Reference ========= This page contains the full reference to pytest's API. .. contents:: :depth: 3 :local: Functions --------- pytest.approx ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autofunction:: _pytest.python_api.approx pytest.fail ~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`skipping` .. autofunction:: _pytest.outcomes.fail pytest.skip ~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autofunction:: _pytest.outcomes.skip(msg, [allow_module_level=False]) pytest.importorskip ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autofunction:: _pytest.outcomes.importorskip pytest.xfail ~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autofunction:: _pytest.outcomes.xfail pytest.exit ~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autofunction:: _pytest.outcomes.exit pytest.main ~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autofunction:: _pytest.config.main pytest.param ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autofunction:: pytest.param(*values, [id], [marks]) pytest.raises ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`assertraises`. .. autofunction:: pytest.raises(expected_exception: Exception, [match], [message]) :with: excinfo pytest.deprecated_call ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`ensuring_function_triggers`. .. autofunction:: pytest.deprecated_call() :with: pytest.register_assert_rewrite ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`assertion-rewriting`. .. autofunction:: pytest.register_assert_rewrite pytest.warns ~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`assertwarnings` .. autofunction:: pytest.warns(expected_warning: Exception, [match]) :with: .. _`marks ref`: Marks ----- Marks can be used apply meta data to *test functions* (but not fixtures), which can then be accessed by fixtures or plugins. .. _`pytest.mark.parametrize ref`: pytest.mark.parametrize ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :doc:`parametrize`. .. automethod:: _pytest.python.Metafunc.parametrize .. _`pytest.mark.skip ref`: pytest.mark.skip ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`skip`. Unconditionally skip a test function. .. py:function:: pytest.mark.skip(*, reason=None) :keyword str reason: Reason why the test function is being skipped. .. _`pytest.mark.skipif ref`: pytest.mark.skipif ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`xfail`. Skip a test function if a condition is ``True``. .. py:function:: pytest.mark.skipif(condition, *, reason=None) :type condition: bool or str :param condition: ``True/False`` if the condition should be skipped or a :ref:`condition string `. :keyword str reason: Reason why the test function is being skipped. .. _`pytest.mark.xfail ref`: pytest.mark.xfail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`xfail`. Marks a test function as *expected to fail*. .. py:function:: pytest.mark.xfail(condition=None, *, reason=None, raises=None, run=True, strict=False) :type condition: bool or str :param condition: ``True/False`` if the condition should be marked as xfail or a :ref:`condition string `. :keyword str reason: Reason why the test function is marked as xfail. :keyword Exception raises: Exception subclass expected to be raised by the test function; other exceptions will fail the test. :keyword bool run: If the test function should actually be executed. If ``False``, the function will always xfail and will not be executed (useful a function is segfaulting). :keyword bool strict: * If ``False`` (the default) the function will be shown in the terminal output as ``xfailed`` if it fails and as ``xpass`` if it passes. In both cases this will not cause the test suite to fail as a whole. This is particularly useful to mark *flaky* tests (tests that random at fail) to be tackled later. * If ``True``, the function will be shown in the terminal output as ``xfailed`` if it fails, but if it unexpectedly passes then it will **fail** the test suite. This is particularly useful to mark functions that are always failing and there should be a clear indication if they unexpectedly start to pass (for example a new release of a library fixes a known bug). custom marks ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Marks are created dynamically using the factory object ``pytest.mark`` and applied as a decorator. For example: .. code-block:: python @pytest.mark.timeout(10, 'slow', method='thread') def test_function(): ... Will create and attach a :class:`MarkInfo <_pytest.mark.MarkInfo>` object to the collected :class:`Item <_pytest.nodes.Item>`, which can then be accessed by fixtures or hooks with :meth:`Node.get_marker <_pytest.nodes.Node.get_marker>`. The ``mark`` object will have the following attributes: .. code-block:: python mark.args == (10, 'slow') mark.kwargs == {'method': 'thread'} Fixtures -------- **Tutorial**: :ref:`fixture`. Fixtures are requested by test functions