How I Mastered Chaos (Testing): My LFX Journey with CloudNativePG

Yash Agarwal — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 13:14:29 +0000

The Stakes Were High, and the Threat Was Real

It all started with Akash Bhaiya tagging us on the Point Blank group - an order for all of us to apply for the LFX Mentorship program. The message was clear: "If y'all do not apply for LFX this term I will personally GG you."

I knew the stakes. LFX's acceptance rate is less than a percent, even tougher than GSOC. I wrote my proposals (the cover letter) and resume, but after submitting, I forget about it.

Chaos, CNPG, and 36 Hours

Then, the email came. Subject: 'Interview Invitation - LFX Mentorship Program, CloudNativePG Project.' The email was from Francesco Canovai, thanking me for my application and inviting me to schedule an initial interview.

The reason I believe I was selected for the interview? A tiny, but critical, mention in my proposal about my past experience with Litmus Chaos during a hackathon.

The project was CloudNativePG: Chaos Testing.

The Goal: Set up robust chaos testing using Litmus Chaos for CloudNativePG (CNPG).
The Problem: I knew chaos testing basics, but CNPG was a black box.

I had 1.5 days. I was super nervous. That 36 hours was only Litmus Chaos, Kubernetes, and diving into the CNPG GitHub repo and their existing tests.

Accepted!

When I finally met the team including Francesco, Gabriele, Marco, and Jonathan for the interview, the questions focused heavily on my chaos testing knowledge. They appreciated that I hadn't just studied the project abstract - I had already deep-dived into the CNPG repository.

I was relieved and genuinely happy with how the interview went. But nothing compared to the feeling when the final result email landed in my inbox. I was beyond happy and truly excited to have been selected and couldn't wait for the term to start.

Hitting a Wall (And Breaking Through It)

I officially started the project on September 17th, guided by my fantastic mentors: Gabrielle, Jonathan, Marco, and Francesco.

We hit some major roadblocks right away. The biggest hurdle? Litmus Chaos, a key part of the project, didn't natively support the AppKind of CloudNativePG. But this obstacle was actually a big opportunity! To make the project work, I got the chance to contribute directly to Litmus Chaos itself.

I learned and grew more in this single term than I had in months. My LFX mentorship term finally concluded on December 10th.

Thank you for reading my journey!

If you're on the fence of applying for LFX or GSOC, let my story be the push you need. Apply!

DEV Community: Yash Agarwal

How I Mastered Chaos (Testing): My LFX Journey with CloudNativePG

The Stakes Were High, and the Threat Was Real

Chaos, CNPG, and 36 Hours

Accepted!

Hitting a Wall (And Breaking Through It)