Consumer-driven contract testing for microservices using Pact, schema validation, API versioning, and backward compatibility testing. Use when testing API contracts, preventing breaking changes, or coordinating distributed teams.
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skills listSkill Instructions
name: contract-testing description: "Consumer-driven contract testing for microservices using Pact, schema validation, API versioning, and backward compatibility testing. Use when testing API contracts or coordinating distributed teams." category: testing-methodologies priority: high tokenEstimate: 900 agents: [qe-api-contract-validator, qe-test-generator, qe-security-scanner] implementation_status: optimized optimization_version: 1.0 last_optimized: 2025-12-02 dependencies: [] quick_reference_card: true tags: [contract, pact, consumer-driven, api, microservices, schema-validation]
Contract Testing
<default_to_action> When testing API contracts or microservices:
- DEFINE consumer expectations (what consumers actually need)
- VERIFY provider fulfills contracts (Pact verification)
- DETECT breaking changes before deployment (CI/CD integration)
- VERSION APIs semantically (breaking = major bump)
- MAINTAIN backward compatibility for supported versions
Quick Contract Testing Steps:
- Consumer: Define expected request/response pairs
- Provider: Verify against all consumer contracts
- CI/CD: Block deploys that break contracts
- Versioning: Document supported versions and deprecation
Critical Success Factors:
- Consumers own the contract (they define what they need)
- Provider must pass all consumer contracts before deploy
- Breaking changes require coordination, not surprise </default_to_action>
Quick Reference Card
When to Use
- Microservices communication
- Third-party API integrations
- Distributed team coordination
- Preventing breaking changes
Consumer-Driven Contract Flow
Consumer → Defines Expectations → Contract
↓
Provider → Verifies Contract → Pass/Fail
↓
CI/CD → Blocks Breaking Changes
Breaking vs Non-Breaking Changes
| Change Type | Breaking? | Semver |
|---|---|---|
| Remove field | ✅ Yes | Major |
| Rename field | ✅ Yes | Major |
| Change type | ✅ Yes | Major |
| Add optional field | ❌ No | Minor |
| Add new endpoint | ❌ No | Minor |
| Bug fix | ❌ No | Patch |
Tools
| Tool | Best For |
|---|---|
| Pact | Consumer-driven contracts |
| OpenAPI/Swagger | API-first design |
| JSON Schema | Schema validation |
| GraphQL | Schema-first contracts |
Consumer Contract (Pact)
// Consumer defines what it needs
const { Pact } = require('@pact-foundation/pact');
describe('Order API Consumer', () => {
const provider = new Pact({
consumer: 'CheckoutUI',
provider: 'OrderService'
});
beforeAll(() => provider.setup());
afterAll(() => provider.finalize());
it('creates an order', async () => {
await provider.addInteraction({
state: 'products exist',
uponReceiving: 'a create order request',
withRequest: {
method: 'POST',
path: '/orders',
body: { productId: 'abc', quantity: 2 }
},
willRespondWith: {
status: 201,
body: {
orderId: like('order-123'), // Any string matching pattern
total: like(19.99) // Any number
}
}
});
const response = await orderClient.create({ productId: 'abc', quantity: 2 });
expect(response.orderId).toBeDefined();
});
});
Provider Verification
// Provider verifies it fulfills all consumer contracts
const { Verifier } = require('@pact-foundation/pact');
describe('Order Service Provider', () => {
it('fulfills all consumer contracts', async () => {
await new Verifier({
provider: 'OrderService',
providerBaseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000',
pactUrls: ['./pacts/checkoutui-orderservice.json'],
stateHandlers: {
'products exist': async () => {
await db.products.create({ id: 'abc', price: 9.99 });
}
}
}).verifyProvider();
});
});
Breaking Change Detection
// Agent detects breaking changes
await Task("Contract Validation", {
currentContract: 'openapi-v2.yaml',
previousContract: 'openapi-v1.yaml',
detectBreaking: true,
calculateSemver: true,
generateMigrationGuide: true
}, "qe-api-contract-validator");
// Output:
// Breaking changes found: 2
// - Removed field: order.discount
// - Type change: order.total (number → string)
// Recommended version: 3.0.0 (major bump)
CI/CD Integration
name: Contract Tests
on: [push]
jobs:
consumer-tests:
steps:
- run: npm run test:contract
- name: Publish Pacts
run: npx pact-broker publish ./pacts --broker-base-url $PACT_BROKER
provider-verification:
needs: consumer-tests
steps:
- name: Verify Provider
run: npm run verify:contracts
- name: Can I Deploy?
run: npx pact-broker can-i-deploy --pacticipant OrderService --version $VERSION
Agent Coordination Hints
Memory Namespace
aqe/contract-testing/
├── contracts/* - Current contracts
├── breaking-changes/* - Detected breaking changes
├── versioning/* - Version compatibility matrix
└── verification-results/* - Provider verification history
Fleet Coordination
const contractFleet = await FleetManager.coordinate({
strategy: 'contract-testing',
agents: [
'qe-api-contract-validator', // Validation, breaking detection
'qe-test-generator', // Generate contract tests
'qe-security-scanner' // API security
],
topology: 'sequential'
});
Related Skills
- api-testing-patterns - API testing strategies
- shift-left-testing - Early contract validation
- cicd-pipeline-qe-orchestrator - Pipeline integration
Remember
Consumers own the contract. They define what they need; providers must fulfill it. Breaking changes require major version bumps and coordination. CI/CD blocks deploys that break contracts. Use Pact for consumer-driven, OpenAPI for API-first.
With Agents: Agents validate contracts, detect breaking changes with semver recommendations, and generate migration guides. Use agents to maintain contract compliance at scale.
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