or other fixtures by declaring them as argument names. Example of a test requiring a fixture: .. code-block:: python def test_output(capsys): print('hello') out, err = capsys.readouterr() assert out == 'hello\n' Example of a fixture requiring another fixture: .. code-block:: python @pytest.fixture def db_session(tmpdir): fn = tmpdir / 'db.file' return connect(str(fn)) For more details, consult the full :ref:`fixtures docs `. @pytest.fixture ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autofunction:: pytest.fixture :decorator: .. _`cache-api`: config.cache ~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`cache`. The ``config.cache`` object allows other plugins and fixtures to store and retrieve values across test runs. To access it from fixtures request ``pytestconfig`` into your fixture and get it with ``pytestconfig.cache``. Under the hood, the cache plugin uses the simple ``dumps``/``loads`` API of the :py:mod:`json` stdlib module. .. currentmodule:: _pytest.cacheprovider .. automethod:: Cache.get .. automethod:: Cache.set .. automethod:: Cache.makedir capsys ~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :doc:`capture`. .. currentmodule:: _pytest.capture .. autofunction:: capsys() :no-auto-options: Returns an instance of :py:class:`CaptureFixture`. Example: .. code-block:: python def test_output(capsys): print("hello") captured = capsys.readouterr() assert captured.out == "hello\n" .. autoclass:: CaptureFixture() :members: capsysbinary ~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :doc:`capture`. .. autofunction:: capsysbinary() :no-auto-options: Returns an instance of :py:class:`CaptureFixture`. Example: .. code-block:: python def test_output(capsysbinary): print("hello") captured = capsysbinary.readouterr() assert captured.out == b"hello\n" capfd ~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :doc:`capture`. .. autofunction:: capfd() :no-auto-options: Returns an instance of :py:class:`CaptureFixture`. Example: .. code-block:: python def test_system_echo(capfd): os.system('echo "hello"') captured = capsys.readouterr() assert captured.out == "hello\n" capfdbinary ~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :doc:`capture`. .. autofunction:: capfdbinary() :no-auto-options: Returns an instance of :py:class:`CaptureFixture`. Example: .. code-block:: python def test_system_echo(capfdbinary): os.system('echo "hello"') captured = capfdbinary.readouterr() assert captured.out == b"hello\n" doctest_namespace ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :doc:`doctest`. .. autofunction:: _pytest.doctest.doctest_namespace() Usually this fixture is used in conjunction with another ``autouse`` fixture: .. code-block:: python @pytest.fixture(autouse=True) def add_np(doctest_namespace): doctest_namespace['np'] = numpy For more details: :ref:`doctest_namespace`. request ~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`request example`. The ``request`` fixture is a special fixture providing information of the requesting test function. .. autoclass:: _pytest.fixtures.FixtureRequest() :members: pytestconfig ~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autofunction:: _pytest.fixtures.pytestconfig() record_xml_property ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`record_xml_property example`. .. autofunction:: _pytest.junitxml.record_xml_property() caplog ~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :doc:`logging`. .. autofunction:: _pytest.logging.caplog() :no-auto-options: This returns a :class:`_pytest.logging.LogCaptureFixture` instance. .. autoclass:: _pytest.logging.LogCaptureFixture :members: monkeypatch ~~~~~~~~~~~ .. currentmodule:: _pytest.monkeypatch **Tutorial**: :doc:`monkeypatch`. .. autofunction:: _pytest.monkeypatch.monkeypatch() :no-auto-options: This returns a :class:`MonkeyPatch` instance. .. autoclass:: _pytest.monkeypatch.MonkeyPatch :members: testdir ~~~~~~~ .. currentmodule:: _pytest.pytester This fixture provides a :class:`Testdir` instance useful for black-box testing of test files, making it ideal to test plugins. To use it, include in your top-most ``conftest.py`` file:: pytest_plugins = 'pytester' .. autoclass:: Testdir() :members: runpytest,runpytest_subprocess,runpytest_inprocess,makeconftest,makepyfile .. autoclass:: RunResult() :members: .. autoclass:: LineMatcher() :members: recwarn ~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`assertwarnings` .. currentmodule:: _pytest.recwarn .. autofunction:: recwarn() :no-auto-options: .. autoclass:: _pytest.recwarn.WarningsRecorder() :members: Each recorded warning is an instance of :class:`warnings.WarningMessage`. .. note:: :class:`RecordedWarning` was changed from a plain class to a namedtuple in pytest 3.1 .. note:: ``DeprecationWarning`` and ``PendingDeprecationWarning`` are treated differently; see :ref:`ensuring_function_triggers`. tmpdir ~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :doc:`tmpdir` .. currentmodule:: _pytest.tmpdir .. autofunction:: tmpdir() :no-auto-options: tmpdir_factory ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`tmpdir factory example` .. _`tmpdir factory api`: ``tmpdir_factory`` instances have the following methods: .. currentmodule:: _pytest.tmpdir .. automethod:: TempdirFactory.mktemp .. automethod:: TempdirFactory.getbasetemp .. _`hook-reference`: Hooks ----- **Tutorial**: :doc:`writing_plugins`. .. currentmodule:: _pytest.hookspec Reference to all hooks which can be implemented by :ref:`conftest.py files ` and :ref:`plugins `. Bootstrapping hooks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bootstrapping hooks called for plugins registered early enough (internal and setuptools plugins). .. autofunction:: pytest_load_initial_conftests .. autofunction:: pytest_cmdline_preparse .. autofunction:: pytest_cmdline_parse .. autofunction:: pytest_cmdline_main Initialization hooks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Initialization hooks called for plugins and ``conftest.py`` files. .. autofunction:: pytest_addoption .. autofunction:: pytest_addhooks .. autofunction:: pytest_configure .. autofunction:: pytest_unconfigure Test running hooks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All runtest related hooks receive a :py:class:`pytest.Item <_pytest.main.Item>` object. .. autofunction:: pytest_runtestloop .. autofunction:: pytest_runtest_protocol .. autofunction:: pytest_runtest_logstart .. autofunction:: pytest_runtest_logfinish .. autofunction:: pytest_runtest_setup .. autofunction:: pytest_runtest_call .. autofunction:: pytest_runtest_teardown .. autofunction:: pytest_runtest_makereport For deeper understanding you may look at the default implementation of these hooks in :py:mod:`_pytest.runner` and maybe also in :py:mod:`_pytest.pdb` which interacts with :py:mod:`_pytest.capture` and its input/output capturing in order to immediately drop into interactive debugging when a test failure occurs. The :py:mod:`_pytest.terminal` reported specifically uses the reporting hook to print information about a test run. Collection hooks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ``pytest`` calls the following hooks for collecting files and directories: .. autofunction:: pytest_collection .. autofunction:: pytest_ignore_collect .. autofunction:: pytest_collect_directory .. autofunction:: pytest_collect_file For influencing the collection of objects in Python modules you can use the following hook: .. autofunction:: pytest_pycollect_makeitem .. autofunction:: pytest_generate_tests .. autofunction:: pytest_make_parametrize_id After collection is complete, you can modify the order of items, delete or otherwise amend the test items: .. autofunction:: pytest_collection_modifyitems Reporting hooks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Session related reporting hooks: .. autofunction:: pytest_collectstart .. autofunction:: pytest_itemcollected .. autofunction:: pytest_collectreport .. autofunction:: pytest_deselected .. autofunction:: pytest_report_header .. autofunction:: pytest_report_collectionfinish .. autofunction:: pytest_report_teststatus .. autofunction:: pytest_terminal_summary .. autofunction:: pytest_fixture_setup .. autofunction:: pytest_fixture_post_finalizer And here is the central hook for reporting about test execution: .. autofunction:: pytest_runtest_logreport You can also use this hook to customize assertion representation for some types: .. autofunction:: pytest_assertrepr_compare Debugging/Interaction hooks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are few hooks which can be used for special reporting or interaction with exceptions: .. autofunction:: pytest_internalerror .. autofunction:: pytest_keyboard_interrupt .. autofunction:: pytest_exception_interact .. autofunction:: pytest_enter_pdb Objects ------- Full reference to objects accessible from :ref:`fixtures ` or :ref:`hooks `. CallInfo ~~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.runner.CallInfo() :members: Class ~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.python.Class() :members: :show-inheritance: Collector ~~~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.nodes.Collector() :members: :show-inheritance: Config ~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.config.Config() :members: ExceptionInfo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest._code.ExceptionInfo :members: FixtureDef ~~~~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.fixtures.FixtureDef() :members: :show-inheritance: FSCollector ~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.nodes.FSCollector() :members: :show-inheritance: Function ~~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.python.Function() :members: :show-inheritance: Item ~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.nodes.Item() :members: :show-inheritance: MarkDecorator ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.mark.MarkDecorator :members: MarkGenerator ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.mark.MarkGenerator :members: MarkInfo ~~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.mark.MarkInfo :members: Metafunc ~~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.python.Metafunc :members: Module ~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.python.Module() :members: :show-inheritance: Node ~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.nodes.Node() :members: Parser ~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.config.Parser() :members: PluginManager ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: pluggy.PluginManager() :members: PytestPluginManager ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.config.PytestPluginManager() :members: :undoc-members: :show-inheritance: Session ~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.main.Session() :members: :show-inheritance: TestReport ~~~~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: _pytest.runner.TestReport() :members: :inherited-members: _Result ~~~~~~~ .. autoclass:: pluggy._Result :members: Special Variables ----------------- pytest treats some global variables in a special manner when defined in a test module. pytest_plugins ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`available installable plugins` Can be declared at the **global** level in *test modules* and *conftest.py files* to register additional plugins. Can be either a ``str`` or ``Sequence[str]``. .. code-block:: python pytest_plugins = "myapp.testsupport.myplugin" .. code-block:: python pytest_plugins = ("myapp.testsupport.tools", "myapp.testsupport.regression") pytest_mark ~~~~~~~~~~~ **Tutorial**: :ref:`scoped-marking` Can be declared at the **global** level in *test modules* to apply one or more :ref:`marks ` to all test functions and methods. Can be either a single mark or a sequence of marks. .. code-block:: python import pytest pytestmark = pytest.mark.webtest .. code-block:: python import pytest pytestmark = (pytest.mark.integration, pytest.mark.slow) PYTEST_DONT_REWRITE (module docstring) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The text ``PYTEST_DONT_REWRITE`` can be add to any **module docstring** to disable :ref:`assertion rewriting ` for that module. Environment Variables --------------------- Environment variables that can be used to change pytest's behavior. PYTEST_ADDOPTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This contains a command-line (parsed by the py:mod:`shlex` module) that will be **prepended** to the command line given by the user, see :ref:`adding default options` for more information. PYTEST_DEBUG ~~~~~~~~~~~~ When set, pytest will print tracing and debug information. PYTEST_PLUGINS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contains comma-separated list of modules that should be loaded as plugins: .. code-block:: bash export PYTEST_PLUGINS=mymodule.plugin,xdisst PYTEST_CURRENT_TEST ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is not meant to be set by users, but is set by pytest internally with the name of the current test so other processes can inspect it, see :ref:`pytest current test env` for more information. .. _`ini options ref`: Configuration Options --------------------- Here is a list of builtin configuration options that may be written in a ``pytest.ini``, ``tox.ini`` or ``setup.cfg`` file, usually located at the root of your repository. All options must be under a ``[pytest]`` section (``[tool:pytest]`` for ``setup.cfg`` files). Configuration file options may be overwritten in the command-line by using ``-o/--override``, which can also be passed multiple times. The expected format is ``name=value``. For example:: pytest -o console_output_style=classic -o cache_dir=/tmp/mycache .. confval:: addopts Add the specified ``OPTS`` to the set of command line arguments as if they had been specified by the user. Example: if you have this ini file content: .. code-block:: ini # content of pytest.ini [pytest] addopts = --maxfail=2 -rf # exit after 2 failures, report fail info issuing ``pytest test_hello.py`` actually means:: pytest --maxfail=2 -rf test_hello.py Default is to add no options. .. confval:: cache_dir .. versionadded:: 3.2 Sets a directory where stores content of cache plugin. Default directory is ``.cache`` which is created in :ref:`rootdir `. Directory may be relative or absolute path. If setting relative path, then directory is created relative to :ref:`rootdir `. Additionally path may contain environment variables, that will be expanded. For more information about cache plugin please refer to :ref:`cache_provider`. .. confval:: confcutdir Sets a directory where search upwards for ``conftest.py`` files stops. By default, pytest