According to one method, the method occurs at a network equipment test device. The method includes receiving source code metadata derived from one or more source code files for programming a packet forwarding plane of a network node; analyzing the source code metadata to generate test metadata, wherein analyzing the source code metadata to determine the test metadata includes identifying source code metadata portions that indicate elements to test and determining the test metadata based on the elements; generating, using the test metadata, one or more test plans for testing the network node or an application programming interface (API) associated with the network node; and testing the network node or the API using the one or more test plans.