Bevy testing patterns

When to use

Load this when a Bevy crate needs unit or integration tests. The Cargo book page for cargo test is the source. Check the Bevy docs for App::update inside #[test] before writing that harness.

ECS shape

• Command: cargo test compiles and runs unit tests, integration tests, and documentation tests. cargo test name_filter runs names that contain the filter. Arguments after -- go to libtest (cargo test -- --help).
• What runs: functions annotated with #[test]. The harness runs them in multiple threads. The working directory for each test is the package root, so relative paths resolve from that root no matter where you invoked Cargo.
• Scope: default cargo test covers the lib, bins as unit tests, integration tests, and doc tests, and it builds examples. --lib limits to the library. harness = false on a target means you supply main.
• Profile: the test profile is the default. --profile=debug keeps debug info. -- --no-capture shows test output.
• Bevy types inside a test: not specified here. Do not copy an App::new() test from an old discussion. Bevy's own crates contain #[cfg(test)] modules. Check those helpers before treating them as a public guide.

Coming from Godot

Godot idea	Bevy idiom
Run the suite	cargo test from the package
One test name	cargo test name_filter
See prints	cargo test -- --no-capture
Scene-tree test runner	No twin. GdUnit stays on the Godot skill

Scope

• Check docs.rs latest for a page that shows App, MinimalPlugins, and app.update() inside #[test] before writing that harness.
• Check the docs for headless frame capture, golden images, and input injection for tests before writing them.
• Doctest working-directory rules differ from unit tests (workspace root for rustdoc compile). Do not assume a doctest can read assets/ the same way.

Expert Knowledge Delta

Target: Bevy 0.20+.

Core ECS types: Component, Resource, Query, Commands, Startup, Update, Fixed / FixedMain (bevy::time), .chain(), Plugin, DefaultPlugins, MinimalPlugins. Messages and observers are an ownership slot. See bevy-events-messaging for their APIs. Systems run in parallel unless .chain() orders the ones that conflict.

Who owns state

Piece	Owner	Who may mutate	Schedule
Data on one entity	Component	One system via Query	Update or FixedMain
One value for the whole app	Resource	One system	Startup to insert, then the schedule that reads it
Spawn	Commands	The spawning system	Startup for the initial world; later schedules for runtime spawn
Order that must not race	.chain()	The chained systems only	Same schedule
Plugin boundary	Plugin	build registers systems and resources	Before the app runs

Borrow rule: two systems that both mutably query the same component must be ordered (.chain()) or split so only one writes. Unrelated systems stay parallel. That is the ECS page rule, not a guess at a system-set API.

Decision

If you need	Do this	Do not
Per-entity data	Component + Query	A Godot node script
App-wide config or clock	Resource	Copy the value onto every entity
Stable simulation step	FixedMain and the Fixed clock	Tie simulation to raw frame Update
Startup spawn	Commands in Startup	Spawn from a render system
Cross-system notice that is not shared state	Message or observer slot in bevy-events-messaging	A new event type invented in this file
An API outside the documented set	Check the official docs first	A made-up crate or API

Load references/ecs-ownership.md for the ownership table.

NEVER

• Do not pin /0.20.0/ in docs URLs. WHY: links stay on latest; the 0.20 target is stated once in prose.

• Do not mutably query the same component from two unordered systems. WHY: the schedule runs systems in parallel unless .chain() orders them.

• Do not invent a physics, navigation, networking, or XR crate here. WHY: this skill only names documented Bevy crates and modules.

• No GdUnit, GUT, or Godot test-runner types. WHY: Bevy code stays idiomatic ECS and uses only documented Bevy APIs.

• No App::update test recipe this file did not open. WHY: Bevy code stays idiomatic ECS and uses only documented Bevy APIs.

• No third-party Bevy test crates. WHY: Bevy code stays idiomatic ECS and uses only documented Bevy APIs.

Reference

docs.rs links use the unversioned latest permalink. The library pin on bevy-master stays 0.20.0.

Official Documentation

• Migration guides - Unversioned hop index.
• bevy crate - Unversioned API index.
• cargo test - #[test], filters, libtest args, package root as cwd.
• Examples - Example tree on the latest branch. Examples are not the test harness.

Related Skills

Prerequisites

• bevy-master - Who owns which piece of state.
• bevy-project-foundations - The Cargo package cargo test runs against.

Complements

• godot-testing-patterns - Godot counterpart. GdUnit stays there.

Downstream / consumers

• None yet.

Master

• bevy-master - Bevy router.