Testing and Validation¶

pytest tests/test_forward.py
pytest tests/test_inverse.py

Both suites skip gracefully — with an explanatory reason — when the Fortran extension is not built or the required data products are not on disk, so pytest is always safe to run.

Data locations¶

The tests look for SED_Tools data products at ~/SED_Tools/data/... by default, overridable via environment variables:

Variable	Default
`CC_KURUCZ_DIR`	`~/SED_Tools/data/stellar_models/Kurucz2003all`
`CC_JOHNSON_DIR`	`~/SED_Tools/data/filters/Generic/Johnson`
`CC_VEGA_SED`	`~/SED_Tools/data/stellar_models/vega_flam.csv`

Forward model: validated against MESA¶

tests/test_forward.py checks grid loading, bounds/clamping, both interpolation schemes, filter loading and zero-points, and then the headline validation: synthetic magnitudes and bolometric quantities are compared against reference values produced by the MESA colors unit test (colors/test/test_output, MESA Kurucz2003 grid) for three stars spanning the grid — solar (5778 K / 4.44 / 0.0), a hot main-sequence star (15000 K / 4.0, 5 R☉), and a cool giant (4000 K / 2.0, 20 R☉).

Tolerances are TOL_MAG = 0.05 mag and TOL_FLUX = 2% relative — deliberately generous to absorb grid version differences and the trapezoid (Python zero-points) vs adaptive Simpson (Fortran in-band flux) integration difference, while still catching any real regression in the pipeline.

Inverse model: self-consistent recovery¶

tests/test_inverse.py does not use external references. Instead it closes the loop on the package itself:

run the forward model at known parameters to produce synthetic magnitudes,
perturb them with a small known noise level (0.01 mag),
run the inverse model and require the posterior median to recover the truth within physically motivated tolerances (≲ 2 grid spacings: 500 K in Teff, 0.5 dex in logg and [M/H]).

Chains are kept deliberately short (hundreds of steps, 16 walkers) so the suite finishes quickly; the tolerances account for the resulting shot noise. The suite also covers the InverseResult API — summary structure and ordering, finite MAP estimates, .npz save/load round-trips, thinning behaviour — and the input-validation errors (mismatched array lengths, non-positive uncertainties, unknown filter names).

What this means for the documentation¶

Every numerical claim in these docs traces to one of three places: the source code (embedded directly in the demo pages), the docstrings (rendered in the API Reference), or the test suite described here. Nothing is quoted from memory.