Pytest and Visual Studio Code

Published 2023-08-20.
Time to read: 4 minutes.

This page is part of the posts collection, categorized under Python, Visual Studio Code.

Python has several well-known testing frameworks. Popular choices for functional and unit testing include pytest, the Robot framework, and unittest. Lettuce and Behave are popular for behavior-driven testing.

I decided to use pytest for a recent Python project.

I found that pytest’s test discovery mechanism was finicky, and demanded that Python packages and modules be set up before tests could be run. This is in sharp contrast to writing unit tests for Ruby, for example, using rspec, because Ruby modules are so much more flexible, forgiving and malleable.

However, getting pytest to work in Visual Studio Code was nearly impossible. Microsoft's documentation leaves a lot unsaid. I share what I learned, and how I made things work in this article.

Pytest

You can run pytest from the command line 3 ways.

Pytest Command

The most common way to run pytest is to type the pytest command, like the following, which runs all tests:

Shell

$ pytest

Pytest Module

The second way to run pytest is to invoke the pytest Python module, as follows:

Shell

$ python -m pytest

Running pytest as a Python module is nearly the same as running the pytest command, except that running it as a module adds the current directory to sys.path, which is standard python behavior, and can be helpful.

I had best results running pytest tests from Visual Studio Code when pytest was invoked as a module.

Calling Pytest from Python

Your code can call pytest. Lots of interesting and advanced development setups could be crafted using this approach. Baby steps.

Help Message

The help message for pytest is:

Shell

$ pytest -h
usage: pytest [options] [file_or_dir] [file_or_dir] [...]

positional arguments:
  file_or_dir

general:
  -k EXPRESSION         Only run tests which match the given substring
                        expression. An expression is a Python evaluatable
                        expression where all names are substring-matched against
                        test names and their parent classes. Example: -k
                        'test_method or test_other' matches all test functions
                        and classes whose name contains 'test_method' or
                        'test_other', while -k 'not test_method' matches those
                        that don't contain 'test_method' in their names. -k 'not
                        test_method and not test_other' will eliminate the
                        matches. Additionally keywords are matched to classes
                        and functions containing extra names in their
                        'extra_keyword_matches' set, as well as functions which
                        have names assigned directly to them. The matching is
                        case-insensitive.
  -m MARKEXPR           Only run tests matching given mark expression. For
                        example: -m 'mark1 and not mark2'.
  --markers             show markers (builtin, plugin and per-project ones).
  -x, --exitfirst       Exit instantly on first error or failed test
  --fixtures, --funcargs
                        Show available fixtures, sorted by plugin appearance
                        (fixtures with leading '_' are only shown with '-v')
  --fixtures-per-test   Show fixtures per test
  --pdb                 Start the interactive Python debugger on errors or
                        KeyboardInterrupt
  --pdbcls=modulename:classname
                        Specify a custom interactive Python debugger for use
                        with --pdb.For example:
                        --pdbcls=IPython.terminal.debugger:TerminalPdb
  --trace               Immediately break when running each test
  --capture=method      Per-test capturing method: one of fd|sys|no|tee-sys
  -s                    Shortcut for --capture=no
  --runxfail            Report the results of xfail tests as if they were not
                        marked
  --lf, --last-failed   Rerun only the tests that failed at the last run (or all
                        if none failed)
  --ff, --failed-first  Run all tests, but run the last failures first. This may
                        re-order tests and thus lead to repeated fixture
                        setup/teardown.
  --nf, --new-first     Run tests from new files first, then the rest of the
                        tests sorted by file mtime
  --cache-show=[CACHESHOW]
                        Show cache contents, don't perform collection or tests.
                        Optional argument: glob (default: '*').
  --cache-clear         Remove all cache contents at start of test run
  --lfnf={all,none}, --last-failed-no-failures={all,none}
                        Which tests to run with no previously (known) failures
  --sw, --stepwise      Exit on test failure and continue from last failing test
                        next time
  --sw-skip, --stepwise-skip
                        Ignore the first failing test but stop on the next
                        failing test. Implicitly enables --stepwise.

