python-mock-patching-location SKILL.md skillA
python-mock-patching-location from fabioc-aloha/alex_skill_mall is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add fabioc-aloha/alex_skill_mall/python-mock-patching-location@git:20260728.80a7ab6Pins git:20260728.80a7ab6 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- fabioc-aloha/alex_skill_mall
- Path
plugins/code-quality/python-mock-patching-location/skills/python-mock-patching-location/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20260728.80a7ab6, committed Jul 28, 2026
- Size
- 2,470 bytes
- Repository stars
- 5
- License
- MIT
Python mock.patch must target the import location, not the definition location.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# Python Mock Patching Location
**Category**: Testing
**Time Saved**: 30+ minutes debugging "mock not working"
**Battle-tested**: Yes — ChessCoach, multiple Python projects
---
## The Problem
You're writing a test that needs to mock `get_client()` from `module_a`. You patch `module_a.get_client`. The mock doesn't work — the real function still runs.
## Why It Happens
Python's import system creates a **reference** to the function in the importing module. When `module_b` does `from module_a import get_client`, it creates `module_b.get_client` as a separate reference. Patching the original doesn't affect the copy.
## The Rule
**Patch where the function is USED, not where it's DEFINED**
```python
# module_a.py defines get_client()
# module_b.py imports and calls it
# ❌ WRONG — patches the definition, not the usage
@patch('module_a.get_client')
def test_something(mock_client):
result = module_b.do_work() # Still calls real get_client!
# ✅ CORRECT — patches where it's called
@patch('module_b.get_client')
def test_something(mock_client):
result = module_b.do_work() # Uses mock
```
## Decision Table
| Import Style in Target Module | Patch Target |
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add fabioc-aloha/alex_skill_mall/python-mock-patching-location@sha256:1d92bfc54b11386bThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260728.80a7ab6, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_omblci5pwizipsuj)
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Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Jul 28, 2026.
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (2470 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
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- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
fabioc-aloha/alex_skill_mall · 5 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-06 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_omblci5pwizipsuj GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=fabioc-aloha/alex_skill_mall/python-mock-patching-location GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/1d92bfc54b11386b3299e1275e743c93d4adc766cbfc06a1658940124c141607
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Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.