ggt 1.1.1

Basic Usage

Run tests from the default tests/ directory:

ggt

Run tests in specific files or directories:

ggt tests/test_models.py tests/integration/

Run tests sequentially:

ggt -j1

Verbose output with detailed test descriptions:

ggt -v

Filter Tests

Run only tests matching a regular expression:

ggt -k "test_user.*create"

Exclude tests matching a pattern:

ggt -e "test_slow.*"

Run tests in shards (useful for CI):

# Run shard 2 out of 4 total shards
ggt -s 2/4

Core Options

-v, --verbose

Increase verbosity level. Shows detailed test descriptions and results.

-q, --quiet

Decrease verbosity level. Minimal output.

-j, --jobs INTEGER

Number of parallel worker processes. Default is 0 (auto-detect based on the number of CPU cores).

-s, --shard TEXT

Run tests in shards using format current/total (e.g., 2/4).

Test Selection

-k, --include REGEXP

Only run tests matching the regular expression. Can be specified multiple times.

-e, --exclude REGEXP

Skip tests matching the regular expression. Can be specified multiple times.

-m, --mark MARKEXPR

Only run tests matching the given mark expression, e.g. -m 'slow and not integration'. Marks are attached with the @ggt.mark decorator (with pytest compatibility enabled, pytest.mark marks are matched as well). Expression terms that are not plain identifiers are treated as regular expressions and matched in full against each mark name, e.g. -m 'integration_.*'.

-x, --failfast

Stop execution after the first test failure or error.

--shuffle

Randomize the order in which tests are executed.

--distribute [module|test]

Parallel work distribution granularity. module (the default) keeps each test module’s tests in a single worker, avoiding repeated module imports and module-fixture setups across workers; test distributes each test individually. When there are too few modules to balance the workers, module automatically falls back to per-test distribution.

--preload/--no-preload

Warm up the worker fork server (enabled by default). ggt records the test suite’s dependency graph in .ggt_cache/preload.json after discovery; on the next run the fork server imports that module list concurrently with test discovery, freezes the resulting object graph (gc.freeze()) to maximize copy-on-write sharing, and every worker then forks with a warm interpreter. Use --no-preload if a dependency is not fork-safe at import time (e.g. it starts background threads when imported).

--repeat INTEGER

Repeat the test suite N times or until the first failure.

Output and Reporting

--output-format [auto|simple|stacked|verbose|silent]

Control test progress output style:

• auto: Automatically choose based on terminal capabilities

• simple: Simple dot notation (like standard unittest)

• stacked: Rich progress display with module grouping

• verbose: Detailed output for each test

• silent: Suppress progress output while still printing the final result summary

--warnings/--no-warnings

Enable or disable warning capture and reporting (enabled by default).

--result-log FILEPATH

Write test results to a JSON log file. Use %TIMESTAMP% for automatic timestamping. Result logs include outcome details and timing fields such as setup_time_taken and tests_time_taken.

--running-times-log FILEPATH

Maintain a CSV file tracking test execution times for performance analysis and shard balancing.

-X, --option KEY=VALUE

Test suite specific options in key-value format. Can be specified multiple times to pass configuration options to test fixtures and test cases.

Examples:

# Enable database caching
ggt -X test-db-cache=on

# Specify custom data directory
ggt -X data-dir=/custom/path

# Multiple options
ggt -X backend-dsn=postgresql://... -X use-ssl=true

Advanced Options

--pytest/--no-pytest

Enable or disable pytest-compatible test collection (see pytest Compatibility below). Enabled by default when pytest is installed, e.g. via the ggt[pytest] extra.

--debug

Output internal debug logs for troubleshooting.

--list

List all discovered tests and exit without running them.

--include-unsuccessful

Include tests that failed in the previous run (requires --result-log).

--cov PACKAGE

Enable code coverage reporting for the specified package. Can be used multiple times. PACKAGE must be an importable package name, not a file path. Enable coverage support with uv add --dev ggt[coverage] or python -m pip install 'ggt[coverage]'.

What works

• Collection: bare test_* functions and non-unittest Test* classes; pytest-style discovery (test*.py and *_test.py files, test directories without __init__.py, pytest’s default norecursedirs); conftest.py loading.

• Fixtures: @pytest.fixture with function/class/module/session scopes, yield teardown, autouse, dependency injection, fixture overriding by conftest proximity, and parametrized fixtures (params= with ids, pytest.param values and per-parameter marks) — every parameter combination reachable from a test’s fixture closure becomes a separate test that is parallelized and sharded individually.

• The request object: request.param, request.node (with get_closest_marker()), getfixturevalue(), addfinalizer() and a minimal request.config whose getoption() is backed by ggt’s -X key=value options (unknown options resolve to the provided default).

• Built-in fixtures: tmp_path, tmp_path_factory, monkeypatch (including context()), capsys (including disabled()), caplog, recwarn.

