Third party tests are tests for non native OpenStack APIs that are part of OpenStack projects. If we ship an API, we’re really required to ensure that it’s working.
An example is that Nova Compute currently has EC2 API support in tree, which should be tested as part of normal process.
If we ship an API in an OpenStack component, there should be tests in tempest to exercise it in some way.
Third party API testing should be limited to the functional testing of third party API compliance. Complex scenarios should be avoided, and instead exercised with the OpenStack API, unless the third party API can’t be tested without those scenarios.
Whenever possible third party API testing should use a client as close to the third party API as possible. The point of these tests is API validation.