Spring Boot Testing

Test pyramid approach: fast unit tests at the base, slice tests in the middle, integration tests at the top.

What I Do

•Choose the right test type (unit vs slice vs integration) for speed and confidence
•Set up @WebMvcTest, @DataJpaTest, @SpringBootTest with minimal context
•Integrate Testcontainers with @ServiceConnection or @DynamicPropertySource
•Debug common failures (missing beans, slow suites, container lifecycle)
•Test Spring Security endpoints with @WithMockUser and JWT mocking

When to Use Me

•Write tests for Spring Boot controllers, services, or repositories
•Set up @WebMvcTest, @DataJpaTest, or @SpringBootTest
•Configure Testcontainers for integration tests
•Mock dependencies with Mockito or @MockitoBean
•Debug failing tests or slow test suites
•Test Spring Security endpoints

Test Pyramid Quick Reference

Layer	Annotation	Speed	Use For
Unit	None (pure Mockito)	~1ms	Business logic
Slice	@WebMvcTest	~500ms	Controller endpoints
Slice	@DataJpaTest	~500ms	Repository queries
Integration	@SpringBootTest	~5s	Full application flows

@WebMvcTest - Controller Testing

java

@WebMvcTest(OrderController.class)
class OrderControllerTest {

    @Autowired
    private MockMvc mockMvc;

    @MockitoBean
    private OrderService orderService;

    @Test
    void shouldReturnOrder_whenOrderExists() throws Exception {
        when(orderService.findById(1L)).thenReturn(Optional.of(order));

        mockMvc.perform(get("/api/orders/1"))
            .andExpect(status().isOk())
            .andExpect(jsonPath("$.id").value(1));
    }
}

@DataJpaTest - Repository Testing

java

@DataJpaTest
@AutoConfigureTestDatabase(replace = Replace.NONE)
@Testcontainers
class OrderRepositoryTest {

    @Container
    @ServiceConnection
    static PostgreSQLContainer<?> postgres = 
        new PostgreSQLContainer<>("postgres:16-alpine");

    @Autowired
    private OrderRepository orderRepository;

    @Autowired
    private TestEntityManager entityManager;  // Use TestEntityManager for @DataJpaTest

    @Test
    void shouldFindOrdersByStatus() {
        entityManager.persistAndFlush(new Order("SKU-1", OrderStatus.PENDING));
        var orders = orderRepository.findByStatus(OrderStatus.PENDING);
        assertThat(orders).hasSize(1);
    }
}

@SpringBootTest with Testcontainers

java

@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = WebEnvironment.RANDOM_PORT)
@Testcontainers
class OrderIntegrationTest {

    @Container
    @ServiceConnection
    static PostgreSQLContainer<?> postgres = 
        new PostgreSQLContainer<>("postgres:16-alpine");

    @Autowired
    private TestRestTemplate restTemplate;

    @BeforeEach
    void setUp() {
        orderRepository.deleteAll();
    }

    @Test
    void shouldCreateAndRetrieveOrder() {
        var response = restTemplate.postForEntity("/api/orders", request, OrderDto.class);
        assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.CREATED);
    }
}

Singleton Container Pattern

Share containers across test classes for speed:

java

public abstract class AbstractIntegrationTest {
    static final PostgreSQLContainer<?> postgres;

    static {
        postgres = new PostgreSQLContainer<>("postgres:16-alpine");
        postgres.start();
    }

    @DynamicPropertySource
    static void configureProperties(DynamicPropertyRegistry registry) {
        registry.add("spring.datasource.url", postgres::getJdbcUrl);
        registry.add("spring.datasource.username", postgres::getUsername);
        registry.add("spring.datasource.password", postgres::getPassword);
    }
}

Pure Unit Tests (No Spring)

java

@ExtendWith(MockitoExtension.class)
class OrderServiceTest {

    @Mock private OrderRepository orderRepository;
    @InjectMocks private OrderService orderService;

    @Test
    void shouldCreateOrder_whenValidRequest() {
        when(orderRepository.save(any())).thenAnswer(inv -> inv.getArgument(0));
        var order = orderService.createOrder(request);
        assertThat(order.getSku()).isEqualTo("SKU-123");
    }
}

Test Naming Convention

Pattern: should{ExpectedBehavior}_when{Condition}

java

void shouldReturnOrder_whenOrderExists()
void shouldThrowException_whenOrderNotFound()
void shouldApplyDiscount_whenCustomerIsPremium()

Spring Security Testing

java

@WebMvcTest(AdminController.class)
@Import(SecurityConfig.class)
class AdminControllerTest {

    @Test
    void shouldRejectUnauthenticated() throws Exception {
        mockMvc.perform(get("/api/admin")).andExpect(status().isUnauthorized());
    }

    @Test
    @WithMockUser(roles = "ADMIN")
    void shouldAllowAdmin() throws Exception {
        mockMvc.perform(get("/api/admin")).andExpect(status().isOk());
    }
}

Context7 Integration

Fetch up-to-date docs when writing tests:

bash

context7 query "@WebMvcTest MockMvc" --library spring-boot
context7 query "PostgreSQLContainer" --library testcontainers

Common Errors

Error	Cause	Solution
`NoSuchBeanDefinitionException`	Missing mock	Add `@MockitoBean`
`DataSource` required	No database	Add Testcontainers
Slow test suite	Container per class	Singleton pattern
`@MockBean` deprecated	Spring Boot 3.4+	Use `@MockitoBean` (same behavior, new package)

Reference

Topic	Reference
Test patterns	`references/research.md`
Anti-patterns	`references/research.md#common-anti-patterns`
Testcontainers	`references/research.md#testcontainers-patterns`

Related Skills

•spring-boot-core - Application configuration
•spring-data - Repository patterns
•spring-security - Security testing

spring-testing

Spring Boot Testing

What I Do

When to Use Me

Test Pyramid Quick Reference

@WebMvcTest - Controller Testing

@DataJpaTest - Repository Testing

@SpringBootTest with Testcontainers

Singleton Container Pattern

Pure Unit Tests (No Spring)

Test Naming Convention

Spring Security Testing

Context7 Integration

Common Errors

Reference

Related Skills

Resources