• Marks: skip, skipif (including string conditions), xfail (reason, condition, raises, strict), parametrize (including stacking, pytest.param with custom ids and per-parameter marks) and usefixtures. Each parameter set becomes a separate test that is parallelized and sharded individually. Custom marks are translated to ggt marks, so -m 'slow and not integration' style selection works uniformly.

• Ini options: the collection-affecting subset of [tool.pytest.ini_options] (from pyproject.toml) or pytest.ini — python_files, python_classes, python_functions, testpaths and usefixtures. Other ini options (notably addopts) are ignored.

• Assertion introspection: plain assert statements are rewritten with pytest’s own assertion rewriter, producing rich failure messages (assert [1, 2] == [1, 3] ... At index 1 diff: 2 != 3). Rewritten bytecode is cached in __pycache__ under a ggt-specific tag (never clashing with pytest’s own cache), so repeat runs and worker processes skip recompilation; set GGT_PYTEST_REWRITE_CACHE=0 to disable the cache.

• xunit-style hooks: setup_module/teardown_module, setup_class/teardown_class, setup_method/teardown_method.

• Imperative outcomes: pytest.skip(), pytest.fail(), pytest.raises(), pytest.approx().

• Async tests and async fixtures: async def test_* functions and methods run on synthesized unittest.IsolatedAsyncioTestCase classes — each test gets a fresh event loop, matching pytest-asyncio’s default loop scope (no asyncio_mode configuration needed; @pytest.mark.asyncio markers are accepted and ignored). async def fixtures (including yield teardown) resolve inside the requesting test’s event loop and are restricted to function scope — wider scopes would bind a value to a single test’s loop. A sync fixture may depend on an async fixture when the requesting test is async.

• anyio: tests marked @pytest.mark.anyio follow anyio’s plugin contract natively — the anyio_backend fixture joins the test’s fixture closure (the built-in default is parametrized over every installed backend, and user conftest overrides apply), each backend becomes a separate test ([asyncio], [trio]), and the test runs via anyio.run() on the selected backend.

Execution model

Under the hood each pytest-style test becomes a synthesized unittest.TestCase method, so the full ggt feature set (parallel workers, sharding, timing logs, result logs, -k/-e selection) applies uniformly.

Unlike stock pytest — and like pytest-xdist — tests run in worker processes. ggt goes one step further with shared fixtures: session- and module-scoped fixture values are computed once in the runner process, pickled, and shipped to all workers. Fixture teardown (the code after yield) also runs once, in the runner. Values that cannot be pickled automatically fall back to lazy per-worker execution (pytest-xdist semantics) with a warning naming the fixture. Set GGT_PYTEST_SHARED_FIXTURES=0 to disable parent-process execution entirely.

Known deviations:

• module-scoped fixture teardown runs at session teardown (in the runner) rather than immediately after the module’s last test;

• class-scoped fixtures run once per worker per class (the same semantics as setUpClass);

• imported test functions are not re-collected in the importing module.

Not supported (yet)

The pytest plugin/hook system and third-party plugins (pytest-asyncio, pytest-mock, …) — hooks defined in conftest.py files or plugin modules are ignored with a warning. Fixture-only plugin modules declared via a conftest’s pytest_plugins are supported (transitively): they contribute their fixtures at lower lookup priority than any conftest. pytest_generate_tests; indirect parametrization; dynamically requested parametrized fixtures (request.getfixturevalue() of a parametrized fixture); package- and dynamically-scoped fixtures; async fixtures with class/module/session scope; capfd; ini options beyond the subset above; and pytest’s -k expression syntax (ggt’s regex-based -k applies instead; use -m for mark expressions).

Test Decorators

@async_timeout(seconds)

Set a timeout for async test methods. The test will fail if it takes longer than the specified time.

@xfail(reason, *, unless=False)

Mark a test as expected to fail. The test will be reported as “expected failure” if it fails, or “unexpected success” if it passes.

@xerror(reason, *, unless=False)

Like @xfail but expects an error (exception) rather than just a failure (assertion).

@not_implemented(reason)

Mark a test as not implemented. Similar to @xfail but semantically indicates missing functionality.

@skip(reason)

Skip a test entirely (from standard unittest).

@mark.<name> / @mark(*names)

Attach free-form labels to a test method, function, or class (class marks apply to every test in the class, subclasses included). Marks are inert; their only effect is test selection with -m/--mark.

Fixture System

ggt provides a fixture system for managing test prerequisites at the session level. Fixtures are declared as class attributes and automatically handle setup and teardown across the entire test session.