Reporting:
  --durations=N         Show N slowest setup/test durations (N=0 for all)
  --durations-min=N     Minimal duration in seconds for inclusion in slowest
                        list. Default: 0.005.
  -v, --verbose         Increase verbosity
  --no-header           Disable header
  --no-summary          Disable summary
  -q, --quiet           Decrease verbosity
  --verbosity=VERBOSE   Set verbosity. Default: 0.
  -r chars              Show extra test summary info as specified by chars:
                        (f)ailed, (E)rror, (s)kipped, (x)failed, (X)passed,
                        (p)assed, (P)assed with output, (a)ll except passed
                        (p/P), or (A)ll. (w)arnings are enabled by default (see
                        --disable-warnings), 'N' can be used to reset the list.
                        (default: 'fE').
  --disable-warnings, --disable-pytest-warnings
                        Disable warnings summary
  -l, --showlocals      Show locals in tracebacks (disabled by default)
  --no-showlocals       Hide locals in tracebacks (negate --showlocals passed
                        through addopts)
  --tb=style            Traceback print mode (auto/long/short/line/native/no)
  --show-capture={no,stdout,stderr,log,all}
                        Controls how captured stdout/stderr/log is shown on
                        failed tests. Default: all.
  --full-trace          Don't cut any tracebacks (default is to cut)
  --color=color         Color terminal output (yes/no/auto)
  --code-highlight={yes,no}
                        Whether code should be highlighted (only if --color is
                        also enabled). Default: yes.
  --pastebin=mode       Send failed|all info to bpaste.net pastebin service
  --junit-xml=path      Create junit-xml style report file at given path
  --junit-prefix=str    Prepend prefix to classnames in junit-xml output

pytest-warnings:
  -W PYTHONWARNINGS, --pythonwarnings=PYTHONWARNINGS
                        Set which warnings to report, see -W option of Python
                        itself
  --maxfail=num         Exit after first num failures or errors
  --strict-config       Any warnings encountered while parsing the `pytest`
                        section of the configuration file raise errors
  --strict-markers      Markers not registered in the `markers` section of the
                        configuration file raise errors
  --strict              (Deprecated) alias to --strict-markers
  -c FILE, --config-file=FILE
                        Load configuration from `FILE` instead of trying to
                        locate one of the implicit configuration files.
  --continue-on-collection-errors
                        Force test execution even if collection errors occur
  --rootdir=ROOTDIR     Define root directory for tests. Can be relative path:
                        'root_dir', './root_dir', 'root_dir/another_dir/';
                        absolute path: '/home/user/root_dir'; path with
                        variables: '$HOME/root_dir'.

collection:
  --collect-only, --co  Only collect tests, don't execute them
  --pyargs              Try to interpret all arguments as Python packages
  --ignore=path         Ignore path during collection (multi-allowed)
  --ignore-glob=path    Ignore path pattern during collection (multi-allowed)
  --deselect=nodeid_prefix
                        Deselect item (via node id prefix) during collection
                        (multi-allowed)
  --confcutdir=dir      Only load conftest.py's relative to specified dir
  --noconftest          Don't load any conftest.py files
  --keep-duplicates     Keep duplicate tests
  --collect-in-virtualenv
                        Don't ignore tests in a local virtualenv directory
  --import-mode={prepend,append,importlib}
                        Prepend/append to sys.path when importing test modules
                        and conftest files. Default: prepend.
  --doctest-modules     Run doctests in all .py modules
  --doctest-report={none,cdiff,ndiff,udiff,only_first_failure}
                        Choose another output format for diffs on doctest
                        failure
  --doctest-glob=pat    Doctests file matching pattern, default: test*.txt
  --doctest-ignore-import-errors
                        Ignore doctest ImportErrors
  --doctest-continue-on-failure
                        For a given doctest, continue to run after the first
                        failure

test session debugging and configuration:
  --basetemp=dir        Base temporary directory for this test run. (Warning:
                        this directory is removed if it exists.)
  -V, --version         Display pytest version and information about plugins.
                        When given twice, also display information about
                        plugins.
  -h, --help            Show help message and configuration info
  -p name               Early-load given plugin module name or entry point
                        (multi-allowed). To avoid loading of plugins, use the
                        `no:` prefix, e.g. `no:doctest`.
  --trace-config        Trace considerations of conftest.py files
  --debug=[DEBUG_FILE_NAME]
                        Store internal tracing debug information in this log
                        file. This file is opened with 'w' and truncated as a
                        result, care advised. Default: pytestdebug.log.
  -o OVERRIDE_INI, --override-ini=OVERRIDE_INI
                        Override ini option with "option=value" style, e.g. `-o
                        xfail_strict=True -o cache_dir=cache`.
  --assert=MODE         Control assertion debugging tools.
                        'plain' performs no assertion debugging.
                        'rewrite' (the default) rewrites assert statements in
                        test modules on import to provide assert expression
                        information.
  --setup-only          Only setup fixtures, do not execute tests
  --setup-show          Show setup of fixtures while executing tests
  --setup-plan          Show what fixtures and tests would be executed but don't
                        execute anything

