Dotnet Testing Strategy

This is the strategic layer before you write any tests. It gives you a decision tree for unit versus integration versus E2E, concrete criteria like "pure logic gets unit tests, repository queries get integration tests with real databases," and naming conventions that mirror your source structure. The test doubles section clarifies when to use mocks versus fakes versus stubs with actual behavioral differences, not just definitions. Most useful when you inherit a codebase with inconsistent test patterns or when you're starting a new project and want to avoid the "we have 500 integration tests and they take 20 minutes to run" problem. Pairs with dotnet-add-testing for scaffolding and dotnet-integration-testing for the actual patterns.

skills.sh installs: 619
GitHub stars: 90
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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$ npx -y skills add wshaddix/dotnet-skills --skill dotnet-testing-strategy --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

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dotnet-testing-strategy

Decision framework for choosing the right test type, organizing test projects, and selecting test doubles in .NET applications. Covers unit vs integration vs E2E trade-offs with concrete criteria, naming conventions, and when to use mocks vs fakes vs stubs.

Out of scope: Test project scaffolding (directory layout, xUnit project creation, coverlet setup, editorconfig overrides) is owned by [skill:dotnet-add-testing]. Code coverage tooling and mutation testing are covered by [skill:dotnet-test-quality]. CI test reporting and pipeline integration -- see [skill:dotnet-gha-build-test] and [skill:dotnet-ado-build-test].

Prerequisites: Run [skill:dotnet-project-analysis] to understand the solution structure before designing a test strategy.

Cross-references: [skill:dotnet-xunit] for xUnit v3 testing framework features, [skill:dotnet-integration-testing] for WebApplicationFactory and Testcontainers patterns, [skill:dotnet-snapshot-testing] for Verify-based approval testing, [skill:dotnet-test-quality] for coverage and mutation testing, [skill:dotnet-add-testing] for test project scaffolding.