will stop searching for ``conftest.py`` files upwards from ``pytest.ini``/``tox.ini``/``setup.cfg`` of the project if any, or up to the file-system root. .. confval:: console_output_style .. versionadded:: 3.3 Sets the console output style while running tests: * ``classic``: classic pytest output. * ``progress``: like classic pytest output, but with a progress indicator. The default is ``progress``, but you can fallback to ``classic`` if you prefer or the new mode is causing unexpected problems: .. code-block:: ini # content of pytest.ini [pytest] console_output_style = classic .. confval:: doctest_encoding .. versionadded:: 3.1 Default encoding to use to decode text files with docstrings. :doc:`See how pytest handles doctests `. .. confval:: doctest_optionflags One or more doctest flag names from the standard ``doctest`` module. :doc:`See how pytest handles doctests `. .. confval:: empty_parameter_set_mark .. versionadded:: 3.4 Allows to pick the action for empty parametersets in parameterization * ``skip`` skips tests with a empty parameterset (default) * ``xfail`` marks tests with a empty parameterset as xfail(run=False) .. code-block:: ini # content of pytest.ini [pytest] empty_parameter_set_mark = xfail .. note:: The default value of this option is planned to change to ``xfail`` in future releases as this is considered less error prone, see `#3155 `_ for more details. .. confval:: filterwarnings .. versionadded:: 3.1 Sets a list of filters and actions that should be taken for matched warnings. By default all warnings emitted during the test session will be displayed in a summary at the end of the test session. .. code-block:: ini # content of pytest.ini [pytest] filterwarnings = error ignore::DeprecationWarning This tells pytest to ignore deprecation warnings and turn all other warnings into errors. For more information please refer to :ref:`warnings`. .. confval:: junit_suite_name .. versionadded:: 3.1 To set the name of the root test suite xml item, you can configure the ``junit_suite_name`` option in your config file: .. code-block:: ini [pytest] junit_suite_name = my_suite .. confval:: log_cli_date_format .. versionadded:: 3.3 Sets a :py:func:`time.strftime`-compatible string that will be used when formatting dates for live logging. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] log_cli_date_format = %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S For more information, see :ref:`live_logs`. .. confval:: log_cli_format .. versionadded:: 3.3 Sets a :py:mod:`logging`-compatible string used to format live logging messages. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] log_cli_format = %(asctime)s %(levelname)s %(message)s For more information, see :ref:`live_logs`. .. confval:: log_cli_level .. versionadded:: 3.3 Sets the minimum log message level that should be captured for live logging. The integer value or the names of the levels can be used. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] log_cli_level = INFO For more information, see :ref:`live_logs`. .. confval:: log_date_format .. versionadded:: 3.3 Sets a :py:func:`time.strftime`-compatible string that will be used when formatting dates for logging capture. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] log_date_format = %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S For more information, see :ref:`logging`. .. confval:: log_file .. versionadded:: 3.3 Sets a file name relative to the ``pytest.ini`` file where log messages should be written to, in addition to the other logging facilities that are active. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] log_file = logs/pytest-logs.txt For more information, see :ref:`logging`. .. confval:: log_file_date_format .. versionadded:: 3.3 Sets a :py:func:`time.strftime`-compatible string that will be used when formatting dates for the logging file. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] log_file_date_format = %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S For more information, see :ref:`logging`. .. confval:: log_file_format .. versionadded:: 3.3 Sets a :py:mod:`logging`-compatible string used to format logging messages redirected to the logging file. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] log_file_format = %(asctime)s %(levelname)s %(message)s For more information, see :ref:`logging`. .. confval:: log_file_level .. versionadded:: 3.3 Sets the minimum log message level that should be captured for the logging file. The integer value or the names of the levels can be used. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] log_file_level = INFO For more information, see :ref:`logging`. .. confval:: log_format .. versionadded:: 3.3 Sets a :py:mod:`logging`-compatible string used to format captured logging messages. