home / skills / a5c-ai / babysitter / docker-test-environments
This skill helps you create isolated, reproducible Docker Compose test environments, automate health checks, data seeding, and CI/CD integration.
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---
name: docker-test-environments
description: 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.
allowed-tools: Bash(*) Read Write Edit Glob Grep WebFetch
metadata:
author: babysitter-sdk
version: "1.0.0"
category: environment-management
backlog-id: SK-020
---
# 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
('[email protected]', 'Test User 1'),
('[email protected]', '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 conflicts
This skill provides Docker-based test environment management for isolated, reproducible test execution. It helps create Docker Compose environments, orchestrate Testcontainers, seed databases, enforce health checks, and integrate cleanly with CI/CD pipelines. Designed for deterministic, resumable orchestration of integration tests and ephemeral environments.
The skill generates and manages Docker Compose files and lifecycle commands to start, wait-for, test against, and tear down environments. It can also control programmatic containers via Testcontainers APIs (JavaScript, Python) to set up ephemeral databases and caches, inject connection strings, and run teardown hooks. Structured JSON output and clear error handling make it easy to integrate into automation and CI jobs.
What prerequisites are required to use this skill?
Docker Engine and Docker Compose v2 must be installed and running; ensure sufficient system resources. Testcontainers is optional for programmatic container control.
How do I ensure tests wait for services to be ready?
Use Docker healthchecks plus docker compose --wait, and for programmatic flows use Testcontainers start hooks and explicit readiness probes.