logging:
  --log-level=LEVEL     Level of messages to catch/display. Not set by default,
                        so it depends on the root/parent log handler's effective
                        level, where it is "WARNING" by default.
  --log-format=LOG_FORMAT
                        Log format used by the logging module
  --log-date-format=LOG_DATE_FORMAT
                        Log date format used by the logging module
  --log-cli-level=LOG_CLI_LEVEL
                        CLI logging level
  --log-cli-format=LOG_CLI_FORMAT
                        Log format used by the logging module
  --log-cli-date-format=LOG_CLI_DATE_FORMAT
                        Log date format used by the logging module
  --log-file=LOG_FILE   Path to a file when logging will be written to
  --log-file-level=LOG_FILE_LEVEL
                        Log file logging level
  --log-file-format=LOG_FILE_FORMAT
                        Log format used by the logging module
  --log-file-date-format=LOG_FILE_DATE_FORMAT
                        Log date format used by the logging module
  --log-auto-indent=LOG_AUTO_INDENT
                        Auto-indent multiline messages passed to the logging
                        module. Accepts true|on, false|off or an integer.
  --log-disable=LOGGER_DISABLE
                        Disable a logger by name. Can be passed multiple times.

[pytest] ini-options in the first pytest.ini|tox.ini|setup.cfg|pyproject.toml file found:

  markers (linelist):   Markers for test functions
  empty_parameter_set_mark (string):
                        Default marker for empty parametersets
  norecursedirs (args): Directory patterns to avoid for recursion
  testpaths (args):     Directories to search for tests when no files or
                        directories are given on the command line
  filterwarnings (linelist):
                        Each line specifies a pattern for
                        warnings.filterwarnings. Processed after
                        -W/--pythonwarnings.
  usefixtures (args):   List of default fixtures to be used with this project
  python_files (args):  Glob-style file patterns for Python test module
                        discovery
  python_classes (args):
                        Prefixes or glob names for Python test class discovery
  python_functions (args):
                        Prefixes or glob names for Python test function and
                        method discovery
  disable_test_id_escaping_and_forfeit_all_rights_to_community_support (bool):
                        Disable string escape non-ASCII characters, might cause
                        unwanted side effects(use at your own risk)
  console_output_style (string):
                        Console output: "classic", or with additional progress
                        information ("progress" (percentage) | "count" |
                        "progress-even-when-capture-no" (forces progress even
                        when capture=no)
  xfail_strict (bool):  Default for the strict parameter of xfail markers when
                        not given explicitly (default: False)
  tmp_path_retention_count (string):
                        How many sessions should we keep the `tmp_path`
                        directories, according to `tmp_path_retention_policy`.
  tmp_path_retention_policy (string):
                        Controls which directories created by the `tmp_path`
                        fixture are kept around, based on test outcome.
                        (all/failed/none)
  enable_assertion_pass_hook (bool):
                        Enables the pytest_assertion_pass hook. Make sure to
                        delete any previously generated pyc cache files.
  junit_suite_name (string):
                        Test suite name for JUnit report
  junit_logging (string):
                        Write captured log messages to JUnit report: one of
                        no|log|system-out|system-err|out-err|all
  junit_log_passing_tests (bool):
                        Capture log information for passing tests to JUnit
                        report:
  junit_duration_report (string):
                        Duration time to report: one of total|call
  junit_family (string):
                        Emit XML for schema: one of legacy|xunit1|xunit2
  doctest_optionflags (args):
                        Option flags for doctests
  doctest_encoding (string):
                        Encoding used for doctest files
  cache_dir (string):   Cache directory path
  log_level (string):   Default value for --log-level
  log_format (string):  Default value for --log-format
  log_date_format (string):
                        Default value for --log-date-format
  log_cli (bool):       Enable log display during test run (also known as "live
                        logging")
  log_cli_level (string):
                        Default value for --log-cli-level
  log_cli_format (string):
                        Default value for --log-cli-format
  log_cli_date_format (string):
                        Default value for --log-cli-date-format
  log_file (string):    Default value for --log-file
  log_file_level (string):
                        Default value for --log-file-level
  log_file_format (string):
                        Default value for --log-file-format
  log_file_date_format (string):
                        Default value for --log-file-date-format
  log_auto_indent (string):
                        Default value for --log-auto-indent
  pythonpath (paths):   Add paths to sys.path
  faulthandler_timeout (string):
                        Dump the traceback of all threads if a test takes more
                        than TIMEOUT seconds to finish
  addopts (args):       Extra command line options
  minversion (string):  Minimally required pytest version
  required_plugins (args):
                        Plugins that must be present for pytest to run

Environment variables:
  PYTEST_ADDOPTS           Extra command line options
  PYTEST_PLUGINS           Comma-separated plugins to load during startup
  PYTEST_DISABLE_PLUGIN_AUTOLOAD Set to disable plugin auto-loading
  PYTEST_DEBUG             Set to enable debug tracing of pytest's internals


to see available markers type: pytest --markers
to see available fixtures type: pytest --fixtures
(shown according to specified file_or_dir or current dir if not specified; fixtures with leading '_' are only shown with the '-v' option

Helpful Options

It is handy to run new and failing tests, but to skip previously passing tests. The ‑‑nf and ‑‑lf options, respectively, invoke that mode of behavior:

Shell

$ pytest --nf --lf

Setup

Configuration

Pytest needed to know that the source code for my Python project is stored in the src directory. I created pyproject.toml as follows, which configured pytest:

pyproject.toml

[tool.pytest.ini_options]
addopts = [
    "--import-mode=importlib",
]
pythonpath = "src"

The way in which pytest discovers tests is complex. TL;DR: specify the newest and best mechanism for test discovery by using the ‑‑import-mode=importlib option as shown above.

