They will make multiple calls to the [GitHub API](https://docs.github.com/en/rest) with authentication.

The first test will *create* a new project card purely from the GitHub API,

and the second test will *move* a project card from one column to another.

Before we can develop tests for GitHub project boards,

we need to set up a few things:

1. A GitHub account

2. A GitHub user project

3. A GitHub personal access token

Pretty much every developer these days already has a GitHub account,

but not every developer may have set up a project board in GitHub.

Follow the [user project instructions](https://docs.github.com/en/issues/organizing-your-work-with-project-boards/managing-project-boards/creating-a-project-board#creating-a-user-owned-project-board)

to create a user project.

Create a "classic" project and not a *Beta* project.

Use the "Basic Kanban" template – the project must have at least two columns.

The project may be public or private,

but I recommend making it private if you intend to use it only for this tutorial.

GitHub API calls require a *personal access token* for authentication.

GitHub no longer supports "basic" authentication with username and password.

Follow the [personal access token instructions](https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/keeping-your-account-and-data-secure/creating-a-personal-access-token)

to create a personal access token.

Select the **repo** and **user** permissions.

Remember to copy and save your token somewhere safe,

because you won't be able to view it again!

The tests also need the following four inputs:

1. Your GitHub username

2. Your GitHub password (for UI login)

3. Your GitHub personal access token (for API authentication)

4. Your GitHub user project name

Let's set these inputs as environment variables

and read them into tests using pytest fixtures.

Environment variables must be set before launching tests.

On macOS or Linxu, use the following commands:

$ export GITHUB_USERNAME=<github-username>

$ export GITHUB_PASSWORD=<github-password>

$ export GITHUB_ACCESS_TOKEN=<github-access-token>

$ export GITHUB_PROJECT_NAME="<github-project-name>"

On Windows:

> set GITHUB_USERNAME=<github-username>

> set GITHUB_PASSWORD=<github-password>

> set GITHUB_ACCESS_TOKEN=<github-access-token>

> set GITHUB_PROJECT_NAME="<github-project-name>"

We should read these environment variables through pytest fixtures

using the [`os`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/os.html) module

so that any test can easily access them.

Add the following function for reading environment variables to `tests/conftest.py`:

import os

def _get_env_var(varname):

value = os.getenv(varname)

assert value, f'{varname} is not set'

return value

This function will not only read an environment variable by name

but also make sure the variable has a value.

Then, add fixtures for each environment variable:

@pytest.fixture(scope='session')

def gh_username():

return _get_env_var('GITHUB_USERNAME')

@pytest.fixture(scope='session')

def gh_password():

return _get_env_var('GITHUB_PASSWORD')

@pytest.fixture(scope='session')

def gh_access_token():

return _get_env_var('GITHUB_ACCESS_TOKEN')

@pytest.fixture(scope='session')

def gh_project_name():

return _get_env_var('GITHUB_PROJECT_NAME')

Now, our tests can safely and easily fetch these variables.

These fixtures have *session* scope so that pytest will read them only one time during the entire testing session.