test: drop USE_CASS_EXTERNAL integration mode

[dkropachev]

Summary

• remove the USE_CASS_EXTERNAL integration-test mode and CCM_PATH/CCM_NAME loading path
• make affected integration setup code always use managed CCM clusters
• remove the CONTRIBUTING.rst documentation for external-cluster test runs

Testing

• uv run python -m py_compile tests/integration/init.py tests/integration/conftest.py tests/integration/standard/test_query.py tests/integration/standard/test_authentication.py tests/integration/standard/test_authentication_misconfiguration.py tests/integration/standard/test_control_connection_query_fallback.py
• CASSANDRA_VERSION=3.11.4 uv run pytest --collect-only tests/integration/standard/test_query.py tests/integration/standard/test_authentication.py tests/integration/standard/test_authentication_misconfiguration.py tests/integration/standard/test_control_connection_query_fallback.py

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Organization UI

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro Plus

Run ID: 5aee3cd8-0f9d-44c5-ac6e-ee1e35442023

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 8f772c8 and 294dd97.

📒 Files selected for processing (7)

• CONTRIBUTING.rst
• tests/integration/__init__.py
• tests/integration/conftest.py
• tests/integration/standard/test_authentication.py
• tests/integration/standard/test_authentication_misconfiguration.py
• tests/integration/standard/test_control_connection_query_fallback.py
• tests/integration/standard/test_query.py

💤 Files with no reviewable changes (1)

• CONTRIBUTING.rst

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The integration test suite removes support for externally managed CCM clusters through USE_CASS_EXTERNAL. Cluster preservation now uses KEEP_TEST_CLUSTER, while cluster loading and teardown paths run normally otherwise. Authentication, control-connection fallback, and query tests no longer skip or conditionally initialize their CCM clusters based on the removed flag. The contributor documentation removes the external-cluster usage instructions. Suggested reviewers: fruch, mykaul, lorak-mmk, absurdfarce, sylwiaszunejko

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Description check	⚠️ Warning	The PR description omits the required checklist/template sections and only provides summary/testing, so it doesn't satisfy the repository's description format.	Rewrite the description using the template and mark the applicable checklist items, including commit structure, test coverage, docs changes, and any Fixes annotations.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title is concise and accurately summarizes the main change: removing the USE_CASS_EXTERNAL integration mode.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

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