Basic Fixture Example:

class DatabaseFixture:
    def __init__(self):
        self._instance = None

    async def set_up(self, ui):
        """Called once during session setup"""
        self._instance = await create_database()

    async def tear_down(self, ui):
        """Called once during session teardown"""
        if self._instance:
            await self._instance.close()

    def __get__(self, obj, cls):
        """Descriptor protocol - returns the fixture value"""
        return self._instance

    def set_options(self, options):
        """Configure fixture from command-line options"""
        if 'database-url' in options:
            self.database_url = options['database-url']

    def get_shared_data(self):
        """Return JSON-serializable data for worker processes"""
        return None

    def set_shared_data(self, data):
        """Receive shared data in worker processes"""
        pass

    async def post_session_set_up(self, cases, *, ui):
        """Called after test class setup is complete"""
        pass

class MyTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
    database = DatabaseFixture()

    def test_something(self):
        # self.database is automatically available
        result = self.database.query("SELECT 1")
        self.assertEqual(result, 1)

Fixtures support:

• Automatic lifecycle management: set_up() and tear_down() are called automatically

• Option integration: set_options() receives command-line options passed via -X

• Shared data: Fixtures can share data across processes using get_shared_data() and set_shared_data()

• Post-session setup: post_session_set_up() is called after all class setup is complete

Test Case Protocol

For advanced test cases that need session-level setup and configuration, implement the GGTProto protocol:

class MyAdvancedTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
    @classmethod
    def set_options(cls, options):
        """Receive command-line options passed via -X"""
        cls.database_url = options.get('database-url')
        cls.enable_cache = options.get('cache') == 'on'

    @classmethod
    async def set_up_class_once(cls, ui):
        """Called once per test class during session setup"""
        if cls.database_url:
            cls.connection = await connect(cls.database_url)

    @classmethod
    async def tear_down_class_once(cls, ui):
        """Called once per test class during session teardown"""
        if hasattr(cls, 'connection'):
            await cls.connection.close()

    @classmethod
    def get_shared_data(cls):
        """Return JSON-serializable data to share with worker processes"""
        return {}

    @classmethod
    def update_shared_data(cls, **data):
        """Receive data exported during session setup"""
        pass

The protocol methods are:

• set_options(options): Receives command-line options from -X flags

• set_up_class_once(ui): Async setup called once per test class

• tear_down_class_once(ui): Async teardown called once per test class

• get_shared_data(): Returns JSON-serializable data for worker processes

• update_shared_data(**data): Receives shared data in worker processes

Simple Format

Classic unittest-style output with dots, F’s, and E’s:

....F..E...s.......................................

Stacked Format

Rich progress display showing test progress by module:

tests/test_models.py    ....F....................
tests/test_queries.py   ..................s......
tests/test_auth.py      .........................

First few failed: test_user_creation, test_login
Running: (3) test_complex_query, test_batch_insert, test_migration
Progress: 45/120 tests.

Verbose Format

Detailed output for each individual test:

test_user_creation (tests.test_models.TestUser): OK
test_user_validation (tests.test_models.TestUser): FAILED: Validation
failed
test_async_operation (tests.test_queries.TestQueries): OK

Silent Format

Suppress progress output and print only the final summary, failures, errors, and warnings.

Parallel Execution

ggt automatically detects a worker count based on your CPU cores. You can override this:

# Use specific number of workers
ggt -j 8

# Use single-threaded execution
ggt -j 1

Fixture Options

Pass configuration to your fixtures using the -X option:

# Enable caching in your fixtures
ggt -X test-cache=on

# Pass database configuration
ggt -X database-url=postgresql://localhost/testdb

# Multiple configuration options
ggt -X cache=on -X timeout=30 -X verbose=true

Your fixtures receive these options in their set_options() method and can use them to customize behavior.

Test Sharding

Distribute tests across multiple CI jobs using sharding:

# Job 1 of 4
ggt -s 1/4

# Job 2 of 4
ggt -s 2/4

ggt uses test and setup timing data from --running-times-log when available to balance load across shards.

Continuous Integration

Example GitHub Actions configuration:

name: Tests
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        shard: [1, 2, 3, 4]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.11'
      - run: pip install ggt
      - run: |
          ggt -s ${{ matrix.shard }}/4 \
            --result-log results-${{ matrix.shard }}.json \
            -X test-cache=on -X timeout=300
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: test-results
          path: results-*.json

Coverage Integration

Generate coverage reports alongside your tests:

ggt --cov myproject --cov myproject.submodule

This integrates with the coverage package to provide detailed code coverage analysis. Enable coverage support with uv add --dev ggt[coverage] or python -m pip install 'ggt[coverage]' to use this option.

The coverage report is written to the console and a .coverage data file is left in the working directory for follow-up coverage commands.

Option Integration

Test cases can receive and use options passed via -X:

class MyTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
    @classmethod
    def set_options(cls, options):
        cls.enable_debug = options.get('debug') == 'on'
        cls.database_url = options.get('database-url')

    @classmethod
    async def set_up_class_once(cls, ui):
        if cls.database_url:
            cls.db = await connect(cls.database_url)

    @classmethod
    async def tear_down_class_once(cls, ui):
        if hasattr(cls, 'db'):
            await cls.db.close()

    @classmethod
    def get_shared_data(cls):
        return {}

    @classmethod
    def update_shared_data(cls, **data):
        pass

Run with custom options:

ggt -X debug=on -X database-url=postgresql://localhost/test