pytest-watch

Open source

Local continuous test runner with pytest and watchdog.

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About

Local continuous test runner with pytest and watchdog.

pytest-watch -- Continuous pytest runner

pytest-watch a zero-config CLI tool that runs pytest, and re-runs it when a file in your project changes. It beeps on failures and can run arbitrary commands on each passing and failing test run.

Motivation

Whether or not you use the test-driven development method, running tests continuously is far more productive than waiting until you're finished programming to test your code. Additionally, manually running pytest each time you want to see if any tests were broken has more wait-time and cognitive overhead than merely listening for a notification. This could be a crucial difference when debugging a complex problem or on a tight deadline.

Installation

bash

$ pip install pytest-watch

Usage

bash

$ cd myproject
$ ptw
 * Watching /path/to/myproject

Note: It can also be run using its full name pytest-watch.

Now develop normally and check the terminal every now and then to see if any tests are broken. Alternatively, pytest-watch can notify you when tests pass or fail:

OSX

$ ptw --onpass "say passed" --onfail "say failed"

bash

$ ptw --onpass "growlnotify -m \"All tests passed!\"" \
      --onfail "growlnotify -m \"Tests failed\""

using GrowlNotify.

Windows
bat
```
> ptw --onfail flash
```
using Console Flash

You can also run a command before the tests run, e.g. seeding your test database:

bash

$ ptw --beforerun init_db.py

Or after they finish, e.g. deleting a sqlite file. Note that this script receives the exit code of pytest as an argument.

bash

$ ptw --afterrun cleanup_db.py

You can also use a custom runner script for full pytest control:

bash

$ ptw --runner "python custom_pytest_runner.py"

Here's an minimal runner script that runs pytest and prints its exit code:

python

# custom_pytest_runner.py

import sys
import pytest

print('pytest exited with code:', pytest.main(sys.argv[1:]))

Need to exclude directories from being observed or collected for tests?

bash

$ ptw --ignore ./deep-directory --ignore ./integration_tests

See the full list of options:

…

Configuration

CLI options can be added to a [pytest-watch] section in your pytest.ini file to persist them in your project. For example:

ini

# pytest.ini

[pytest]
addopts = --maxfail=2

[pytest-watch]
ignore = ./integration-tests
nobeep = True

Alternatives

xdist offers the --looponfail (-f) option (and distributed testing options). This instead re-runs only those tests which have failed until you make them pass. This can be a speed advantage when trying to get all tests passing, but leaves out the discovery of new failures until then. It also drops the colors outputted by pytest, whereas pytest-watch doesn't.
Nosey is the original codebase this was forked from. Nosey runs nose instead of pytest.

Contributing

Check the open issues or open a new issue to start a discussion around your feature idea or the bug you found
Fork the repository, make your changes, and add yourself to Authors.md
Send a pull request

If you want to edit the README, be sure to make your changes to README.md and run the following to regenerate the README.rst file:

bash