Test Categories & Run Guide

FluentDocker uses xUnit [Trait("Category", "...")] attributes to classify tests. This document lists every category, how to run it, and what infrastructure it needs.

Category Reference

Category	Count	CI-Safe?	Infrastructure Required	Makefile Target
Unit	~2,700	Yes	None	make test
Integration	~140	Yes	Docker daemon	make test-integration
PodmanIntegration	~45	Yes*	Podman + running machine	make test-integration
DevLocal	~25	No	Docker Swarm + local registry	make test-devlocal
LongRunning	~12	No	Podman machine (may start/stop)	manual
ManualOnly	~20	No	Local registry, manual config	manual
WaitCondition	~10	Yes	Docker daemon	make test-integration
Regression	~6	Yes	Docker daemon	make test-integration
MultiContainer	~10	Yes	Docker daemon	make test-integration
FluentVolume	~6	Yes	Docker daemon	make test-integration
FluentNetwork	~6	Yes	Docker daemon	make test-integration
FluentContainer	~14	Yes	Docker daemon	make test-integration
Compose	~13	Yes	Docker daemon + Compose	make test-integration

* PodmanIntegration is CI-safe only when a Podman machine is pre-provisioned in the CI environment.

Counts as of 2026-05-11; numbers reflect [Fact] + [Theory] occurrences in files carrying the matching [Trait("Category", ...)] attribute. Refresh by running dotnet test --list-tests --filter "Category=Unit" (or the appropriate category) against the test project. Some categories overlap (a test may carry both Integration and WaitCondition, for example).

Running Tests

Unit tests (CI default)

make test
# equivalent to: dotnet test --filter "Category=Unit"

All integration tests (Docker + Podman)

make test-integration
# runs ALL tests, not just Unit

A single category

dotnet test --filter "Category=PodmanIntegration"
dotnet test --filter "Category=Regression"

Combining categories

# Unit + Integration only
dotnet test --filter "Category=Unit|Category=Integration"

# Everything except DevLocal and ManualOnly
dotnet test --filter "Category!=DevLocal&Category!=ManualOnly&Category!=LongRunning"

DevLocal tests (Swarm + registry)

# 1. Start infrastructure
make devlocal-setup

# 2. Run DevLocal tests
make test-devlocal

# 3. Tear down infrastructure
make devlocal-teardown

devlocal-setup initialises Docker Swarm mode and starts the Podman machine. devlocal-teardown leaves Swarm and stops the Podman machine.

Cleanup stale test resources

make cleanup-test-resources
# removes leftover containers, networks, and volumes from previous test runs

Trait Usage Patterns

Tests use class-level traits for the primary category and may add secondary traits:

[Trait("Category", "Integration")]
[Trait("Category", "WaitCondition")]
public class WaitConditionTests { }

When filtering, secondary traits allow finer-grained selection:

dotnet test --filter "Category=WaitCondition"

Adding a New Category

1. Apply [Trait("Category", "YourCategory")] to the test class.
2. Add a row to the table above.
3. If special infrastructure is needed, add setup/teardown instructions.
4. If CI should skip it, ensure the make test filter excludes it.