Tutorials Overview¶

Step-by-step tutorials to master the LIFX Emulator, organized from beginner to advanced.

Learning Path¶

Follow these tutorials in order for the best learning experience:

🟢 Beginner - First Device - Your first emulated LIFX device (⏱️ 10-15 minutes)
🟢 Beginner - Basic Usage - Multiple devices and basic operations (⏱️ 15-30 minutes)
🟡 Intermediate - Integration Testing - Using the emulator in test suites (⏱️ 30-45 minutes)
🔴 Advanced - Advanced Scenarios - Error injection and complex testing (⏱️ 45-60 minutes)
🔴 Advanced - CI/CD Integration - Automated testing pipelines (⏱️ 30-45 minutes)

Tutorial Categories¶

Getting Started¶

Learn the basics:

Creating a single device
Starting the server
Using the context manager
Basic server configuration

Multiple Devices¶

Work with multiple devices:

Creating different device types
Managing device collections
Testing multi-device scenarios

Testing Integration¶

Integrate with test frameworks:

pytest fixtures
pytest-asyncio usage
Module-scoped fixtures
Test isolation strategies

Error Scenarios¶

Test error handling:

Packet dropping
Response delays
Malformed packets
Invalid field values
Partial responses

Complete Example¶

Here's a complete example showing multiple features. The async fixtures assume pytest-asyncio's asyncio_mode = "auto" (see Integration Testing):

import pytest

from lifx_emulator import (
    EmulatedLifxServer,
    create_color_light,
    create_multizone_light,
    create_tile_device,
)
from lifx_emulator.devices import DeviceManager
from lifx_emulator.repositories import DeviceRepository
from lifx_emulator.scenarios import HierarchicalScenarioManager, ScenarioConfig


@pytest.fixture
def scenario_manager():
    """Configure error scenarios shared by the devices and the server."""
    manager = HierarchicalScenarioManager()

    # Delay StateColor (107) replies from one device by 100ms. Response
    # delays are keyed by the response packet type, not the request.
    manager.set_device_scenario(
        "d073d5000001", ScenarioConfig(response_delays={107: 0.1})
    )
    return manager


@pytest.fixture
def lifx_devices(scenario_manager):
    """Create a diverse set of emulated devices."""
    return [
        create_color_light("d073d5000001", scenario_manager=scenario_manager),
        create_color_light("d073d5000002", scenario_manager=scenario_manager),
        create_multizone_light(
            "d073d5800001", zone_count=16, scenario_manager=scenario_manager
        ),
        create_multizone_light(
            "d073d5800002",
            zone_count=82,
            extended_multizone=True,
            scenario_manager=scenario_manager,
        ),
        create_tile_device(
            "d073d5900001", tile_count=5, scenario_manager=scenario_manager
        ),
    ]


@pytest.fixture
async def lifx_server(lifx_devices, scenario_manager):
    """Start emulator server with devices."""
    # The server assigns its scenario manager to every device it manages,
    # so pass it the same manager the scenarios were registered on.
    server = EmulatedLifxServer(
        lifx_devices,
        DeviceManager(DeviceRepository()),
        "127.0.0.1",
        56700,
        scenario_manager=scenario_manager,
    )

    async with server:
        yield server


@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_discovery(lifx_server):
    """Test device discovery."""
    # Your test code here
    assert len(lifx_server.get_all_devices()) == 5


@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_color_control(lifx_server):
    """Test color control commands."""
    # Your test code here
    pass

Next Steps¶

Browse the specific tutorial pages for detailed code samples and explanations. Each tutorial builds on the concepts from the previous one.