orca/docs/reference/test-antipatterns.md

Test anti-patterns

Tests that:

• Reimplement production logic instead of exercising it.
• Have no meaningful assertions, such as expect(true).toBe(true).
• Assert only mock calls or values supplied by their own mocks.
• Promise inputs or behavior their setup never exercises.
• Duplicate coverage without faster feedback or clearer failures, including private predicates and provider replays.
• Copy inventories, manifests, exports, imports, or strings instead of proving behavior.
• Check persistence at a path the code never writes.
• Assert capability flags instead of delivery or acknowledgement.
• Pass negative cases without exercising the intended rejection path.
• Wait on real time or networks instead of fake clocks and deterministic boundaries.

Mocks and fixtures that:

• Hide incorrect tables, fields, joins, filters, or arguments behind mocked internal chains.
• Contradict real producers or source contracts.
• Implement the behavior under test or treat distinct APIs as equivalent.
• Supply receipts, admission decisions, callback ordering, or other outputs production code should generate.

Production code that:

• Adds exports, globals, wrappers, or code paths solely for tests.