pytest-twisted - test twisted code with pytest

pytest-twisted is a plugin for pytest, which allows to test code, which uses the twisted framework. test functions can return Deferred objects and pytest will wait for their completion with this plugin.

Python 2 support plans

At some point it may become impractical to retain Python 2 support. Given the small size and very low amount of development it seems likely that this will not be a near term issue. While I personally have no need for Python 2 support I try to err on the side of being helpful so support will not be explicitly removed just to not have to think about it. If major issues are reported and neither myself nor the community have time to resolve them then options will be considered.

Installation

Install the plugin as below.

pip install pytest-twisted

Using the plugin

The plugin is available after installation and can be disabled using -p no:twisted.

By default twisted.internet.default is used to install the reactor. This creates the same reactor that import twisted.internet.reactor would. Alternative reactors can be specified using the --reactor option. This presently supports qt5reactor for use with pyqt5 and pytest-qt as well as asyncio. This guide describes how to add support for a new reactor.

The reactor is automatically created prior to the first test but can be explicitly installed earlier by calling pytest_twisted.init_default_reactor() or the corresponding function for the desired alternate reactor.

Beware that in situations such as a conftest.py file that the name pytest_twisted may be undesirably detected by pytest as an unknown hook. One alternative is to import pytest_twisted as pt.

inlineCallbacks

Using twisted.internet.defer.inlineCallbacks as a decorator for test functions, which use fixtures, does not work. Please use pytest_twisted.inlineCallbacks instead.

@pytest_twisted.inlineCallbacks
def test_some_stuff(tmpdir):
    res = yield threads.deferToThread(os.listdir, tmpdir.strpath)
    assert res == []

ensureDeferred

Using twisted.internet.defer.ensureDeferred as a decorator for test functions, which use fixtures, does not work. Please use pytest_twisted.ensureDeferred instead.

@pytest_twisted.ensureDeferred
async def test_some_stuff(tmpdir):
    res = await threads.deferToThread(os.listdir, tmpdir.strpath)
    assert res == []

Waiting for deferreds in fixtures

pytest_twisted.blockon allows fixtures to wait for deferreds.

@pytest.fixture
def val():
    d = defer.Deferred()
    reactor.callLater(1.0, d.callback, 10)
    return pytest_twisted.blockon(d)

async/await fixtures

async/await fixtures can be used along with yield for normal pytest fixture semantics of setup, value, and teardown. At present only function scope is supported.

@pytest_twisted.async_fixture
async def foo():
    d1, d2 = defer.Deferred(), defer.Deferred()
    reactor.callLater(0.01, d1.callback, 42)
    reactor.callLater(0.02, d2.callback, 37)
    value = await d1
    yield value
    await d2

The twisted greenlet

Some libraries (e.g. corotwine) need to know the greenlet, which is running the twisted reactor. It's available from the twisted_greenlet fixture. The following code can be used to make corotwine work with pytest-twisted.

@pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
def set_MAIN(request, twisted_greenlet):
    from corotwine import protocol
    protocol.MAIN = twisted_greenlet

That's (almost) all.

Deprecations

v1.9

pytest.blockon

Use pytest_twisted.blockon

pytest.inlineCallbacks

Use pytest_twisted.inlineCallbacks