- Saving a new item increases count by 1
- Saving an existing item (same ID) updates it, count unchanged
- Saved item is retrievable by ID
- Throws on invalid item (empty title)

### fetch(id:)
- Returns item when it exists
- Returns nil when item doesn't exist
- Returns most recently saved version

### delete(id:)
- Deleting existing item decreases count by 1
- Deleting non-existent item does nothing (no throw)
- Deleted item is no longer fetchable

### fetchAll()
- Returns all saved items
- Returns empty array when store is empty
- Items are in consistent order (insertion or specified)

### Invariants
- count == fetchAll().count (always)
- save then fetch returns same item
- delete then fetch returns nil
```

### Phase 3: Generate Contract Test Suite

#### Pattern: Generic Test Suite

```swift
import Testing

/// Contract tests for any DataStore implementation.
/// Subclass or call with your concrete implementation.
struct DataStoreContractTests<Store: DataStore> {

    let makeStore: () -> Store

    init(makeStore: @escaping () -> Store) {
        self.makeStore = makeStore
    }

    // MARK: - save(_ item:)

    @Test("save increases count")
    func saveIncreasesCount() async throws {
        let store = makeStore()
        let item = Item(id: "1", title: "Test")

        try await store.save(item)

        #expect(store.count == 1)
    }

    @Test("save then fetch returns same item")
    func saveAndFetch() async throws {
        let store = makeStore()
        let item = Item(id: "1", title: "Test")

        try await store.save(item)
        let fetched = try await store.fetch(id: "1")

        #expect(fetched?.title == "Test")
    }

    @Test("save existing item updates it")
    func saveUpdates() async throws {
        let store = makeStore()
        try await store.save(Item(id: "1", title: "Original"))
        try await store.save(Item(id: "1", title: "Updated"))

        let fetched = try await store.fetch(id: "1")

        #expect(fetched?.title == "Updated")
        #expect(store.count == 1)
    }

    @Test("save throws on invalid item")
    func saveInvalidThrows() async {
        let store = makeStore()
        let invalid = Item(id: "1", title: "")

        await #expect(throws: DataStoreError.invalidItem) {
            try await store.save(invalid)
        }
    }

    // MARK: - fetch(id:)

    @Test("fetch returns nil for non-existent ID")
    func fetchNonExistent() async throws {
        let store = makeStore()

        let result = try await store.fetch(id: "nonexistent")

        #expect(result == nil)
    }

    // MARK: - delete(id:)

    @Test("delete removes item")
    func deleteRemoves() async throws {
        let store = makeStore()
        try await store.save(Item(id: "1", title: "Test"))

        try await store.delete(id: "1")

        #expect(store.count == 0)
        let fetched = try await store.fetch(id: "1")
        #expect(fetched == nil)
    }

    @Test("delete non-existent does nothing")
    func deleteNonExistent() async throws {
        let store = makeStore()

        try await store.delete(id: "nonexistent")

        #expect(store.count == 0)
    }

    // MARK: - fetchAll()

    @Test("fetchAll returns all items")
    func fetchAll() async throws {
        let store = makeStore()
        try await store.save(Item(id: "1", title: "A"))
        try await store.save(Item(id: "2", title: "B"))

        let all = try await store.fetchAll()

        #expect(all.count == 2)
    }

    @Test("fetchAll returns empty when store is empty")
    func fetchAllEmpty() async throws {
        let store = makeStore()

        let all = try await store.fetchAll()

        #expect(all.isEmpty)
    }

    // MARK: - Invariants

    @Test("count matches fetchAll count")
    func countInvariant() async throws {
        let store = makeStore()
        try await store.save(Item(id: "1", title: "A"))
        try await store.save(Item(id: "2", title: "B"))
        try await store.delete(id: "1")

        let all = try await store.fetchAll()

        #expect(store.count == all.count)
    }
}
```

#### Running Contract Tests Per Implementation

```swift
@Suite("InMemoryDataStore Contract")
struct InMemoryDataStoreContractTests {
    let contract = DataStoreContractTests { InMemoryDataStore() }

    @Test("save increases count")
    func saveIncreasesCount() async throws {
        try await contract.saveIncreasesCount()
    }

    @Test("save then fetch returns same item")
    func saveAndFetch() async throws {
        try await contract.saveAndFetch()
    }

    // ... all contract tests
}

@Suite("SQLiteDataStore Contract")
struct SQLiteDataStoreContractTests {
    let contract = DataStoreContractTests { SQLiteDataStore(path: ":memory:") }

    @Test("save increases count")
    func saveIncreasesCount() async throws {
        try await contract.saveIncreasesCount()
    }

    // ... all contract tests
}
```

#### Alternative: Parameterized by Implementation

```swift
@Suite("DataStore Contract")
struct DataStoreContractSuite {

    enum StoreType: String, CaseIterable {
        case inMemory, sqlite, cloud
    }

    func makeStore(_ type: StoreType) -> any DataStore {
        switch type {
        case .inMemory: return InMemoryDataStore()
        case .sqlite: return SQLiteDataStore(path: ":memory:")
        case .cloud: return MockCloudDataStore()
        }
    }

    @Test("save increases count", arguments: StoreType.allCases)
    func saveIncreasesCount(type: StoreType) async throws {
        let store = makeStore(type)
        try await store.save(Item(id: "1", title: "Test"))
        #expect(store.count == 1)
    }

    @Test("fetch non-existent returns nil", arguments: StoreType.allCases)
    func fetchNonExistent(type: StoreType) async throws {
        let store = makeStore(type)
        let result = try await store.fetch(id: "nonexistent")
        #expect(result == nil)
    }
}
```

## Common Contract Categories

### Repository / Data Store
- CRUD operations (create, read, update, delete)
- Query/filter behavior
- Ordering guarantees
- Uniqueness constraints
- Empty state handling

### Network Client
- Successful response parsing
- Error response handling (4xx, 5xx)
- Timeout behavior
- Retry logic
- Request construction (headers, body)

### Cache
- Store and retrieve
- Expiration/TTL
- Eviction policy (LRU, size limit)
- Thread safety
- Persistence across init

### Authentication
- Login with valid credentials
- Reject invalid credentials
- Token refresh
- Session expiration
- Logout clears state

## Output Format

```markdown
## Contract Tests: [Protocol Name]

### Protocol
```swift
protocol DataStore { ... }
```

### Behaviors Tested
| Behavior | Tests | Edge Cases |
|----------|-------|------------|
| save | 3 | empty title, duplicate ID |
| fetch | 2 | non-existent ID |
| delete | 2 | non-existent ID |
| fetchAll | 2 | empty store |
| invariants | 1 | count consistency |

### Implementations Tested
- [x] InMemoryDataStore — all passing
- [x] SQLiteDataStore — all passing
- [ ] CloudDataStore — pending implementation

### Files Created
- `Tests/Contracts/DataStoreContractTests.swift`
- `Tests/Contracts/InMemoryDataStoreContractTests.swift`
```

## References

- `testing/tdd-feature/` — for TDD workflow using contract tests
- `generators/test-generator/` — for standard test generation
- Design by Contract (Bertrand Meyer) — theoretical foundation
test-contract | SkillHub