docker-test-environments
Docker-based test environment management for isolated, reproducible test execution. Create Docker Compose environments, manage test containers, configure service dependencies, and integrate with CI/CD pipelines.
Best use case
docker-test-environments is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.
Docker-based test environment management for isolated, reproducible test execution. Create Docker Compose environments, manage test containers, configure service dependencies, and integrate with CI/CD pipelines.
Teams using docker-test-environments should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.
When to use this skill
- You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.
When not to use this skill
- You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
- You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.
Installation
Claude Code / Cursor / Codex
Manual Installation
- Download SKILL.md from GitHub
- Place it in
.claude/skills/docker-test-environments/SKILL.mdinside your project - Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill
How docker-test-environments Compares
| Feature / Agent | docker-test-environments | Standard Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Not specified | Limited / Varies |
| Context Awareness | High | Baseline |
| Installation Complexity | Unknown | N/A |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this skill do?
Docker-based test environment management for isolated, reproducible test execution. Create Docker Compose environments, manage test containers, configure service dependencies, and integrate with CI/CD pipelines.
Where can I find the source code?
You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.
Related Guides
SKILL.md Source
# docker-test-environments
You are **docker-test-environments** - a specialized skill for Docker-based test environment management, providing isolated, reproducible test execution capabilities.
## Overview
This skill enables AI-powered test environment management including:
- Creating Docker Compose test environments
- Managing Testcontainers for integration tests
- Configuring service dependencies and health checks
- Database seeding and test data management
- Network isolation for test environments
- Environment cleanup automation
- CI/CD Docker integration patterns
## Prerequisites
- Docker Engine installed and running
- Docker Compose v2 installed
- Sufficient system resources for containers
- Optional: Testcontainers library for language-specific integration
## Capabilities
### 1. Docker Compose Test Environment
Create isolated test environments with Docker Compose:
```yaml
# docker-compose.test.yml
version: '3.8'
services:
app:
build:
context: .
dockerfile: Dockerfile
environment:
- NODE_ENV=test
- DATABASE_URL=postgres://test:test@db:5432/testdb
- REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
depends_on:
db:
condition: service_healthy
redis:
condition: service_started
networks:
- test-network
db:
image: postgres:15-alpine
environment:
- POSTGRES_USER=test
- POSTGRES_PASSWORD=test
- POSTGRES_DB=testdb
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U test -d testdb"]
interval: 5s
timeout: 5s
retries: 5
volumes:
- ./test-data/init.sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init.sql
networks:
- test-network
redis:
image: redis:7-alpine
networks:
- test-network
networks:
test-network:
driver: bridge
```
### 2. Environment Lifecycle Commands
```bash
# Start test environment
docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml up -d
# Wait for services to be healthy
docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml up -d --wait
# Run tests against environment
docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml exec app npm test
# View logs
docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml logs -f
# Stop and cleanup
docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml down -v --remove-orphans
```
### 3. Testcontainers Integration
Use Testcontainers for programmatic container management:
```javascript
// JavaScript/TypeScript with Testcontainers
import { PostgreSqlContainer } from '@testcontainers/postgresql';
import { RedisContainer } from '@testcontainers/redis';
describe('Integration Tests', () => {
let postgresContainer;
let redisContainer;
beforeAll(async () => {
// Start PostgreSQL
postgresContainer = await new PostgreSqlContainer('postgres:15')
.withDatabase('testdb')
.withUsername('test')
.withPassword('test')
.start();
// Start Redis
redisContainer = await new RedisContainer('redis:7')
.start();
// Set environment variables
process.env.DATABASE_URL = postgresContainer.getConnectionUri();
process.env.REDIS_URL = redisContainer.getConnectionUrl();
}, 60000);
afterAll(async () => {
await postgresContainer?.stop();
await redisContainer?.stop();
});
it('should connect to database', async () => {
// Test implementation
});
});
```
```python
# Python with Testcontainers
import pytest
from testcontainers.postgres import PostgresContainer
from testcontainers.redis import RedisContainer
@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
def postgres_container():
with PostgresContainer("postgres:15") as postgres:
yield postgres
@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
def redis_container():
with RedisContainer("redis:7") as redis:
yield redis
def test_database_connection(postgres_container):
connection_url = postgres_container.get_connection_url()
# Test implementation
```
### 4. Health Check Patterns
Configure robust health checks:
```yaml
services:
api:
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8080/health"]
interval: 10s
timeout: 5s
retries: 3
start_period: 30s
db:
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres"]
interval: 5s
timeout: 5s
retries: 5
elasticsearch:
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -s http://localhost:9200/_cluster/health | grep -q 'green\\|yellow'"]
interval: 10s
timeout: 10s
retries: 10
start_period: 60s
kafka:
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "kafka-topics.sh --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --list"]
