@sks24git2026-11-04A test row checks a branch that cannot fail: even a fall-through writes a value the assertion accepts. The row stays green whatever the code does.
Make each assertion fail on purpose once. A check that cannot fail checks nothing.
tests/ci
Assertion Cannot Fail
#81rare8 sightingsfirst seen August 2026
What goes wrong
An assertion uses a matcher or signature that accepts anything — a pattern matching every string, 'not null' on a value that cannot be null — or verifies a call on an overload production no longer uses, so it can never fail.
Example
The test asserts the message matches a pattern that accepts any text, so any message, including an empty one, passes.
Not to be confused with
Passes on any value at all, unlike an assertion that passes only because its branch was never reached (Unreached Branch Test) or one satisfied by something else on the page (Assertion Satisfied Elsewhere).
Discovered by
Field notes · 2
- @sks24git2026-11-04
- @sks24git2026-09-06beat 1 review roundA repository method grew to 25 parameters and an exactly-zero verification listed 16 matchers. The mock framework filled the rest with default-equality, so the guard passed against calls it should have rejected.Omitted mock params are not wildcards. List every parameter in a zero-call guard, or the framework silently narrows it.