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Overview

Test fixtures provide reusable test data and configuration across the test suite. All fixtures are defined in conftest.py and are automatically available to all test files.

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users

@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
def users():
Loads test user data from testData/users.json and returns it as a dictionary. This fixture is session-scoped, meaning the JSON file is loaded once per test session for optimal performance. Scope: session Source: /workspace/source/tests/conftest.py:8

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Returns

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users
dict
Dictionary containing user test data loaded from the JSON file

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Usage Example

def test_login_with_valid_user(users):
    """Test login using data from users fixture"""
    username = users["valid_user"]["username"]
    password = users["valid_user"]["password"]
    
    # Use credentials in your test
    login_page.login(username, password)
    assert dashboard.is_displayed()

def test_user_data_loaded(users):
    """Verify users fixture provides expected data"""
    assert "valid_user" in users
    assert "invalid_user" in users

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creds

@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
def creds():
Provides authentication credentials loaded from environment variables (.env file). This fixture fails early with a clear error message if required environment variables are missing. Scope: session Source: /workspace/source/tests/conftest.py:22

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Environment Variables Required

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USERNAME
string
required
Valid username loaded from environment
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PASSWORD
string
required
Valid password loaded from environment

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Returns

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creds
dict
Dictionary containing credentials from environment variables

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Usage Example

def test_login_with_env_credentials(creds):
    """Test login using credentials from environment"""
    username = creds["valid_user"]
    password = creds["pwd"]
    
    login_page.login(username, password)
    assert dashboard.is_displayed()

def test_api_authentication(creds):
    """Use credentials for API testing"""
    response = requests.post(
        "https://api.example.com/login",
        json={
            "username": creds["valid_user"],
            "password": creds["pwd"]
        }
    )
    assert response.status_code == 200

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Error Handling

The fixture raises a RuntimeError if either USERNAME or PASSWORD environment variables are not set: 
RuntimeError: Missing USERNAME/PASSWORD in environment.
Create a .env file in your project root with USERNAME and PASSWORD values to use this fixture.

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Best Practices

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Using Fixtures Together

You can combine multiple fixtures in a single test: 
def test_compare_user_sources(users, creds):
    """Compare data from JSON and environment sources"""
    json_username = users["valid_user"]["username"]
    env_username = creds["valid_user"]
    
    # Both sources should provide valid credentials
    assert json_username is not None
    assert env_username is not None

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Session Scope Benefits

Both fixtures use scope="session" which means:
  • Data is loaded once per test session
  • Faster test execution (no repeated file I/O)
  • Consistent data across all tests
  • Efficient resource usage

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Fixture Location

All fixtures are defined in tests/conftest.py, making them automatically discoverable by pytest across the entire test suite. No imports are needed to use these fixtures.
Ensure sensitive credentials are never committed to version control. Always use .env files (added to .gitignore) or secure environment variable management.

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