F# Testing Patterns

Comprehensive testing patterns for F# applications using xUnit, FsUnit, Unquote, FsCheck, and modern .NET testing practices.

When to Activate

• Writing new tests for F# code
• Reviewing test quality and coverage
• Setting up test infrastructure for F# projects
• Debugging flaky or slow tests

Test Framework Stack

Tool	Purpose
xUnit	Test framework (standard .NET ecosystem choice)
FsUnit.xUnit	F#-friendly assertion syntax for xUnit
Unquote	Assertion library using F# quotations for clear failure messages
FsCheck.xUnit	Property-based testing integrated with xUnit
NSubstitute	Mocking .NET dependencies
Testcontainers	Real infrastructure in integration tests
WebApplicationFactory	ASP.NET Core integration tests

Unit Tests with xUnit + FsUnit

Basic Test Structure

module OrderServiceTests

open Xunit
open FsUnit.Xunit

[<Fact>]
let ``create sets status to Pending`` () =
    let order = Order.create "cust-1" [ validItem ]
    order.Status |> should equal Pending

[<Fact>]
let ``confirm changes status to Confirmed`` () =
    let order = Order.create "cust-1" [ validItem ]
    let confirmed = Order.confirm order
    confirmed.Status |> should be (ofCase <@ Confirmed @>)

Assertions with Unquote

Unquote uses F# quotations so failure messages show the full expression that failed, not just "expected X got Y".

module OrderValidationTests

open Xunit
open Swensen.Unquote

[<Fact>]
let ``PlaceOrder returns success when request is valid`` () =
    let request = { CustomerId = "cust-123"; Items = [ validItem ] }
    let result = OrderService.placeOrder request
    test <@ Result.isOk result @>

[<Fact>]
let ``order total sums item prices`` () =
    let items = [ { Sku = "A"; Quantity = 2; Price = 10m }
                  { Sku = "B"; Quantity = 1; Price = 5m } ]
    let total = Order.calculateTotal items
    test <@ total = 25m @>

[<Fact>]
let ``validated email rejects empty input`` () =
    let result = ValidatedEmail.create ""
    test <@ Result.isError result @>

Async Tests

[<Fact>]
let ``PlaceOrder returns success when request is valid`` () = task {
    let deps = createTestDeps ()
    let request = { CustomerId = "cust-123"; Items = [ validItem ] }

    let! result = OrderService.placeOrder deps request

    test <@ Result.isOk result @>
}

[<Fact>]
let ``PlaceOrder returns error when items are empty`` () = task {
    let deps = createTestDeps ()
    let request = { CustomerId = "cust-123"; Items = [] }

    let! result = OrderService.placeOrder deps request

    test <@ Result.isError result @>
}

Parameterized Tests with Theory

[<Theory>]
[<InlineData("")>]
[<InlineData("   ")>]
let ``PlaceOrder rejects empty customer ID`` (customerId: string) =
    let request = { CustomerId = customerId; Items = [ validItem ] }
    let result = OrderService.placeOrder request
    result |> should be (ofCase <@ Error @>)

[<Theory>]
[<InlineData("", false)>]
[<InlineData("a", false)>]
[<InlineData("user@example.com", true)>]
[<InlineData("user+tag@example.co.uk", true)>]
let ``IsValidEmail returns expected result`` (email: string, expected: bool) =
    test <@ EmailValidator.isValid email = expected @>

Property-Based Testing with FsCheck

Using FsCheck.xUnit

open FsCheck
open FsCheck.Xunit

[<Property>]
let ``order total is always non-negative`` (items: NonEmptyList<PositiveInt * decimal>) =
    let orderItems =
        items.Get
        |> List.map (fun (qty, price) ->
            { Sku = "SKU"; Quantity = qty.Get; Price = abs price })
    let total = Order.calculateTotal orderItems
    total >= 0m

