Deep dive10 March 2026 · 7 min read · Superteam Czech

Testing patterns for Anchor programs

From `anchor test` basics to the patterns that catch real bugs before they hit devnet.

Most Anchor bugs are caught not by the compiler but by tests that exercise real account states. Here are the patterns we lean on.

Start with the happy path

Write the simplest passing test first. It documents intended behavior and gives you a baseline to refactor against.

Then test the failures

The interesting bugs live in the error cases:

Wrong signer
Missing account
Arithmetic overflow
Re-initialization attempts

it("rejects a wrong signer", async () => {
  await expect(program.methods.update().accounts({ ... }).rpc())
    .to.be.rejectedWith(/ConstraintSigner/);
});

Keep fixtures honest

Reuse a single helper to set up accounts so your tests reflect the same state your program sees in production. The closer your fixtures are to reality, the more bugs you catch before devnet.