factory_boy

What it does

Audience

It is a fixtures replacement tool for Python tests.checked 9 Oct 2026

Build strategies

Factories can build unsaved instances, create saved instances, or return stub objects.checked 9 Oct 2026

Community support

The documentation directs users to GitHub Issues and a Google Groups mailing list for questions and suggestions.checked 9 Oct 2026

Debugging

Detailed logging is available through the factory logger, and factory.debug() is provided as a debugging helper.checked 9 Oct 2026

Distribution

The documentation gives PyPI installation and Git source installation instructions.checked 9 Oct 2026

Factory syntax

Factories use a declarative syntax to define attributes for creating Python objects.checked 9 Oct 2026

Generated data

factory_boy uses the Faker library to generate realistic random values.checked 9 Oct 2026

Generated values

It uses Faker for realistic random values and provides helpers to reseed random values for reproducible tests.checked 9 Oct 2026

Inheritance

It supports multiple factories for a class, including inheritance.checked 9 Oct 2026

License

The project is distributed under the MIT License.checked 9 Oct 2026

ORM integrations

Documented ORM integrations include Django, Mogo, MongoEngine, and SQLAlchemy.checked 9 Oct 2026

ORM support

The documentation describes integrations for Django, Mogo, MongoEngine, and SQLAlchemy.checked 9 Oct 2026

Purpose

factory_boy replaces static test fixtures with customizable factories for complex objects.checked 9 Oct 2026

Python support

The support policy covers active Python versions and PyPy3.checked 9 Oct 2026

Related objects

SubFactory creates associated objects and uses the associated factory's strategy.checked 9 Oct 2026

Reproducible randomness

The factory.random module provides helpers for managing random seeds.checked 9 Oct 2026

SQLAlchemy requirement

SQLAlchemyModelFactory requires a session object configured through sqlalchemy_session or sqlalchemy_session_factory.checked 9 Oct 2026

Support channels

The project directs users to GitHub Issues and welcomes questions and suggestions on its mailing list.checked 9 Oct 2026

Supported runtimes

The support policy says factory_boy supports active Python versions and PyPy3.checked 9 Oct 2026