# MarkItDown MCP Server - Testing Strategy
## Overview
This document outlines the comprehensive testing strategy for the MarkItDown MCP server to ensure reliability, security, and compatibility before release.
## Testing Levels
### 1. Unit Tests
#### A. MCP Protocol Layer
- **MCPRequest/MCPResponse serialization/deserialization**
- Valid JSON-RPC 2.0 format
- Invalid JSON handling
- Missing required fields
- Type validation
- **Request routing**
- `initialize` method handling
- `tools/list` method handling
- `tools/call` method handling
- Unknown method handling
- Invalid method names
- **Error handling**
- Internal server errors
- Request validation errors
- Tool execution errors
- Timeout handling
#### B. Tool Implementation
- **convert_file tool**
- File path validation
- Base64 content decoding
- File existence checks
- Permission validation
- Return format validation
- **list_supported_formats tool**
- Format list accuracy
- Categorization correctness
- Response structure
- **convert_directory tool**
- Directory traversal logic
- File filtering
- Progress tracking
- Error aggregation
#### C. MarkItDown Integration
- **Document conversion**
- Success path testing
- Error handling
- Result formatting
- Memory management
### 2. Integration Tests
#### A. MCP Protocol Integration
- **Server lifecycle**
- Initialization sequence
- Clean shutdown
- Graceful error recovery
- Connection state management
- **Tool execution flow**
- Request parsing → Tool execution → Response formatting
- Concurrent request handling
- Request timeout behavior
- Resource cleanup
#### B. File System Integration
- **File operations**
- Read permissions
- Path traversal security
- Symbolic link handling
- Network drive compatibility
- Large file handling
- **Directory operations**
- Recursive traversal
- Mixed file types
- Empty directories
- Nested structures
### 3. File Format Testing
#### A. Supported Formats (29+ formats)
For each supported format, test:
- **Valid files**: Typical use cases
- **Edge cases**: Empty files, minimal content
- **Large files**: Memory and performance impact
- **Corrupted files**: Graceful error handling
- **Special cases**: Password-protected, encrypted
#### B. Format-Specific Tests
##### PDF Files
- Simple text PDFs
- Complex layouts with tables/images
- Scanned PDFs (image-based)
- Password-protected PDFs
- Corrupted PDF files
- Multi-page documents
- Large PDFs (100+ pages)
##### Office Documents
- **Excel (.xlsx, .xls)**
- Multiple worksheets
- Formulas and calculations
- Charts and graphs
- Large spreadsheets
- Password-protected files
- **Word (.docx)**
- Simple text documents
- Complex formatting
- Images and tables
- Track changes/comments
- **PowerPoint (.pptx)**
- Text-heavy slides
- Image-heavy presentations
- Animations and transitions
##### Images
- **EXIF metadata extraction**
- Photos with full EXIF data
- Images without metadata
- Corrupted EXIF data
- **Format variety**
- JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, WebP
- Different resolutions
- Color vs. grayscale
##### Audio Files
- **Speech recognition**
- Clear speech recordings
- Multiple speakers
- Background noise
- Different audio qualities
- **Format support**
- MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A, OGG, WMA
- Different bitrates
- Mono vs. stereo
##### Other Formats
- **Web formats**: HTML, XML, JSON, CSV
- **Text formats**: TXT, MD, RST
- **Archives**: ZIP files with mixed content
- **E-books**: EPUB files
### 4. Performance Testing
#### A. Scalability Tests
- **Concurrent requests**
- Multiple simultaneous conversions
- Resource contention
- Memory usage patterns
- CPU utilization
- **Large file handling**
- Files > 100MB
- Memory efficiency
- Streaming vs. loading
- Timeout behavior
#### B. Stress Testing
- **Resource limits**
- Maximum concurrent requests
- Memory exhaustion scenarios
- CPU-bound vs. I/O-bound operations
- Recovery from resource exhaustion
- **Load testing**
- Sustained high request rates
- Gradual load increase
- Peak load handling
- Performance degradation patterns
### 5. Security Testing
#### A. Input Validation
- **Path traversal attacks**
- `../../../etc/passwd` attempts
- Absolute path handling
- Symbolic link exploitation
- Network path attempts
- **Malicious content**
- Files with embedded scripts
- Zip bombs
- Files with excessive metadata
- Binary files disguised as text
#### B. Resource Protection
- **Denial of Service (DoS)**
- Large file uploads
- Infinite loop scenarios
- Memory exhaustion attempts
- CPU exhaustion attacks
- **Information disclosure**
- Error message content
- File path leakage
- System information exposure
### 6. Compatibility Testing
#### A. Environment Matrix
- **Operating Systems**
- macOS (Intel/Apple Silicon)
