Declarative tests

Declarative tests ensure that Meilisearch features remain stable across versions.

While we already have unit tests, those are run against temporary databases that are created fresh each time and therefore never risk corruption.

Declarative tests instead simulate the lifetime of a database: they chain together commands and requests to change the binary, verifying that database state and API responses remain consistent.

Basic example

jsonc

{
  "type": "test",
  "name": "api-keys",
  "binary": { // the first command will run on the binary following this specification.
    "source": "release", // get the binary as a release from GitHub
    "version": "1.19.0", // version to fetch
    "edition": "community" // edition to fetch
  },
  "commands": []
}

This example defines a no-op test (it does nothing).

If the file is saved at workloads/tests/example.json, you can run it with:

bash

cargo xtask test workloads/tests/example.json

Commands

Commands represent API requests sent to Meilisearch endpoints during a test.

They are executed sequentially, and their responses can be validated to ensure consistent behavior across upgrades.

jsonc


{
  "route": "keys",
  "method": "POST",
  "body": {
    "inline": {
      "actions": [
        "search",
        "documents.add"
      ],
      "description": "Test API Key",
      "expiresAt": null,
      "indexes": [ "movies" ]
    }
  }
}

This command issues a POST /keys request, creating an API key with permissions to search and add documents in the movies index.

Using assets in commands

To keep tests concise and reusable, you can define assets at the root of the workload file.

Assets are external data sources (such as datasets) that are cached between runs, making tests faster and easier to read.

jsonc

{
  "type": "test",
  "name": "movies",
  "binary": {
    "source": "release",
    "version": "1.19.0",
    "edition": "community"
  },
  "assets": {
    "movies.json": {
      "local_location": null,
      "remote_location": "https://milli-benchmarks.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com/bench/datasets/movies.json",
      "sha256": "5b6e4cb660bc20327776e8a33ea197b43d9ec84856710ead1cc87ab24df77de1"
    }
  },
  "commands": [
    {
      "route": "indexes/movies/documents",
      "method": "POST",
      "body": {
        "asset": "movies.json"
      }
    }
  ]
}

In this example:

The movies.json dataset is defined as an asset, pointing to a remote URL.
The SHA-256 checksum ensures integrity.
The POST /indexes/movies/documents command uses this asset as the request body.

This makes the test much cleaner than inlining a large dataset directly into the command.

For asset handling, please refer to the declarative benchmarks documentation.

Asserting responses

Commands can specify both the expected status code and the expected response body.

jsonc

{
  "route": "indexes/movies/documents",
  "method": "POST",
  "body": {
    "asset": "movies.json"
  },
  "expectedStatus": 202,
  "expectedResponse": {
    "enqueuedAt": "[timestamp]", // Set to a bracketed string to ignore the value
    "indexUid": "movies",
    "status": "enqueued",
    "taskUid": 1,
    "type": "documentAdditionOrUpdate"
  },
  "synchronous": "WaitForTask"
}

Manually writing expectedResponse fields can be tedious.

Instead, you can let the test runner populate them automatically:

bash

# Run the workload to populate expected fields. Only adds the missing ones, doesn't change existing data
cargo xtask test workloads/tests/example.json --add-missing-responses

# OR

# Run the workload to populate expected fields. Updates all fields including existing ones
cargo xtask test workloads/tests/example.json --update-responses

This workflow is recommended:

Write the test without expected fields.
Run it with --add-missing-responses to capture the actual responses.
Review and commit the generated expectations.

Changing binary

It is possible to insert an instruction to change the current Meilisearch instance from one binary specification to another during a test.