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] log_format = %(asctime)s %(levelname)s %(message)s For more information, see :ref:`logging`. .. confval:: log_level .. versionadded:: 3.3 Sets the minimum log message level that should be captured for logging capture. The integer value or the names of the levels can be used. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] log_level = INFO For more information, see :ref:`logging`. .. confval:: log_print .. versionadded:: 3.3 If set to ``False``, will disable displaying captured logging messages for failed tests. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] log_print = False For more information, see :ref:`logging`. .. confval:: markers List of markers that are allowed in test functions, enforced when ``--strict`` command-line argument is used. You can use a marker name per line, indented from the option name. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] markers = slow serial .. confval:: minversion Specifies a minimal pytest version required for running tests. .. code-block:: ini # content of pytest.ini [pytest] minversion = 3.0 # will fail if we run with pytest-2.8 .. confval:: norecursedirs Set the directory basename patterns to avoid when recursing for test discovery. The individual (fnmatch-style) patterns are applied to the basename of a directory to decide if to recurse into it. Pattern matching characters:: * matches everything ? matches any single character [seq] matches any character in seq [!seq] matches any char not in seq Default patterns are ``'.*', 'build', 'dist', 'CVS', '_darcs', '{arch}', '*.egg', 'venv'``. Setting a ``norecursedirs`` replaces the default. Here is an example of how to avoid certain directories: .. code-block:: ini # content of pytest.ini [pytest] norecursedirs = .svn _build tmp* This would tell ``pytest`` to not look into typical subversion or sphinx-build directories or into any ``tmp`` prefixed directory. Additionally, ``pytest`` will attempt to intelligently identify and ignore a virtualenv by the presence of an activation script. Any directory deemed to be the root of a virtual environment will not be considered during test collection unless ``‑‑collect‑in‑virtualenv`` is given. Note also that ``norecursedirs`` takes precedence over ``‑‑collect‑in‑virtualenv``; e.g. if you intend to run tests in a virtualenv with a base directory that matches ``'.*'`` you *must* override ``norecursedirs`` in addition to using the ``‑‑collect‑in‑virtualenv`` flag. .. confval:: python_classes One or more name prefixes or glob-style patterns determining which classes are considered for test collection. By default, pytest will consider any class prefixed with ``Test`` as a test collection. Here is an example of how to collect tests from classes that end in ``Suite``: .. code-block:: ini # content of pytest.ini [pytest] python_classes = *Suite Note that ``unittest.TestCase`` derived classes are always collected regardless of this option, as ``unittest``'s own collection framework is used to collect those tests. .. confval:: python_files One or more Glob-style file patterns determining which python files are considered as test modules. By default, pytest will consider any file matching with ``test_*.py`` and ``*_test.py`` globs as a test module. .. confval:: python_functions One or more name prefixes or glob-patterns determining which test functions and methods are considered tests. By default, pytest will consider any function prefixed with ``test`` as a test. Here is an example of how to collect test functions and methods that end in ``_test``: .. code-block:: ini # content of pytest.ini [pytest] python_functions = *_test Note that this has no effect on methods that live on a ``unittest .TestCase`` derived class, as ``unittest``'s own collection framework is used to collect those tests. See :ref:`change naming conventions` for more detailed examples. .. confval:: testpaths .. versionadded:: 2.8 Sets list of directories that should be searched for tests when no specific directories, files or test ids are given in the command line when executing pytest from the :ref:`rootdir ` directory. Useful when all project tests are in a known location to speed up test collection and to avoid picking up undesired tests by accident. .. code-block:: ini # content of pytest.ini [pytest] testpaths = testing doc This tells pytest to only look for tests in ``testing`` and ``doc`` directories when executing from the root directory. .. confval:: usefixtures List of fixtures that will be applied to all test functions; this is semantically the same to apply the ``@pytest.mark.usefixtures`` marker to all test functions. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] usefixtures = clean_db .. confval:: xfail_strict If set to ``True``, tests marked with ``@pytest.mark.xfail`` that actually succeed will by default fail the test suite. For more information, see :ref:`xfail strict tutorial`. .. code-block:: ini [pytest] xfail_strict = True