Q&A
What do you actually review in a test code PR — and what do you let slide?
Ajitesh MohantaAmbassador
May 11, 2026 1,393 0
Test code reviews on my team are inconsistent. Some reviewers are rigorous (comment on everything), some rubber-stamp test PRs.
I'm trying to write a lightweight review guide for our team. My current draft of what to always check:
- Does the test name describe what it's actually testing?
- Is there at least one meaningful assertion beyond `assert response.status_code == 200`?
- Are fixtures cleaning up after themselves?
- Does this test depend on execution order?
And what I'd let slide in a review:
- Code style that doesn't affect readability
- Test data that could be more minimal
What's on your critical list? What have you caught in test code reviews that saved a real problem later?