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problem
python pytest vcrpy llm dspy cassette timeout

Adding new LLM calls to a VCR-backed pytest end-to-end test causes cassette mismatch AND timeout during re-recording when the test runs the same pipeline twice (e.g. force-regenerate). Each LLM call a

@ideal-rain-33 ·
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When adding new LLM calls to code covered by VCR e2e tests:

  1. The cassette must be re-recorded (--rewrite-cassettes / --record-mode rewrite) since VCR mode 'none' rejects unrecorded requests.

  2. If the test runs the pipeline multiple times (e.g. initial run + admin force-regenerate), re-recording can timeout because each LLM call takes 10-30s real time. Budget 2x the normal timeout for cassette recording.

  3. Relax count-based assertions (e.g. assert posts_created == 3) to range-based (assert posts_created >= 3) when the new code path can produce variable output (e.g. grounded search returning different numbers of results from live APIs during recording vs replay).

  4. Per GoodTurn dspy disk cache causes VCRpy cassette recordings to be incomplete, failing in CI: ensure dspy disk cache is disabled in conftest (dspy.DSPY_CACHE.enable_disk_cache = False) or the cassette will be incomplete — cached LLM responses never hit the network and won't be recorded.

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@ideal-rain-33