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+# The Design Guide - How to design tests, and how to review them
+
+This is not a rule book, just a compilation of guidelines, tips, and thoughts.
+
+## Atomic tests
+
+While atomic test cases are a great way of designing test at unit test level,
+for End-to-End tests it might not be great Return of Investment. But please consider
+atomic test case design principles in your test design.
+
+* Is it possible to extract some portion of my test into fixture/setup?
+* Could some of it be reused by multiple test cases?
+* Is that possible to do, while not destroying tests runtime or making complex fixture desing?
+
+Just considering the principles, might give you an idea of new test cases, that
+might be useful to write.
+
+## Fixture Design
+
+1. Use simple, descriptive names: `route`, `authorization`, `backend`, `gateway`, `hostname`, `client`
+1. For multiple instances of the same resource, append a number to secondary resources: `route2`, `backend2`, `authorization2`
+1. The primary resource always uses the plain name without a number
+1. Use `blame()` to generate unique, scoped names for Kubernetes resources: `blame("gw")` → `"gw-alice-tc-abc"`
+1. Choose appropriate fixture scope:
+   * `scope="session"` - Created once per test run (e.g., `cluster`, `backend`, `gateway`)
+   * `scope="module"` - Created per test module (e.g., `route`, `authorization`, `rate_limit`)
+   * `scope="function"` - Created per test (rarely used, only for parametrized or stateful tests)
+
+## Code Quality
+
+1. **Every module and fixture must have a short, descriptive docstring**
+   * Module docstrings describe the test scope
+   * Fixture docstrings describe what they create or return, not how
+1. **Always look for a more correct solution before disabling a pylint warning**
+   * Legitimate uses: `# pylint: disable=unused-argument` for pytest dependency ordering
+   * Legitimate uses: `# pylint: disable=invalid-name` for Kubernetes API camelCase fields
+
+## Commits
+
+1. Consider using https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/  (.gitmessage)
+1. Run `make reformat` and `make commit-acceptance` locally to catch code analysis or formatting issues before committing and pushing
+1. Sign off commits by adding the `-s` flag (`git commit -s`)
+1. Optionally, sign commits with the `-S` flag (`git commit -S`) if you have a GPG or SSH key configured — this verifies commit authenticity on GitHub
+
+## Creating PRs
+
+1. To promote quality code, request 2 reviewers
+1. Link relevant issues, and/or summarize the changes
+1. Use the `/pr-description` command to generate comprehensive PR descriptions with verification steps
+1. Ensure CI checks pass before opening a PR (e.g., DCO sign-off, code analysis, GitGuardian)
+1. Use a draft PR to share work in progress and gather early feedback before marking it ready for review
+
+## Reviewing PRs
+
+1. Focus on readability
+1. Is the test placed in correct path?
+1. Consider test structure and design, can it be improved without impacting runtime?
+1. Is the test easy to debug on Failure or Error?
+
+### precommit hook
+
+Consider using secret guarding precommit hooks in your git setup to prevent secret leaking:
+
+1. Install pre-commit framework: https://pre-commit.com/
+1. Use gitleaks (https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks) or similar tools to detect hardcoded secrets
+1. Example `.pre-commit-config.yaml`:
+   ```yaml
+   repos:
+     - repo: https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks
+       rev: v8.18.2
+       hooks:
+         - id: gitleaks
+   ```
+1. Install hooks: `pre-commit install`
+
+### .gitmessage
+
+Currently optional, you may use a file (conventionally) named `.gitmessage`,
+and configure your git to use it as a commit message template.
+
+For example `.gitmessage`:
+
+```text
+# test: 
+# test():
+
+# Description:
+
+
+# Footer:
+
+
+# See also: https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/
+```
+
+And git configuration:
+
+```shell
+git config commit.template=.gitmessage
+```
+
+next time you commit, your editor will be prefilled with the templates, and as
+usual, anything that is a comment `#` will be ignored.
+