my-pal-mcp-server/docs/testing.md

# Testing Guide

This project includes comprehensive test coverage through unit tests and integration simulator tests.

## Running Tests

### Prerequisites
- Environment set up: `./run-server.sh`
  - Use `./run-server.sh -f` to automatically follow logs after starting

### Unit Tests

Run all unit tests with pytest:
```bash
# Run all tests with verbose output
python -m pytest -xvs

# Run specific test file
python -m pytest tests/test_providers.py -xvs
```

### Simulator Tests

Simulator tests replicate real-world Claude CLI interactions with the standalone MCP server. Unlike unit tests that test isolated functions, simulator tests validate the complete end-to-end flow including:
- Actual MCP protocol communication
- Standalone server interactions
- Multi-turn conversations across tools
- Log output validation

**Important**: Simulator tests require `LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG` in your `.env` file to validate detailed execution logs.

#### Monitoring Logs During Tests

**Important**: The MCP stdio protocol interferes with stderr output during tool execution. Tool execution logs are written to local log files. This is a known limitation of the stdio-based MCP protocol.

To monitor logs during test execution:

```bash
# Start server and automatically follow logs
./run-server.sh -f

# Or manually monitor main server logs (includes all tool execution details)
tail -f -n 500 logs/mcp_server.log

# Monitor MCP activity logs (tool calls and completions)  
tail -f logs/mcp_activity.log

# Check log file sizes (logs rotate at 20MB)
ls -lh logs/mcp_*.log*
```

**Log Rotation**: All log files are configured with automatic rotation at 20MB to prevent disk space issues. The server keeps:
- 10 rotated files for mcp_server.log (200MB total)
- 5 rotated files for mcp_activity.log (100MB total)

**Why logs appear in files**: The MCP stdio_server captures stderr during tool execution to prevent interference with the JSON-RPC protocol communication. This means tool execution logs are written to files rather than displayed in console output.

#### Running All Simulator Tests
```bash
# Run all simulator tests
python communication_simulator_test.py

# Run with verbose output for debugging
python communication_simulator_test.py --verbose

# Keep server logs after tests for inspection
python communication_simulator_test.py --keep-logs
```

#### Running Individual Tests
To run a single simulator test in isolation (useful for debugging or test development):

```bash
# Run a specific test by name
python communication_simulator_test.py --individual basic_conversation

# Examples of available tests:
python communication_simulator_test.py --individual content_validation
python communication_simulator_test.py --individual cross_tool_continuation
python communication_simulator_test.py --individual memory_validation
```

#### Other Options
```bash
# List all available simulator tests with descriptions
python communication_simulator_test.py --list-tests

# Run multiple specific tests (not all)
python communication_simulator_test.py --tests basic_conversation content_validation

```

### Code Quality Checks

Before committing, ensure all linting passes:
```bash
# Run all linting checks
ruff check .
black --check .
isort --check-only .

# Auto-fix issues
ruff check . --fix
black .
isort .
```

## What Each Test Suite Covers

### Unit Tests
Test isolated components and functions:
- **Provider functionality**: Model initialization, API interactions, capability checks
- **Tool operations**: All MCP tools (chat, analyze, debug, etc.)
- **Conversation memory**: Threading, continuation, history management
- **File handling**: Path validation, token limits, deduplication
- **Auto mode**: Model selection logic and fallback behavior

### Simulator Tests
Validate real-world usage scenarios by simulating actual Claude prompts:
- **Basic conversations**: Multi-turn chat functionality with real prompts
- **Cross-tool continuation**: Context preservation across different tools
- **File deduplication**: Efficient handling of repeated file references
- **Model selection**: Proper routing to configured providers
- **Token allocation**: Context window management in practice
- **Redis validation**: Conversation persistence and retrieval

## Contributing

For detailed contribution guidelines, testing requirements, and code quality standards, please see our [Contributing Guide](./contributions.md).

### Quick Testing Reference

```bash
# Run quality checks
./code_quality_checks.sh

# Run unit tests
python -m pytest -xvs

# Run simulator tests (for tool changes)
python communication_simulator_test.py
```

Remember: All tests must pass before submitting a PR. See the [Contributing Guide](./contributions.md) for complete requirements.