docs: revamp testing documentation (#2155)

# What does this PR do?
reduces duplication and centralizes information to be easier to find for
contributors

Signed-off-by: Nathan Weinberg <nweinber@redhat.com>

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -110,31 +110,9 @@ uv run pre-commit run --all-files
 > [!CAUTION]
 > Before pushing your changes, make sure that the pre-commit hooks have passed successfully.
 
-## Running unit tests
+## Running tests
 
-You can run the unit tests by running:
-
-```bash
-source .venv/bin/activate
-./scripts/unit-tests.sh [PYTEST_ARGS]
-```
-
-Any additional arguments are passed to pytest. For example, you can specify a test directory, a specific test file, or any pytest flags (e.g., -vvv for verbosity). If no test directory is specified, it defaults to "tests/unit", e.g:
-
-```bash
-./scripts/unit-tests.sh tests/unit/registry/test_registry.py -vvv
-```
-
-If you'd like to run for a non-default version of Python (currently 3.10), pass `PYTHON_VERSION` variable as follows:
-
-```
-source .venv/bin/activate
-PYTHON_VERSION=3.13 ./scripts/unit-tests.sh
-```
-
-## Running integration tests
-
-You can run integration tests following the instructions [here](tests/integration/README.md).
+You can find the Llama Stack testing documentation here [here](tests/README.md).
 
 ## Adding a new dependency to the project
 

docs/source/contributing/new_api_provider.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ This guide will walk you through the process of adding a new API provider to Lla
 - Begin by reviewing the [core concepts](../concepts/index.md) of Llama Stack and choose the API your provider belongs to (Inference, Safety, VectorIO, etc.)
 - Determine the provider type ({repopath}`Remote::llama_stack/providers/remote` or {repopath}`Inline::llama_stack/providers/inline`). Remote providers make requests to external services, while inline providers execute implementation locally.
 - Add your provider to the appropriate {repopath}`Registry::llama_stack/providers/registry/`. Specify pip dependencies necessary.
-- Update any distribution {repopath}`Templates::llama_stack/templates/` build.yaml and run.yaml files if they should include your provider by default. Run {repopath}`./scripts/distro_codegen.py` if necessary. Note that `distro_codegen.py` will fail if the new provider causes any distribution template to attempt to import provider-specific dependencies. This usually means the distribution's `get_distribution_template()` code path should only import any necessary Config or model alias definitions from each provider and not the provider's actual implementation.
+- Update any distribution {repopath}`Templates::llama_stack/templates/` `build.yaml` and `run.yaml` files if they should include your provider by default. Run {repopath}`./scripts/distro_codegen.py` if necessary. Note that `distro_codegen.py` will fail if the new provider causes any distribution template to attempt to import provider-specific dependencies. This usually means the distribution's `get_distribution_template()` code path should only import any necessary Config or model alias definitions from each provider and not the provider's actual implementation.
 
 
 Here are some example PRs to help you get started:
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ Note that each provider's `sample_run_config()` method (in the configuration cla
 
 Unit tests are located in {repopath}`tests/unit`. Provider-specific unit tests are located in {repopath}`tests/unit/providers`. These tests are all run automatically as part of the CI process.
 
+Consult {repopath}`tests/unit/README.md` for more details on how to run the tests manually.
 
 ### 3. Additional end-to-end testing
 

tests/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Llama Stack Tests
+
+Llama Stack has multiple layers of testing done to ensure continuous functionality and prevent regressions to the codebase.
+
+| Testing Type | Details |
+|--------------|---------|
+| Unit | [unit/README.md](unit/README.md) |
+| Integration | [integration/README.md](integration/README.md) |
+| Verification | [verifications/README.md](verifications/README.md) |

tests/integration/README.md

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ pytest --help
 Here are the most important options:
 - `--stack-config`: specify the stack config to use. You have three ways to point to a stack:
   - a URL which points to a Llama Stack distribution server
-  - a template (e.g., `fireworks`, `together`) or a path to a run.yaml file
+  - a template (e.g., `fireworks`, `together`) or a path to a `run.yaml` file
   - a comma-separated list of api=provider pairs, e.g. `inference=fireworks,safety=llama-guard,agents=meta-reference`. This is most useful for testing a single API surface.
 - `--env`: set environment variables, e.g. --env KEY=value. this is a utility option to set environment variables required by various providers.
 

tests/unit/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# Llama Stack Unit Tests
+
+You can run the unit tests by running:
+
+```bash
+source .venv/bin/activate
+./scripts/unit-tests.sh [PYTEST_ARGS]
+```
+
+Any additional arguments are passed to pytest. For example, you can specify a test directory, a specific test file, or any pytest flags (e.g., -vvv for verbosity). If no test directory is specified, it defaults to "tests/unit", e.g:
+
+```bash
+./scripts/unit-tests.sh tests/unit/registry/test_registry.py -vvv
+```
+
+If you'd like to run for a non-default version of Python (currently 3.10), pass `PYTHON_VERSION` variable as follows:
+
+```
+source .venv/bin/activate
+PYTHON_VERSION=3.13 ./scripts/unit-tests.sh
+```