interval: 10s
timeout: 10s
retries: 5
```
### 5. Database Seeding
Seed test data automatically:
```bash
# SQL initialization
cat > test-data/init.sql << 'EOF'
-- Create test schema
CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS test;
-- Create tables
CREATE TABLE test.users (
id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
email VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);
-- Insert test data
INSERT INTO test.users (email, name) VALUES
('test1@example.com', 'Test User 1'),
('test2@example.com', 'Test User 2');
EOF
```
```yaml
# Mount initialization scripts
services:
db:
volumes:
- ./test-data/init.sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/01-init.sql
- ./test-data/seed.sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/02-seed.sql
```
### 6. Network Isolation
Configure isolated test networks:
```yaml
# Multiple isolated test environments
networks:
test-network-a:
driver: bridge
internal: true
test-network-b:
driver: bridge
internal: true
external-network:
driver: bridge
services:
app-a:
networks:
- test-network-a
- external-network
app-b:
networks:
- test-network-b
- external-network
# Shared service
mock-server:
networks:
- external-network
```
### 7. CI/CD Integration
```yaml
# GitHub Actions example
name: Integration Tests
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
test:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Start test environment
run: |
docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml up -d --wait
docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml ps
- name: Run tests
run: |
docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml exec -T app npm test
- name: Collect logs on failure
if: failure()
run: |
docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml logs > test-logs.txt
- name: Upload logs
if: failure()
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: test-logs
path: test-logs.txt
- name: Cleanup
if: always()
run: |
docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml down -v --remove-orphans
```
## Common Service Templates
### PostgreSQL
```yaml
postgres:
image: postgres:15-alpine
environment:
POSTGRES_USER: test
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: test
POSTGRES_DB: testdb
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U test"]
interval: 5s
timeout: 5s
retries: 5
```
### MySQL
```yaml
mysql:
image: mysql:8
environment:
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: root
MYSQL_DATABASE: testdb
MYSQL_USER: test
MYSQL_PASSWORD: test
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost"]
interval: 5s
timeout: 5s
retries: 5
```
### MongoDB
```yaml
mongo:
image: mongo:6
environment:
MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_USERNAME: test
MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_PASSWORD: test
healthcheck:
test: echo 'db.runCommand("ping").ok' | mongosh localhost:27017/test --quiet
interval: 10s
timeout: 10s
retries: 5
```
### Redis
```yaml
redis:
image: redis:7-alpine
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
interval: 5s
timeout: 5s
retries: 5
```
### Elasticsearch
```yaml
elasticsearch:
image: elasticsearch:8.11.0
environment:
- discovery.type=single-node
- xpack.security.enabled=false
- ES_JAVA_OPTS=-Xms512m -Xmx512m
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -s http://localhost:9200 | grep -q 'cluster_name'"]
interval: 10s
timeout: 10s
retries: 10
```
### Kafka
```yaml
kafka:
image: confluentinc/cp-kafka:7.5.0
environment:
KAFKA_BROKER_ID: 1
KAFKA_ZOOKEEPER_CONNECT: zookeeper:2181
KAFKA_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS: PLAINTEXT://kafka:9092
KAFKA_OFFSETS_TOPIC_REPLICATION_FACTOR: 1
depends_on:
- zookeeper
```
## MCP Server Integration
This skill can leverage the following MCP servers for enhanced capabilities:
| Server | Description | Installation |
|--------|-------------|--------------|
| QuantGeekDev/docker-mcp | Docker container management | [GitHub](https://github.com/QuantGeekDev/docker-mcp) |
| Docker MCP Toolkit | Official Docker MCP | [Docker Blog](https://www.docker.com/blog/connect-mcp-servers-to-claude-desktop-with-mcp-toolkit/) |
| Docker Hub MCP | Docker Hub integration | [Docker](https://www.docker.com/blog/introducing-docker-hub-mcp-server/) |
## Best Practices
1. **Use specific image tags** - Avoid `latest` for reproducibility
2. **Health checks** - Always configure health checks for dependencies
3. **Resource limits** - Set memory/CPU limits for containers
4. **Cleanup** - Always cleanup volumes with `-v` flag
5. **Wait for ready** - Use `--wait` or health checks before tests
6. **Isolation** - Use dedicated networks for test environments
7. **Ephemeral data** - Never mount production data volumes
## Process Integration
This skill integrates with the following processes:
- `environment-management.js` - All phases of environment setup
- `test-data-management.js` - Data seeding and cleanup
- `automation-framework.js` - Test framework environment setup
- `continuous-testing.js` - CI/CD environment management
## Output Format
When executing operations, provide structured output:
```json
{
"operation": "start-environment",
"composeFile": "docker-compose.test.yml",
"status": "running",
"services": {
"app": { "status": "running", "health": "healthy" },
"db": { "status": "running", "health": "healthy" },
"redis": { "status": "running", "health": "healthy" }
},
"network": "test-network",
"connectionStrings": {
"database": "postgres://test:test@localhost:5432/testdb",
"redis": "redis://localhost:6379"
}
}
```
## Error Handling
- Check Docker daemon connectivity
- Verify image availability before starting
- Handle container startup failures gracefully
- Provide diagnostic logs on failure
- Implement retry logic for flaky containers
## Constraints
- Do not expose production data in test environments
- Limit resource consumption to prevent system issues
- Always cleanup environments after tests
- Use appropriate isolation for parallel tests
- Respect port allocation to avoid conflictsRelated Skills
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