Why should you care?

ShopNest GitHub Actions lacks LocalDB — SQLite tests FK and unique constraints cheaply on Linux agents.

See it live — copy this example

Paste into a .NET project with EF Core packages, then run with LocalDB/SQL Server (dotnet ef / dotnet run).

var conn = new SqliteConnection("DataSource=shopnest-test.db");
await conn.OpenAsync();
var options = new DbContextOptionsBuilder<ShopNestDbContext>()
    .UseSqlite(conn)
    .Options;

await using var db = new ShopNestDbContext(options);
await db.Database.EnsureDeletedAsync();
await db.Database.EnsureCreatedAsync();

db.Products.Add(new Product { Name = "A", Sku = "SKU1", Price = 10 });
await db.SaveChangesAsync();

What happened?

• Shared open connection keeps :memory: alive.
• EnsureCreated builds schema.
• SQLite enforces unique Sku if configured in Fluent — closer to production than InMemory.

Practice next

1. Add Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Sqlite test package.
2. Open connection before EnsureCreated for in-memory SQLite.
3. Adjust types if SQL Server-specific — decimal and DateTime usually fine.
4. Run dotnet ef migrations against SQLite test project for parity.
5. Use Respawn library to reset SQLite schema between tests.

Remember

SQLite suits CI integration tests. Enforces more relational rules than InMemory. Open connection for in-memory lifetime.

ShopNest Linux CI

Azure Pipelines Linux agent runs 40 SQLite integration tests on every push.

Outcome: FK violations fail tests; devs on Mac/Linux contribute without LocalDB.