Configuration Reference

This page lists every configuration key the plugin reads, where it applies, and what happens if it is missing.

Content types

The plugin registers itself as a CONTENT_MATCHER for these content types:

  • application/avro

  • avro/bytes

  • avro/binary

  • application/*+avro

Any interaction configured with one of these content types is routed to this plugin. Interactions are also tagged with the record name they carry, using the format <content-type>;record=<RecordName> (for example avro/binary;record=Order). The actual and expected bodies of an interaction must resolve to the same record name, or the comparison fails.

Interaction configuration keys

These keys are read from the message.contents (or equivalent) map passed to usingPlugin("avro") when a consumer test defines an interaction.

Key Required Description

pact:avro

Yes

Path to the Avro schema file (.avsc) to use for this interaction. The file can define a single record or an array of record definitions.

pact:record-name

Yes

Name of the record within the schema file to use for this interaction. If the schema is a union/array of records, the plugin searches it for a record with this name.

The emitted interaction body always reports avro/binary;record=<RecordName> as its content type; there is no configuration key to override it.

If pact:avro is missing, configuration fails with:

Config item with key 'pact:avro' and path to the avro schema file is required

If pact:record-name is missing, configuration fails with:

Config item with key 'pact:record-name' and record-name of the payload is required

Field configuration

Every other key in the configuration map is treated as a field on the record, and its value is parsed as a Matching Rule definition expression (for example notEmpty('100') or matching(boolean, true)). See Testing for worked examples.

Fields can be nested to match the schema shape:

  • A record-typed field is configured as a map, keyed by its own field names.

  • An array-typed field is configured as a list of matching rule expressions (or of maps, for arrays of records).

  • A map-typed field is configured as a map, keyed by the map’s own keys.

Optional (nullable) fields

A field is only treated as optional when its Avro type is a two-branch union with null as one of the branches (for example ["null", "string"]). If you omit a value for that field in the test configuration, the plugin uses null.

Any other union shape (more than two branches, or a two-branch union without null) is rejected with:

'UNION' type is only supported to make field nullable, field: '<field>' with value: '<value>'

Fields with schema defaults

If a field is omitted from the test configuration and the schema declares a default value for it, that default is used instead of failing. If the field has no default and no union-with-null fallback, configuration fails with:

Couldn't find configuration for field: <field>

Supported field types

The plugin can build and match: string, int, long, float, double, boolean, bytes, fixed, enum, null, record, array, and map. Any other Avro type used on a field fails with:

Type '<type>' is not supported for field: '<field>' with value: '<value>'

Environment variables

Variable Description

PACT_PLUGIN_DIR

Overrides the plugin install directory. Defaults to $HOME/.pact/plugins. See Getting Started.

RUST_LOG

Sets the plugin’s log filter. Defaults to info. See Logging.

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