openfeature-sdk-testing

Overview

The OpenFeature SDK ships an InMemoryProvider in every language that substitutes real flag-management infrastructure with in-process flag state, letting unit and integration tests run without any network call. The production evaluation path (targeting logic, type coercion, defaults) is exercised in full; only the data source is swapped. Per openfeature.dev/docs/reference/concepts/provider (opens in new window), "an application integrator can register one provider at a time."

Differentiation from sibling skills: launchdarkly-testing, unleash-testing, flagsmith-testing, and growthbook-testing wrap each vendor's own TestData/bootstrap API. This skill covers the vendor-neutral OpenFeature layer teams adopt when they want to keep application code decoupled from a specific provider.

When to use

• Tests for code that calls client.getBooleanValue() / get_boolean_value() through the OpenFeature SDK, regardless of which provider runs in production.
• Tests asserting on evaluation details: variant name, reason code, or error code (e.g., FLAG_NOT_FOUND, TYPE_MISMATCH).
• Tests that inject hook logic (telemetry, validation) exercised during flag evaluation.
• Teams migrating between flag providers who want tests that survive the swap.
• Assignment-integrity tests per ab-test-validity-checklist.

How to use

TypeScript/Node.js is the canonical language below. The Java and Python flow is identical; only the API names differ, listed in references/multi-language-and-spec.md.

TypeScript / Node.js

Install (per github.com/open-feature/js-sdk README (opens in new window)):

npm install --save @openfeature/server-sdk

Configure the InMemoryProvider with flag variants and a default variant:

import { OpenFeature, InMemoryProvider } from '@openfeature/server-sdk';

const flags = {
  'show-new-ui': {
    variants: { on: true, off: false },
    disabled: false,
    defaultVariant: 'on',
  },
  'checkout-v2': {
    variants: { enabled: true, disabled: false },
    disabled: false,
    defaultVariant: 'disabled',
  },
} as const;

await OpenFeature.setProvider(new InMemoryProvider(flags));
const client = OpenFeature.getClient();

Evaluate flags using the typed evaluation API (per openfeature.dev/docs/reference/concepts/evaluation-api (opens in new window)):

// Returns the resolved value; falls back to default on error
const enabled = await client.getBooleanValue('show-new-ui', false);

// Returns full EvaluationDetails
const details = await client.getBooleanDetails('show-new-ui', false);
// details.value    - the resolved boolean
// details.variant  - e.g. "on"
// details.reason   - e.g. "STATIC", "DEFAULT", "TARGETING_MATCH"
// details.errorCode- e.g. "FLAG_NOT_FOUND" when the flag is absent

Typical test pattern:

import { OpenFeature, InMemoryProvider } from '@openfeature/server-sdk';

describe('checkout feature', () => {
  let client: Client;

  beforeAll(async () => {
    await OpenFeature.setProvider(new InMemoryProvider({
      'checkout-v2': {
        variants: { enabled: true, disabled: false },
        disabled: false,
        defaultVariant: 'disabled',
      },
    }));
    client = OpenFeature.getClient();
  });

  afterAll(() => OpenFeature.close());

  it('returns false when flag defaults to disabled', async () => {
    const value = await client.getBooleanValue('checkout-v2', false);
    expect(value).toBe(false);
  });

  it('returns details with reason STATIC for static flags', async () => {
    const details = await client.getBooleanDetails('checkout-v2', false);
    expect(details.reason).toBe('STATIC');
  });

  it('returns FLAG_NOT_FOUND error code for unknown flag', async () => {
    const details = await client.getBooleanDetails('unknown-flag', false);
    expect(details.errorCode).toBe('FLAG_NOT_FOUND');
  });
});

Java and Python install/configure/evaluate blocks live in references/multi-language-and-spec.md.

EvaluationDetails and reason codes

EvaluationDetails carries value, flagKey, variant, reason, errorCode, errorMessage, and flagMetadata. Canonical reason values include STATIC, DEFAULT, TARGETING_MATCH, SPLIT, CACHED, DISABLED, UNKNOWN, STALE, ERROR; canonical error codes include FLAG_NOT_FOUND, TYPE_MISMATCH, TARGETING_KEY_MISSING, and PROVIDER_NOT_READY. The full field table with spec requirement numbers is in references/multi-language-and-spec.md.