[<Property>]
let ``serialization roundtrips`` (order: Order) =
    let json = JsonSerializer.Serialize order
    let deserialized = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<Order> json
    deserialized = order

Custom Generators

type OrderGenerators =
    static member ValidEmail () =
        gen {
            let! user = Gen.elements [ "alice"; "bob"; "carol" ]
            let! domain = Gen.elements [ "example.com"; "test.org" ]
            return $"{user}@{domain}"
        }
        |> Arb.fromGen

[<Property(Arbitrary = [| typeof<OrderGenerators> |])>]
let ``valid emails pass validation`` (email: string) =
    EmailValidator.isValid email

Mocking Dependencies

Function Stubs (Preferred)

let createTestDeps () =
    let mutable savedOrders = []
    { FindOrder = fun id -> task { return Map.tryFind id testData }
      SaveOrder = fun order -> task { savedOrders <- order :: savedOrders }
      SendNotification = fun _ -> Task.CompletedTask }

[<Fact>]
let ``PlaceOrder saves the confirmed order`` () = task {
    let mutable saved = []
    let deps =
        { createTestDeps () with
            SaveOrder = fun order -> task { saved <- order :: saved } }

    let! _ = OrderService.placeOrder deps validRequest

    test <@ saved.Length = 1 @>
}

NSubstitute for .NET Interfaces

open NSubstitute

[<Fact>]
let ``calls repository with correct ID`` () = task {
    let repo = Substitute.For<IOrderRepository>()
    repo.FindByIdAsync(Arg.Any<Guid>(), Arg.Any<CancellationToken>())
        .Returns(Task.FromResult(Some testOrder))

    let service = OrderService(repo)
    let! _ = service.GetOrder(testOrder.Id, CancellationToken.None)

    do! repo.Received(1).FindByIdAsync(testOrder.Id, Arg.Any<CancellationToken>())
}

ASP.NET Core Integration Tests

type OrderApiTests (factory: WebApplicationFactory<Program>) =
    interface IClassFixture<WebApplicationFactory<Program>>

    let client =
        factory.WithWebHostBuilder(fun builder ->
            builder.ConfigureServices(fun services ->
                services.RemoveAll<DbContextOptions<AppDbContext>>() |> ignore
                services.AddDbContext<AppDbContext>(fun options ->
                    options.UseInMemoryDatabase("TestDb") |> ignore) |> ignore))
            .CreateClient()

    [<Fact>]
    member _.``GET order returns 404 when not found`` () = task {
        let! response = client.GetAsync($"/api/orders/{Guid.NewGuid()}")
        test <@ response.StatusCode = HttpStatusCode.NotFound @>
    }

Test Organization

tests/
  MyApp.Tests/
    Unit/
      OrderServiceTests.fs
      PaymentServiceTests.fs
    Integration/
      OrderApiTests.fs
      OrderRepositoryTests.fs
    Properties/
      OrderPropertyTests.fs
    Helpers/
      TestData.fs
      TestDeps.fs

Common Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern	Fix
Testing implementation details	Test behavior and outcomes
Mutable shared test state	Fresh state per test
Thread.Sleep in async tests	Use Task.Delay with timeout, or polling helpers
Asserting on sprintf output	Assert on typed values and pattern matches
Ignoring CancellationToken	Always pass and verify cancellation
Skipping property-based tests	Use FsCheck for any function with clear invariants

Related Skills

• dotnet-patterns - Idiomatic .NET patterns, dependency injection, and architecture
• csharp-testing - C# testing patterns (shared infrastructure like WebApplicationFactory and Testcontainers applies to F# too)

Running Tests

# Run all tests
dotnet test

# Run with coverage
dotnet test --collect:"XPlat Code Coverage"

# Run specific project
dotnet test tests/MyApp.Tests/

# Filter by test name
dotnet test --filter "FullyQualifiedName~OrderService"

# Watch mode during development
dotnet watch test --project tests/MyApp.Tests/