To always run pytest with the ‑‑nf and ‑‑lf options, add those options to pyproject.toml:

pyproject.toml

[tool.pytest.ini_options]
addopts = [
    "--import-mode=importlib",
    "--lf",
    "--nf",
]
pythonpath = "src"

Test Directories

Flexibility generally adds complexity. Pytest allows for a lot of flexibility regarding the location of where tests can reside. Unfortunately, Python’s package and module mechanism in combination with the pytest discovery mechanism for tests can lead to a frustrating experience when setting up a new project.

You can read about good practices for pytest. Those recommendations are intimidating for first-time pytest programmers. I did not follow all of them.

I found the simplest approach was to create a subdirectory for the bulk of the Python project code. If a file called __init__.py is created in that directory (use touch for this) then the subdirectory becomes a submodule of your Python program. For this type of pytest setup, each submodule needs a tests directory.

Here is how you could use touch to define an imaginary subdirectory/submodule called my_submodule:

Shell

$ mkdir -p src/my_submodule/

$ touch src/my_submodule/__init__.py

My project structure was as follows. Tree docs are here.

pytest project structure

$ tree -I .git -I __pycache__
.
├── README.md
├── dl
├── dl.config
├── pyproject.toml
├── requirements.txt
└── src
    ├── __main__.py
    └── dl
        ├── __init__.py
        ├── argument_parse.py
        ├── dl_config.py
        ├── media_file.py
        ├── remote.py
        ├── tests
        │   ├── __init__.py
        │   ├── test_dl_config.py
        │   └── test_uti.py
        └── util.py

3 directories, 15 files

src/dl/tests/__init__.py was an empty marker file, but the ___init__.py file in the parent module defined imports for the submodule:

src/dl/__init__.py

from dl.argument_parse import ArgParse
from dl.dl_config import DLConfig
from dl.media_file import MediaFile
from dl.remote import Remote
from dl.util import *

Sample Test

Here is a sample pytest file, containing 2 unit tests. It is simple and clear.

src/dl/tests/test_util.py

import pytest
from pathlib import Path
from dl import samba_mount, samba_parse

class TestUtil:
    def test_samba_parse(self):
        remote_drive, local_path = samba_parse('e:/media/renders')
        assert remote_drive=='e'
        assert local_path=='/media/renders'

    def test_samba_mount(self):
        samba_root = samba_mount('bear', 'e', False)
        assert samba_root==Path('/mnt/bear/e')
        assert samba_root.is_mount()

Secret Sauce

If you have been paying attention, you should realize that one option for running new and failing tests is to type the following from the command line. We will use this method of invocation in the next section to integrate with Visual Studio Code.

Shell

$ python -m pytest --nf --lf

Visual Studio Code Integration

Visual Studio Code has a Testing explorer and a Run and Debug explorer. I find the existance of two very similar explorers annoying, because you often want to debug a test. Yes, you can do that by pushing the right button in the Testing Explorer ... if it works. This did not work for me.

Shopify Ruby, the latest and greatest Ruby extension for Visual Studio Code, uses the Run and Debug explorer to run and debug tests as well as entire programs. This makes sense to me.

Microsoft Pylance (for Python) follows a different convention, and uses the Run and Debug explorer to run and debug Python programs. You must use the Testing explorer for running or debugging Python unit tests. Annoying.

In the Testing explorer, I was able to see my dl module, but no tests were discovered. This was really annoying, and this is where more documentation from Microsoft would have been helpful. After wasting lots of time trying to solve this problem, I discovered a solution.

Invoke Pytest As a Module from VSCode

Run and Debug configurations that invoke the pytest module work perfectly. Here is an example .vscode/launch.json that demonstrates this:

.vscode/launch.json

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "PyTest All",
      "type": "python",
      "request": "launch",
      "module": "pytest",
      "justMyCode": true
    },
    {
      "args": ["--nf", "--lf"],
      "name": "PyTest New and Failing",
      "type": "python",
      "request": "launch",
      "module": "pytest",
      "justMyCode": true
    },
  ]
}

😁

You can set breakpoints in your code and debug your tests this way.