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Chat — Tests

Overview

The chat app includes a comprehensive test suite covering:

  • REST API endpoints
  • websocket behavior
  • attachment workflows
  • participant access control
  • message lifecycle (create, edit, delete)
  • read state tracking

The tests validate both:

  • functional correctness
  • security boundaries (who is allowed to do what)

Test structure

The tests are grouped into:

  • test_rest
  • test_features
  • test_chat_ws

Each group focuses on a specific layer of the system.

REST API tests

Conversations

Tests verify:

  • internal conversation listing requires org context
  • customer conversation listing requires customer org context
  • conversations are returned correctly for both sides
  • conversation creation:
  • fails without a valid customer link
  • succeeds when link exists
  • automatically adds creator as participant

Messages

Tests verify:

  • only participants can access messages
  • non-participants receive 403
  • message list response shape:
  • contains items
  • contains next_before
  • pagination behavior is correct

Participants

Tests verify:

  • only existing participants can add new participants
  • adding participant fails for unauthorized users
  • removing participants updates their active state

Message actions

Tests verify:

  • only the sender can edit a message
  • only the sender can delete a message
  • non-senders receive 403
  • editing updates:
  • message body
  • edited_at
  • deleting sets:
  • deleted_at

Read state

Tests verify:

  • marking a conversation as read updates last_read_at
  • only participants can update read state

Attachments

Tests verify:

  • upload returns:
  • attachment ID
  • metadata
  • upload fails for non-participants
  • uploaded attachment is persisted in database
  • content type restrictions are enforced

Feature tests

Feature tests validate multi-step workflows.

Attachment + message linking

Tests verify:

  • attachments can be uploaded before message creation
  • websocket message includes attachment IDs
  • backend links attachments to the message
  • attachment records are updated with message_id

Pagination shape

Tests verify:

  • message list response structure is stable
  • frontend can rely on consistent keys

Websocket tests

Websocket tests use:

  • channels.testing.WebsocketCommunicator
  • async pytest support

Connection behavior

Tests verify:

  • anonymous users are rejected
  • non-participants are rejected
  • valid participants can connect successfully

Message flow

Tests verify:

  • sending a message via websocket:
  • persists the message in database
  • broadcasts message payload
  • response contains:
  • body
  • conversation_id
  • message is queryable after send

Attachment linking via websocket

Tests verify:

  • uploaded attachment IDs can be passed in websocket message
  • attachments are linked to created message
  • database reflects the correct relationship

Security tests

The test suite ensures strict access control:

Participant enforcement

  • only participants can:
  • view messages
  • upload attachments
  • connect via websocket

Sender restrictions

  • only sender can:
  • edit message
  • delete message

Org and customer boundaries

  • conversations require valid org context
  • customer conversations require customer org context
  • conversation creation requires valid org link

Data integrity tests

Tests validate:

  • attachments are properly linked
  • messages are persisted correctly
  • participant states are respected
  • read timestamps are updated

Async test considerations

Websocket tests:

  • use pytest.mark.asyncio
  • use database_sync_to_async for DB access
  • run with transaction support

This ensures:

  • correct async execution
  • safe database interaction

Coverage summary

The test suite covers:

  • REST endpoints
  • websocket flows
  • permissions and access control
  • data persistence
  • attachment lifecycle
  • participant lifecycle
  • message lifecycle

Known gaps

Potential areas for future testing:

  • notification dispatch behavior
  • typing event behavior (currently not asserted)
  • large conversation performance
  • attachment cleanup task
  • multi-user concurrent websocket scenarios
  • read/unread count accuracy under load

Best practices

  • always test both success and failure paths
  • explicitly test permission boundaries
  • include websocket tests for realtime features
  • validate response shape stability
  • ensure database state matches expected outcomes

Summary

The chat app test suite ensures:

  • correctness of chat workflows
  • strict access control
  • reliable realtime behavior
  • consistent API contracts

It provides a strong foundation for safely integrating the chat system into frontend clients.