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@kkieu kkieu commented Oct 26, 2025

What does this PR do, and why?

This PR addresses the flaky behaviour in test_show_typing_notification by stabilising the asynchronous typing notification logic. The previous test intermittently failed due to a mismatch between the asynchronous show_typing_notification function and the synchronous test execution, as well as a race condition where active_conversation_info was sometimes cleared before the loop completed. The PR replaces the mock_typing Timer with a controlled mechanism that ensures a fixed number of loop iterations before clearing active_conversation_info, and relaxes the assertion from assert_called_with() to assert_called() to remove unnecessary strictness. These changes ensure the test reliably passes while still validating typing notification behaviour.

Outstanding aspect(s)

  • This PR partially refactors the test_show_typing_notification test by stabilising its asynchronous behaviour and adjusting its assertions, but it does not rewrite the test entirely. The main structure and approach of the test (from my understanding is mocking set_footer_text, simulating active_conversation_info, and verifying the typing animation), remains unchanged.

External discussion & connections

  • Discussed in #zulip-terminal in Flakey test (typing notifications) #T1501
  • Fully fixes Unreliable test for typing notifications #1501 (unless I misunderstood it)
  • Partially fixes issue #
  • Builds upon previous unmerged work in PR #
  • Is a follow-up to work in PR #
  • Requires merge of PR #
  • Merge will enable work on #

How did you test this?

  • Manually - Behavioral changes
  • Manually - Visual changes
  • Adapting existing automated tests
  • Adding automated tests for new behavior (or missing tests)
  • Existing automated tests should already cover this (only a refactor of tested code)

kkieu added 7 commits October 18, 2025 02:59
…yping_notification.

Used a background thread to reduce timing flakiness in test_show_typing_notification. While this improves stability, the loop timing still depends on the Timer clearing active_conversation_info, so the test can intermittently fail. (time.sleep added to show_typing_notification to reproduce flaky bug more reliably. Will be deleted once bug is resolved)
…g_notification

Replaced set_footer_text.assert_called_with() with set_footer_text.assert_called() to correctly verify that the footer was updated at least once during the typing notification sequence. Unlike assert_called_with(), which required an exact match to the last call, assert_called() ensures that the test passes as long as the footer was updated at some point, preventing false failures due to timing variations. This change resolves the intermittent flakiness and fully stabilizes the test.
…est_show_typing_notification

Introduced a controlled sleep loop and deterministic thread execution for test_show_typing_notification. The fake_sleep function was added to simulate predictable iterations and to clear active_conversation_info after the first update.
@zulipbot zulipbot added the size: M [Automatic label added by zulipbot] label Oct 26, 2025
@kkieu kkieu force-pushed the bugfix-unreliable-typing-test branch 2 times, most recently from 222bcbd to c84b924 Compare October 26, 2025 11:38
Partially refactor test_show_typing_notification to fix flaky behavior caused
by asynchronous timing. Fixes zulip#1501.
@kkieu kkieu force-pushed the bugfix-unreliable-typing-test branch from c84b924 to 53d2e25 Compare October 26, 2025 11:41
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Unreliable test for typing notifications

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