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Temporal Python Testing

Seth HobsonCommunityCreated by Seth Hobson

  • Skill
  • Guidelines
  • Software development
  • MIT
  • Low risk

From the author

Test Temporal workflows with pytest, time-skipping, and mocking strategies. Covers unit testing, integration testing, replay testing, and local development setup. Use when implementing Temporal workflow tests or debugging test failures.
— the description by Seth Hobson

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

This skill provides a structured approach to testing Temporal workflows within the Python ecosystem. It covers the full testing lifecycle, from unit testing individual components with time-skipping to integration testing with mocked activities and validating workflow determinism via replay testing. The content emphasizes fast feedback loops and high coverage targets, offering specific patterns for local development and CI/CD integration.

What it does

  • Provides patterns for unit testing workflows using time-skipping environments.
  • Explains how to mock activities for isolated integration testing.
  • Outlines methods for validating workflow determinism through replay testing.
  • Offers guidance on setting up local Temporal development environments.
  • Defines best practices for achieving high test coverage in Temporal applications.
  • Includes boilerplate code for pytest fixtures and activity testing.

When to use it

  • When implementing a new test suite for Temporal workflows.
  • When debugging non-deterministic workflow failures.
  • When setting up a local development environment for Temporal.
  • When preparing workflows for production deployment with replay validation.
  • When optimizing test execution time for long-running workflows.

Advantages

  • Enables testing of long-running workflows in seconds via time-skipping.
  • Promotes isolation of workflow logic from external dependencies.
  • Ensures production reliability through determinism validation.
  • Provides a clear path for achieving 80% test coverage.
  • Supports both rapid local development and automated CI/CD pipelines.

Usage examples

“How do I test a workflow that runs for a month?”
The skill explains how to use WorkflowEnvironment.start_time_skipping to advance time manually, allowing month-long workflows to complete in seconds during testing.
“How can I mock an activity in my workflow test?”
The skill provides integration testing patterns that demonstrate how to use workers with mocked activities to isolate the workflow logic.
“How do I ensure my workflow changes are deterministic?”
The skill guides you through replay testing, which validates your current workflow code against historical execution data to ensure determinism.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://mp-staging.autogineer.com/agent-skills/wshobson/temporal-python-testing/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip temporal-python-testing.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Seth Hobson

Temporal Python Testing Strategies

Comprehensive testing approaches for Temporal workflows using pytest, progressive disclosure resources for specific testing scenarios.

When to Use This Skill

  • Unit testing workflows - Fast tests with time-skipping

  • Integration testing - Workflows with mocked activities

  • Replay testing - Validate determinism against production histories

  • Local development - Set up Temporal server and pytest

  • CI/CD integration - Automated testing pipelines

  • Coverage strategies - Achieve ≥80% test coverage

Testing Philosophy

Recommended Approach (Source: docs.temporal.io/develop/python/testing-suite):

  • Write majority as integration tests

  • Use pytest with async fixtures

  • Time-skipping enables fast feedback (month-long workflows → seconds)

  • Mock activities to isolate workflow logic

  • Validate determinism with replay testing

Three Test Types:

  1. Unit: Workflows with time-skipping, activities with ActivityEnvironment

  2. Integration: Workers with mocked activities

  3. End-to-end: Full Temporal server with real activities (use sparingly)

Available Resources

This skill provides detailed guidance through progressive disclosure. Load specific resources based on your testing needs:

Unit Testing Resources

File: resources/unit-testing.md When to load: Testing individual workflows or activities in isolation Contains:

  • WorkflowEnvironment with time-skipping

  • ActivityEnvironment for activity testing

  • Fast execution of long-running workflows

  • Manual time advancement patterns

  • pytest fixtures and patterns

Integration Testing Resources

File: resources/integration-testing.md When to load: Testing workflows with mocked external dependencies Contains:

  • Activity mocking strategies

  • Error injection patterns

  • Multi-activity workflow testing

  • Signal and query testing

  • Coverage strategies

Replay Testing Resources

File: resources/replay-testing.md When to load: Validating determinism or deploying workflow changes Contains:

  • Determinism validation

  • Production history replay

  • CI/CD integration patterns

  • Version compatibility testing

Local Development Resources

File: resources/local-setup.md When to load: Setting up development environment Contains:

  • Docker Compose configuration

  • pytest setup and configuration

  • Coverage tool integration

  • Development workflow

Quick Start Guide

Basic Workflow Test
import pytest
from temporalio.testing import WorkflowEnvironment
from temporalio.worker import Worker

@pytest.fixture
async def workflow_env():
    env = await WorkflowEnvironment.start_time_skipping()
    yield env
    await env.shutdown()

@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_workflow(workflow_env):
    async with Worker(
        workflow_env.client,
        task_queue="test-queue",
        workflows=[YourWorkflow],
        activities=[your_activity],
    ):
        result = await workflow_env.client.execute_workflow(
            YourWorkflow.run,
            args,
            id="test-wf-id",
            task_queue="test-queue",
        )
        assert result == expected
Basic Activity Test
from temporalio.testing import ActivityEnvironment

async def test_activity():
    env = ActivityEnvironment()
    result = await env.run(your_activity, "test-input")
    assert result == expected_output

Coverage Targets

Recommended Coverage (Source: docs.temporal.io best practices):

  • Workflows: ≥80% logic coverage

  • Activities: ≥80% logic coverage

  • Integration: Critical paths with mocked activities

  • Replay: All workflow versions before deployment

Key Testing Principles

  1. Time-Skipping - Month-long workflows test in seconds

  2. Mock Activities - Isolate workflow logic from external dependencies

  3. Replay Testing - Validate determinism before deployment

  4. High Coverage - ≥80% target for production workflows

  5. Fast Feedback - Unit tests run in milliseconds

How to Use Resources

Load specific resource when needed:

  • "Show me unit testing patterns" → Load resources/unit-testing.md

  • "How do I mock activities?" → Load resources/integration-testing.md

  • "Setup local Temporal server" → Load resources/local-setup.md

  • "Validate determinism" → Load resources/replay-testing.md

Additional References

  • Python SDK Testing: docs.temporal.io/develop/python/testing-suite

  • Testing Patterns: github.com/temporalio/temporal/blob/main/docs/development/testing.md

  • Python Samples: github.com/temporalio/samples-python

Files

resources/replay-testing.md

Replay Testing for Determinism and Compatibility

Comprehensive guide for validating workflow determinism and ensuring safe code changes using replay testing.

What is Replay Testing?

Purpose: Verify that workflow code changes are backward-compatible with existing workflow executions

How it works:

  1. Temporal records every workflow decision as Event History

  2. Replay testing re-executes workflow code against recorded history

  3. If new code makes same decisions → deterministic (safe to deploy)

  4. If decisions differ → non-deterministic (breaking change)

Critical Use Cases:

  • Deploying workflow code changes to production

  • Validating refactoring doesn't break running workflows

  • CI/CD automated compatibility checks

  • Version migration validation

Basic Replay Testing

Replayer Setup
from temporalio.worker import Replayer
from temporalio.client import Client

async def test_workflow_replay():
    """Test workflow against production history"""

    # Connect to Temporal server
    client = await Client.connect("localhost:7233")

    # Create replayer with current workflow code
    replayer = Replayer(
        workflows=[OrderWorkflow, PaymentWorkflow]
    )

    # Fetch workflow history from production
    handle = client.get_workflow_handle("order-123")
    history = await handle.fetch_history()

    # Replay history with current code
    await replayer.replay_workflow(history)
    # Success = deterministic, Exception = breaking change
Testing Against Multiple Histories
import pytest
from temporalio.worker import Replayer

@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_replay_multiple_workflows():
    """Replay against multiple production histories"""

    replayer = Replayer(workflows=[OrderWorkflow])

    # Test against different workflow executions
    workflow_ids = [
        "order-success-123",
        "order-cancelled-456",
        "order-retry-789",
    ]

    for workflow_id in workflow_ids:
        handle = client.get_workflow_handle(workflow_id)
        history = await handle.fetch_history()

        # Replay should succeed for all variants
        await replayer.replay_workflow(history)

Determinism Validation

Common Non-Deterministic Patterns

Problem: Random Number Generation

# ❌ Non-deterministic (breaks replay)
@workflow.defn
class BadWorkflow:
    @workflow.run
    async def run(self) -> int:
        return random.randint(1, 100)  # Different on replay!

