Pytest: Deselecting tests

Question

With pytest, one can mark tests using a decorator

@pytest.mark.slow
def some_slow_test():
    pass

Then, from the command line, one can tell pytest to skip the tests marked "slow"

pytest -k-slow

If I have an additional tag:

@pytest.mark.long
def some_long_test()
    pass

I would like to be able to skip both long AND slow tests. I've tried this:

pytest -k-slow -k-long

and this:

pytest -k-slow,long

And neither seems to work.

At the command line, how do I tell pytest to skip both the slow AND the long tests?

score 79 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 06 '14 at 08:21

79

Additionally, with the recent addition of the "-m" command line option you should be able to write:

py.test -m "not (slow or long)"

IOW, the "-m" option accepts an expression which can make use of markers as boolean values (if a marker does not exist on a test function it's value is False, if it exists, it is True).

edited Aug 06 '14 at 08:21

menghan

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answered Feb 02 '12 at 17:53

hpk42

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The important part here is to understand the difference between ```-m``` and ```-k```. ```-m``` is used to filter on *markers*, while ```-k``` is used to filter on test *names*. – Thomas Devoogdt May 01 '20 at 18:54

score 14 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 09 '15 at 14:33

14

Looking through the pytest code (mark.py) and further experimentation shows the following seems to work:

pytest -k "-slow -long"

(Using the --collect-only option speeds up experimentation)

edited Dec 09 '15 at 14:33

Wilfred Hughes

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answered Sep 13 '11 at 18:41

JS.

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Perhaps the API has changed. I tried `pytest -k "-slow -long"` and got back `py.test: error: argument -k: expected one argument` – dmmfll Nov 08 '15 at 22:10

score 9 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 08 '15 at 22:13

It's also possible to stack the mark decorators.

@pytest.mark.slow
@pytest.mark.main
def test_myfunction():
    pass

I then called py.test -m "slow and main" and only the tests with both decorators were called.

py.test -m "not (slow and main)" resulted in the other tests running

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 08 '20 at 01:28

If you are trying to run the tests from inside a python file, that is, you run your tests by calling

$ python testfile.py

which has contents

import pytest

pytest.main()

and you want to know how to pass the CLI flag in to pytest.main, the answer is:

pytest.main(["-m", "not slow"])

PS - yes, there are legitimate reasons to call tests this way. Pray you never have to learn them.

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered May 01 '20 at 15:13

Is your test correctly written? Normally, tests start with test_? But anyway, it depended on what you try to filter, you can filter those tests by name using -k "not slow and not long" or by tag using -m "not slow and not long".

Run tests by keyword expressions

-k: This will run tests which contain names that match the given string expression (case-insensitive), which can include Python operators that use filenames, class names and function names as variables.

Run tests by marker expressions

-m: Will run all tests which are decorated with the @pytest.mark.slow decorator.

Pytest: Deselecting tests

5 Answers5

Run tests by keyword expressions

Run tests by marker expressions

More documentation info can be found on:

Linked