How do I run the pytest tests in Django?

Are you someone who wants to ensure the stability and reliability of their application then testing Django is a very important step you need to perform. Not just this but pytest is a very popular testing framework for Python which provides a simple yet powerful way to write and run tests. For people who combine it with pytest-django then it becomes even easier to test Django applications by utilizing Django’s testing capabilities using pytest's powerful features.

How do I run the pytest in Django?

To run the pytest tests in Django we need to follow these simple steps one by one:

Step1: Start by Installing Pytest and Pytest-Django

If you already have pytest and pytest-django installed on your computer then you can proceed to the next step but if you haven’t then you can install them using:

pip install pytest pytest-django

Step2: After installation, arrange pytest for Django

Arrange a pytest.ini file in the root of your project (where your main file is located mainfile.py) and add the following configuration:

[pytest]
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE = your_project_name.settings
python_files = tests.py test_*.py *_tests.py

Step3: Write your tests

To write tests, a person must create test files in Django directories. By naming conventions, test files always start with “test_” and end with ‘_test.py’.

Step 4: Run the tests:

To run the tests use the “pytest” command in your terminal like

pytest

A person can also run the tests for a specific file or module using :

pytest your_app/tests/

Let us now look at a example to understand Django model test using "pytest" :

Example 1:

In this example we are testing a django model.

models.py:

from django.db import models

# Create your models here.
class Member(models.Model):
    firstName = models.CharField(max_length=255)
    lastName = models.CharField(max_length=255)
    phone = models.IntegerField()
    joinedDate = models.DateField()
    

tests/test_models.py:

import pytest
from django.utils import timezone
from members.models import Member


@pytest.mark.django_db
def test_member_creation():
    member = Member.objects.create(
        firstName = "John",
        lastName="Doe",
        phone=6307730629,
        joinedDate=timezone.now().date()
    )
    
    assert member.firstName == "John"
    assert member.lastName == "Doe"
    assert member.phone == 6307730629
    assert member.joinedDate == timezone.now().date()

Output:

Example 1:

Here’s a simple example of a Django views test using pytest:

forms.py:

from django import forms

class SimpleForm(forms.Form):
    name = forms.CharField(max_length=100)
    age = forms.IntegerField(min_value=0, max_value=120)

views.py:

from django.shortcuts import render
from django.http import HttpResponse
from .forms import SimpleForm

def simple_form_view(request):
    if request.method == 'POST':
        form = SimpleForm(request.POST)
        if form.is_valid():
            # Process the data in form.cleaned_data
            name = form.cleaned_data['name']
            age = form.cleaned_data['age']
            return HttpResponse(f"Hello {name}, you are {age} years old.")
    else:
        form = SimpleForm()

    return render(request, 'simple_form.html', {'form': form})

tests/test_models.py:

import pytest
from django.urls import reverse
from django.test import Client

@pytest.mark.django_db
def test_simple_form_view_get():
    client = Client()
    response = client.get(reverse('simple_form_view'))
    assert response.status_code == 200
    assert 'form' in response.context
    assert '<form method="post">' in response.content.decode()

@pytest.mark.django_db
def test_simple_form_view_post_valid_data():
    client = Client()
    response = client.post(reverse('simple_form_view'), {'name': 'Alice', 'age': 30})
    assert response.status_code == 200
    assert "Hello Alice, you are 30 years old." in response.content.decode()

Output:

Conclusion

From the above blog we saw that the process of designing and executing tests is made simpler by integrating pytest with Django. This improves the features of Django's built-in testing tools with a secure and flexible testing framework. People can make sure that their Django applications are strong and well-tested by following the instructions in this guide, which include installing pytest and pytest-django, setting up projects, creating test cases, and running tests.