Evaluation context for targeting-rule tests

Evaluation context is "a container for arbitrary contextual data that can be used as a basis for dynamic evaluation" (per openfeature.dev/docs/reference/concepts/evaluation-context (opens in new window)). The targeting key is a unique identifier (user ID, session ID) that providers use for deterministic bucketing. Custom attributes carry additional data (email, plan, region).

Context can be set at three levels: global (via the API object), client, and per invocation. Lower levels override duplicate keys from higher levels.

// TypeScript - per-invocation context for targeting-rule tests
const ctx = { targetingKey: 'user-42', email: 'user@example.com' };
const details = await client.getBooleanDetails('beta-access', false, ctx);
expect(details.reason).toBe('TARGETING_MATCH');

Java and Python context builders (ImmutableContext, EvaluationContext) are in references/multi-language-and-spec.md.

Hooks for test-time side-effects

Hooks intercept the flag evaluation lifecycle at four stages - before (can modify evaluation context), after (validate the returned value), error (on resolution failure), and finally (unconditionally). The stage table and execution order (per specification Requirement 4.4.2) are in references/multi-language-and-spec.md.

Register hooks at global, client, or invocation level:

// Global hook - runs for every flag evaluation
OpenFeature.addHooks({
  before(ctx) {
    // ctx carries flagKey, flagValueType, defaultValue, evaluationContext
    console.log(`Evaluating ${ctx.flagKey}`);
  },
  after(ctx, details) {
    // details is the EvaluationDetails for this evaluation
    expect(details.errorCode).toBeUndefined();
  },
  error(ctx, err) {
    console.error(`Flag ${ctx.flagKey} failed: ${err.message}`);
  },
});

Test use case: attach an after hook to assert that no evaluation returns an error code, surfacing FLAG_NOT_FOUND regressions across the entire test run without asserting each flag individually.

Anti-patterns

Limitations

• InMemoryProvider does not replicate production targeting rules. To test that a real provider evaluates a segment correctly, write an integration test against that provider's native test harness. Consult the sibling skills (launchdarkly-testing, unleash-testing, etc.) for those patterns.
• Client-side OpenFeature SDKs (@openfeature/web-sdk) use a different setContext pattern; this skill targets server-side SDKs.
• Hook before stages can modify the evaluation context in some SDK versions but the specification marks this as optional behavior - verify against your SDK version.
• InMemoryProvider does not fire PROVIDER_CHANGED events on putIfAbsent in all SDK versions; check release notes when relying on event-driven updates in tests.

References

• Evaluation API concept: openfeature.dev/docs/reference/concepts/evaluation-api (opens in new window)
• Provider concept and setProvider: openfeature.dev/docs/reference/concepts/provider (opens in new window)
• Evaluation context: openfeature.dev/docs/reference/concepts/evaluation-context (opens in new window)
• Hooks concept: openfeature.dev/docs/reference/concepts/hooks (opens in new window)
• OpenFeature specification (flag evaluation): openfeature.dev/specification/sections/flag-evaluation (opens in new window)
• OpenFeature specification (providers): openfeature.dev/specification/sections/providers (opens in new window)
• OpenFeature specification (hooks): openfeature.dev/specification/sections/hooks (opens in new window)
• TypeScript/Node SDK: github.com/open-feature/js-sdk (opens in new window)
• Java SDK: github.com/open-feature/java-sdk (opens in new window)
• Python SDK: github.com/open-feature/python-sdk (opens in new window)
• Java / Python SDK code and spec tables: references/multi-language-and-spec.md
• Companion catalogs: feature-flag-test-matrix-reference, flag-state-coverage-builder
• Vendor-specific skills: launchdarkly-testing, unleash-testing, flagsmith-testing, growthbook-testing
• Cross-plugin: feature-flag-test-harness, ab-test-validity-checklist