2026-04-11 · 5 min read · testing · fake-data · fixtures · faker

Fake Data for Tests: Beyond Faker — 10+ Locales and Custom Schemas

The problem with Faker\n\nFaker.js is great for US test data. The moment you need Korean addresses, Japanese names, European VAT numbers, or custom schemas with correlated fields, you hit its limits — or worse, ship tests that pass in English and fail in production for international users.\n\n## What real localized fake data needs\n\n- Names — culturally plausible first/last combinations, not romanized versions\n- Addresses — real street naming conventions (Korean 동/로/번지, Japanese ken/shi/chō, European postal formats)\n- Phone numbers — country-specific area codes + length\n- IDs — valid checksums for SSN-equivalents (Korean RRN, Japanese My Number, Brazilian CPF)\n- Correlated fields — name + gender + email must agree, address + zip must geomatch\n\n## The workflow\n\nFor a signup flow test:\n\n```ts\nconst fakes = await fetch('https://api.lazy-mac.com/fake-data/api/v1/generate', {\n method: 'POST',\n body: JSON.stringify({\n locale: 'ko_KR',\n count: 50,\n schema: {\n name: 'personName',\n email: 'email',\n phone: 'phoneNumber',\n address: 'koreanAddress',\n brn: 'koreanBRN',\n signed_up_at: 'isoDate'\n }\n })\n}).then(r => r.json());\n```\n\nReturns 50 records with consistent Korean naming, valid BRNs, real-looking addresses — no post-processing needed.\n\n## Supported locales\n\nUS, UK, KR, JP, CN, DE, FR, ES, IT, BR, IN, MX. 12+ and growing. Full list at the Fake Data Generator API.\n\nFree 100/day. Pro $9.99/mo unlimited — 1/3 the price of hosted Faker alternatives.\n\n## MCP integration\n\n```bash\nnpx -y @lazymac/mcp\n> Generate 20 fake Korean B2B customer records with valid BRNs\n```\n\nClaude can iterate on the fixture shape interactively — much faster than writing Faker.js config by hand.

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