# ✅ Deterministic (safe for replay)
@workflow.defn
class GoodWorkflow:
    @workflow.run
    async def run(self) -> int:
        return workflow.random().randint(1, 100)  # Deterministic random

Problem: Current Time

# ❌ Non-deterministic
@workflow.defn
class BadWorkflow:
    @workflow.run
    async def run(self) -> str:
        now = datetime.now()  # Different on replay!
        return now.isoformat()

# ✅ Deterministic
@workflow.defn
class GoodWorkflow:
    @workflow.run
    async def run(self) -> str:
        now = workflow.now()  # Deterministic time
        return now.isoformat()

Problem: Direct External Calls

# ❌ Non-deterministic
@workflow.defn
class BadWorkflow:
    @workflow.run
    async def run(self) -> dict:
        response = requests.get("https://api.example.com/data")  # External call!
        return response.json()

# ✅ Deterministic
@workflow.defn
class GoodWorkflow:
    @workflow.run
    async def run(self) -> dict:
        # Use activity for external calls
        return await workflow.execute_activity(
            fetch_external_data,
            start_to_close_timeout=timedelta(seconds=30),
        )
Testing Determinism
@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_workflow_determinism():
    """Verify workflow produces same output on multiple runs"""

    @workflow.defn
    class DeterministicWorkflow:
        @workflow.run
        async def run(self, seed: int) -> list[int]:
            # Use workflow.random() for determinism
            rng = workflow.random()
            rng.seed(seed)
            return [rng.randint(1, 100) for _ in range(10)]

    env = await WorkflowEnvironment.start_time_skipping()

    # Run workflow twice with same input
    results = []
    for i in range(2):
        async with Worker(
            env.client,
            task_queue="test",
            workflows=[DeterministicWorkflow],
        ):
            result = await env.client.execute_workflow(
                DeterministicWorkflow.run,
                42,  # Same seed
                id=f"determinism-test-{i}",
                task_queue="test",
            )
            results.append(result)

    await env.shutdown()

    # Verify identical outputs
    assert results[0] == results[1]

Production History Replay

Exporting Workflow History
from temporalio.client import Client

async def export_workflow_history(workflow_id: str, output_file: str):
    """Export workflow history for replay testing"""

    client = await Client.connect("production.temporal.io:7233")

    # Fetch workflow history
    handle = client.get_workflow_handle(workflow_id)
    history = await handle.fetch_history()

    # Save to file for replay testing
    with open(output_file, "wb") as f:
        f.write(history.SerializeToString())

    print(f"Exported history to {output_file}")
Replaying from File
from temporalio.worker import Replayer
from temporalio.api.history.v1 import History

async def test_replay_from_file():
    """Replay workflow from exported history file"""

    # Load history from file
    with open("workflow_histories/order-123.pb", "rb") as f:
        history = History.FromString(f.read())

    # Replay with current workflow code
    replayer = Replayer(workflows=[OrderWorkflow])
    await replayer.replay_workflow(history)
    # Success = safe to deploy

CI/CD Integration Patterns

GitHub Actions Example
# .github/workflows/replay-tests.yml
name: Replay Tests

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  replay-tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          python-version: "3.11"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          pip install -r requirements.txt
          pip install pytest pytest-asyncio

      - name: Download production histories
        run: |
          # Fetch recent workflow histories from production
          python scripts/export_histories.py

      - name: Run replay tests
        run: |
          pytest tests/replay/ --verbose

      - name: Upload results
        if: failure()
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: replay-failures
          path: replay-failures/
Automated History Export
# scripts/export_histories.py
import asyncio
from temporalio.client import Client
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

async def export_recent_histories():
    """Export recent production workflow histories"""

    client = await Client.connect("production.temporal.io:7233")

    # Query recent completed workflows
    workflows = client.list_workflows(
        query="WorkflowType='OrderWorkflow' AND CloseTime > '7 days ago'"
    )

    count = 0
    async for workflow in workflows:
        # Export history
        history = await workflow.fetch_history()