When executed, such an instruction will:

Stop the current Meilisearch instance.
Fetch the binary specified by the instruction.
Restart the server with the specified binary on the same database.

jsonc

{
  "type": "test",
  "name": "movies",
  "binary": {
    "source": "release",
    "version": "1.19.0", // start with version v1.19.0
    "edition": "community"
  },
  "assets": {
    "movies.json": {
      "local_location": null,
      "remote_location": "https://milli-benchmarks.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com/bench/datasets/movies.json",
      "sha256": "5b6e4cb660bc20327776e8a33ea197b43d9ec84856710ead1cc87ab24df77de1"
    }
  },
  "commands": [
    // setup some data
    {
      "route": "indexes/movies/documents",
      "method": "POST",
      "body": {
        "asset": "movies.json"
      }
    },
    // switch binary to v1.24.0
    {
      "binary": {
        "source": "release",
        "version": "1.24.0",
        "edition": "community"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Typical Usage

In most cases, the change binary instruction will be used to update a database.

Set up some data using commands on an older version.
Upgrade to the latest version.
Assert that the data and API behavior remain correct after the upgrade.

To properly test the dumpless upgrade, one should typically:

Open the database without processing the update task: Use a binary instruction to switch to the desired version, passing --experimental-dumpless-upgrade and --experimental-max-number-of-batched-tasks=0 as extra CLI arguments
Check that the search, stats and task queue still work.
Open the database and process the update task: Use a binary instruction to switch to the desired version, passing --experimental-dumpless-upgrade as the extra CLI argument. Use a health command to wait for the upgrade task to finish.
Check that the indexing, search, stats, and task queue still work.

jsonc

{
  "type": "test",
  "name": "movies",
  "binary": {
    "source": "release",
    "version": "1.12.0",
    "edition": "community"
  },
  "commands": [
    // 0. Run commands to populate the database
    {
      // ..
    },
    // 1. Open the database with new MS without processing the update task
    {
      "binary": {
        "source": "build", // build the binary from the sources in the current git repository
        "edition": "community",
        "extraCliArgs": [
          "--experimental-dumpless-upgrade", // allows to open with a newer MS
          "--experimental-max-number-of-batched-tasks=0" // prevent processing of the update task
        ]
      }
    },
    // 2. Check the search etc.
    {
      // ..
    },
    // 3. Open the database with new MS and processing the update task
    {
      "binary": {
        "source": "build", // build the binary from the sources in the current git repository
        "edition": "community",
        "extraCliArgs": [
          "--experimental-dumpless-upgrade" // allows to open with a newer MS
          // no `--experimental-max-number-of-batched-tasks=0`
        ]
      }
    },
    // 4. Check the indexing, search, etc.
    {
      // ..
    }
  ]
}

This ensures backward compatibility: databases created with older Meilisearch versions should remain functional and consistent after an upgrade.

Variables

Sometimes a command needs to use a value returned by a previous response. These values can be captured and reused using the register field.

jsonc

{
  "route": "keys",
  "method": "POST",
  "body": {
    "inline": {
        "actions": [
        "search",
        "documents.add"
        ],
        "description": "Test API Key",
        "expiresAt": null,
        "indexes": [ "movies" ]
    }
  },
  "expectedResponse": {
      "key": "c6f64630bad2996b1f675007c8800168e14adf5d6a7bb1a400a6d2b158050eaf",
      // ...
  },
  "register": {
    "key": "/key"
  },
  "synchronous": "WaitForResponse"
}

The register field captures the value at the JSON path /key from the response. Paths follow the JavaScript Object Notation Pointer (RFC 6901) format. Registered variables are available for all subsequent commands.

Registered variables can be referenced by wrapping their name in double curly braces:

In the route/path:

jsonc

{
  "route": "tasks/{{ task_id }}",
  "method": "GET"
}

In the request body:

jsonc

{
  "route": "indexes/movies/documents",
  "method": "PATCH",
  "body": {
    "inline": {
      "id": "{{ document_id }}",
      "overview": "Shazam turns evil and the world is in danger.",
    }
  }
}

Or they can be referenced by their name (without curly braces) as an API key:

jsonc

{
  "route": "indexes/movies/documents",
  "method": "POST",
  "body": { /* ... */ },
  "apiKeyVariable": "key" // The **content** of the key variable will be used as an API key
}