# test-environments

Designs an environment strategy across dev, CI, preview, and staging. It helps isolate per-PR stacks and eliminate flaky integration tests caused by unstubbed third-party APIs.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 1300 installs · ★ 211
- Author: kindlmann
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/petrkindlmann/qa-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/test-environments/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-22
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/test-environments

## What it does

The skill designs an environment strategy for testing across local dev, CI pipelines, preview environments, and staging. Its core principle is production parity where bugs usually hide: matching the database engine and version, queue systems, and caching layers. If staging runs on SQLite while production relies on PostgreSQL, staging tests fail to catch environment-specific bugs. External third-party APIs get stubbed at the HTTP boundary with MSW or WireMock to prevent flaky CI runs.

It guides the setup through structured discovery questions and configuration templates. The skill looks for `.agents/qa-project-context.md` before asking about containerization, seed data lifecycles, and third-party dependencies. For provisioning infrastructure, it guides the choice between declarative Docker Compose stacks and programmatic Testcontainers spun up directly from test suites.

This skill intentionally avoids pipeline CI/CD configuration and fixture factory patterns. Those responsibilities belong to separate skills like `ci-cd-integration` and `test-data-management`.

## Requirements
- Works with: Docker

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add petrkindlmann/qa-skills --skill test-environments -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/test-environments/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/test-environments/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add petrkindlmann/qa-skills --skill test-environments -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/test-environments/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add petrkindlmann/qa-skills --skill test-environments -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/test-environments/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install petrkindlmann/qa-skills test-environments
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/test-environments/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add petrkindlmann/qa-skills --skill test-environments -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/petrkindlmann/qa-skills --path skills/test-environments
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/test-environments/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add petrkindlmann/qa-skills --skill test-environments -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/petrkindlmann/qa-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/test-environments/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- eliminate database and cache parity mismatches between staging and production
- isolate disposable test environments for every pull request
- stub third-party HTTP endpoints with MSW or WireMock to avoid CI flakiness
- choose between Docker Compose and Testcontainers for test infrastructure

## Example prompts
- Set up a test environment and prepare docker-compose.test.yml for infrastructure dependencies
- Help me design isolated preview environments for each pull request
- Audit staging and production parity and set up stubs for external HTTP APIs

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: bb11564061f1c94b.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE bb11564061f1c94b
```text
---
name: test-environments
description: >-
  Design environment strategy for testing across dev, CI, preview, staging, and production —
  Docker Compose test infrastructure, multi-stage Dockerfiles, seed-data lifecycle, per-PR
  preview environments, production parity, and external-dependency stubbing at the HTTP boundary.
  Use when: "set up test environment," "docker-compose for tests," "per-PR preview environment,"
  "staging parity," "spin up test infra," "environment tiers."
  Not for: choosing mock-vs-stub-vs-fake per dependency — use service-virtualization; factory and
  fixture data patterns — use test-data-management; pipeline/Actions config — use ci-cd-integration.
  Related: test-data-management, ci-cd-integration, contract-testing, service-virtualization.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: kindlmann
  version: "2.1"
  category: infrastructure
---

<objective>
Staging on SQLite passes tests that break on prod Postgres; a shared staging box becomes a
queue where one broken deploy blocks the whole team; an unmocked Stripe call flakes CI at
random. This skill prevents those by designing environment tiers that mirror production where
it matters, isolate per-PR, and stub external dependencies at the HTTP boundary. It delivers a
working `docker compose up` local/CI stack, a parity checklist, and a stubbing strategy keyed
to dependency type.
</objective>

## Discovery Questions

Check `.agents/qa-project-context.md` first — if it exists, use it and skip anything already
answered there. Then:

1. **How many environments exist today?** Local dev, CI, staging, preview, production? Map what you have before designing what you need.
2. **Is the app containerized?** Check for `Dockerfile`, `docker-compose.yml`, or `compose.yaml`. If yes, multi-stage targets and compose come for free; if not, that is the first deliverable.
3. **How is test data seeded?** Manual SQL, migration-based, factory libraries, or production snapshots? This decides whether seed scripts are a quick win or a rewrite.
4. **How close is staging to production?** Same DB engine, queue, cache, auth provider, orchestration? Each mismatch is a class of bugs staging can never catch.
5. **External dependencies:** How many third-party APIs does the system call, and are they stubbed in non-prod? Unstubbed third parties are the top source of CI flake.

---

## Core Principles

**1. Staging must mirror production where bugs hide.** If staging uses SQLite and production
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE bb11564061f1c94b

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the bb11564061f1c94b tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

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