        # Save to file
        filename = f"workflow_histories/{workflow.id}.pb"
        with open(filename, "wb") as f:
            f.write(history.SerializeToString())

        count += 1
        if count >= 100:  # Limit to 100 most recent
            break

    print(f"Exported {count} workflow histories")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(export_recent_histories())
Replay Test Suite
# tests/replay/test_workflow_replay.py
import pytest
import glob
from temporalio.worker import Replayer
from temporalio.api.history.v1 import History
from workflows import OrderWorkflow, PaymentWorkflow

@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_replay_all_histories():
    """Replay all production histories"""

    replayer = Replayer(
        workflows=[OrderWorkflow, PaymentWorkflow]
    )

    # Load all history files
    history_files = glob.glob("workflow_histories/*.pb")

    failures = []
    for history_file in history_files:
        try:
            with open(history_file, "rb") as f:
                history = History.FromString(f.read())

            await replayer.replay_workflow(history)
            print(f"✓ {history_file}")

        except Exception as e:
            failures.append((history_file, str(e)))
            print(f"✗ {history_file}: {e}")

    # Report failures
    if failures:
        pytest.fail(
            f"Replay failed for {len(failures)} workflows:\n"
            + "\n".join(f"  {file}: {error}" for file, error in failures)
        )

Version Compatibility Testing

Testing Code Evolution
@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_workflow_version_compatibility():
    """Test workflow with version changes"""

    @workflow.defn
    class EvolvingWorkflow:
        @workflow.run
        async def run(self) -> str:
            # Use versioning for safe code evolution
            version = workflow.get_version("feature-flag", 1, 2)

            if version == 1:
                # Old behavior
                return "version-1"
            else:
                # New behavior
                return "version-2"

    env = await WorkflowEnvironment.start_time_skipping()

    # Test version 1 behavior
    async with Worker(
        env.client,
        task_queue="test",
        workflows=[EvolvingWorkflow],
    ):
        result_v1 = await env.client.execute_workflow(
            EvolvingWorkflow.run,
            id="evolving-v1",
            task_queue="test",
        )
        assert result_v1 == "version-1"

        # Simulate workflow executing again with version 2
        result_v2 = await env.client.execute_workflow(
            EvolvingWorkflow.run,
            id="evolving-v2",
            task_queue="test",
        )
        # New workflows use version 2
        assert result_v2 == "version-2"

    await env.shutdown()
Migration Strategy
# Phase 1: Add version check
@workflow.defn
class MigratingWorkflow:
    @workflow.run
    async def run(self) -> dict:
        version = workflow.get_version("new-logic", 1, 2)

        if version == 1:
            # Old logic (existing workflows)
            return await self._old_implementation()
        else:
            # New logic (new workflows)
            return await self._new_implementation()

# Phase 2: After all old workflows complete, remove old code
@workflow.defn
class MigratedWorkflow:
    @workflow.run
    async def run(self) -> dict:
        # Only new logic remains
        return await self._new_implementation()

Best Practices

  1. Replay Before Deploy: Always run replay tests before deploying workflow changes

  2. Export Regularly: Continuously export production histories for testing

  3. CI/CD Integration: Automated replay testing in pull request checks

  4. Version Tracking: Use workflow.get_version() for safe code evolution

  5. History Retention: Keep representative workflow histories for regression testing

  6. Determinism: Never use random(), datetime.now(), or direct external calls

  7. Comprehensive Testing: Test against various workflow execution paths

Common Replay Errors

Non-Deterministic Error:

WorkflowNonDeterministicError: Workflow command mismatch at position 5
Expected: ScheduleActivityTask(activity_id='activity-1')
Got: ScheduleActivityTask(activity_id='activity-2')

Solution: Code change altered workflow decision sequence

Version Mismatch Error:

WorkflowVersionError: Workflow version changed from 1 to 2 without using get_version()

Solution: Use workflow.get_version() for backward-compatible changes

Additional Resources

  • Replay Testing: docs.temporal.io/develop/python/testing-suite#replay-testing

  • Workflow Versioning: docs.temporal.io/workflows#versioning

  • Determinism Guide: docs.temporal.io/workflows#deterministic-constraints

  • CI/CD Integration: github.com/temporalio/samples-python/tree/main/.github/workflows

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Needs Python

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Attribution and licence

Created by
Seth Hobson
Publisher
Seth Hobson (Community)
Source
wshobson/agents · plugins/backend-development/skills/temporal-python-testing · commit 4bde316
Licence
MIT License (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
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