- Windows 10/11
- Ubuntu/Debian Linux
- CentOS/RHEL
- **Python Versions**
- Python 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13
- Virtual environments
- System Python vs. user installations
#### B. Dependency Testing
- **Optional dependencies**
- Missing dependencies behavior
- Partial dependency installation
- Version compatibility ranges
- Dependency conflict resolution
- **Claude Desktop Integration**
- Different Claude Desktop versions
- Configuration variations
- Network conditions
- Error recovery scenarios
### 7. Error Handling Testing
#### A. Expected Errors
- **File not found**
- Non-existent paths
- Deleted files during processing
- Network disconnections
- **Permission errors**
- Read-only files
- Protected directories
- Insufficient privileges
- **Format errors**
- Unsupported file types
- Corrupted files
- Incomplete files
#### B. Unexpected Errors
- **System failures**
- Out of memory
- Disk full
- Network timeouts
- Process kills
- **Dependency failures**
- Missing libraries
- Version conflicts
- Runtime errors
### 8. User Experience Testing
#### A. Claude Desktop Integration
- **Tool discovery**
- Tools appear in interface
- Descriptions are clear
- Parameter hints work
- **Conversion workflows**
- Single file conversion
- Batch directory conversion
- Error reporting clarity
- Progress indication
#### B. Error Messages
- **User-friendly errors**
- Clear problem descriptions
- Actionable solutions
- No technical jargon
- Helpful suggestions
## Test Data Requirements
### A. Sample Files
Create a comprehensive test dataset including:
- **Small files** (< 1KB) of each format
- **Medium files** (1KB - 10MB) representing typical use
- **Large files** (> 10MB) for performance testing
- **Edge cases**: Empty files, single character, maximum size
- **Corrupted files**: Intentionally broken formats
- **Special characters**: Unicode filenames, spaces, symbols
### B. Test Scenarios
- **Happy path**: Ideal conditions, all dependencies available
- **Error paths**: Missing dependencies, invalid inputs
- **Edge cases**: Boundary conditions, unusual inputs
- **Real-world**: Typical user files and workflows
## Test Infrastructure
### A. Automated Testing
- **Unit tests**: pytest framework
- **Integration tests**: Full MCP protocol simulation
- **Performance tests**: Load generation and metrics
- **CI/CD**: GitHub Actions for multiple environments
### B. Manual Testing
- **Claude Desktop integration**: Real environment testing
- **User workflow validation**: End-to-end scenarios
- **Exploratory testing**: Edge cases and creative usage
## Success Criteria
### A. Functionality
- ✅ All 29+ file formats convert successfully
- ✅ All MCP tools work as documented
- ✅ Error handling is graceful and informative
- ✅ Performance meets acceptable thresholds
### B. Reliability
- ✅ No crashes under normal usage
- ✅ Graceful degradation under stress
- ✅ Memory leaks eliminated
- ✅ Resource cleanup on errors
### C. Security
- ✅ No path traversal vulnerabilities
- ✅ No information disclosure
- ✅ DoS protection mechanisms
- ✅ Safe handling of malicious files
### D. Compatibility
- ✅ Works on all target platforms
- ✅ Compatible with all supported Python versions
- ✅ Handles missing dependencies gracefully
- ✅ Integrates properly with Claude Desktop
## Test Execution Plan
### Phase 1: Foundation (Week 1)
1. Set up test framework and infrastructure
2. Implement unit tests for core functionality
3. Create basic test data set
### Phase 2: Core Testing (Week 2)
1. Complete unit test coverage
2. Implement integration tests
3. File format testing for major formats
### Phase 3: Comprehensive Testing (Week 3)
1. Complete file format coverage
2. Performance and stress testing
3. Security testing
### Phase 4: Validation (Week 4)
1. End-to-end testing with Claude Desktop
2. Multi-platform compatibility testing
3. User experience validation
4. Bug fixes and retesting
## Risk Assessment
### High Risk Areas
1. **Large file handling** - Memory issues, timeouts
2. **Concurrent requests** - Resource contention, race conditions
3. **Dependency management** - Missing/incompatible packages
4. **Security vulnerabilities** - Path traversal, DoS attacks
### Mitigation Strategies
1. **Comprehensive performance testing** with realistic data
2. **Security review** of all input handling
3. **Dependency testing** across multiple environments
4. **Staged rollout** with monitoring and rollback capability
## Deliverables
1. **Test suite** - Comprehensive automated tests
2. **Test data** - Representative file collection
3. **Performance benchmarks** - Baseline metrics
4. **Security assessment** - Vulnerability analysis
5. **Compatibility matrix** - Platform/version support
6. **User testing report** - Real-world validation results
