lib_detect_testenv

Detect test environments: pytest, doctest, and setup.py test

This library provides utility functions to detect whether your code is running in a test environment. It supports detection of pytest, doctest (including PyCharm's docrunner), and setup.py test execution contexts.

Table of Contents

• Installation
• Usage
  • Public API
  • Quick Start
  • Function Reference
• Development
• Further Documentation

Installation

Recommended: Install via UV

UV is an ultrafast Python package installer written in Rust (10–20× faster than pip/poetry):

# Install uv
pip install --upgrade uv

# Create and activate a virtual environment (optional but recommended)
uv venv

# macOS/Linux
source .venv/bin/activate
# Windows (PowerShell)
.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

# Install from PyPI
uv pip install lib_detect_testenv

Alternative: Install via pip

# Upgrade pip first
python -m pip install --upgrade pip

# Install from PyPI
python -m pip install --upgrade lib_detect_testenv

# Or install with test dependencies
python -m pip install --upgrade lib_detect_testenv[test]

For more installation methods (pipx, source builds, etc.), see INSTALL.md.

Python Version Requirements

• Python 3.9+ is required
• Tested on Linux, macOS, and Windows
• CI runs on CPython 3.9+ and PyPy

Usage

Command Line Interface (CLI)

The package provides a CLI for shell scripting and CI/CD integration. All commands use exit codes for programmatic usage.

Exit Codes

All detection commands use a 3-level exit code system:

This design follows Unix conventions and makes shell scripting intuitive:

# Check if in test environment (exit 0 = yes, exit 1 = no)
if lib_detect_testenv check --quiet; then
    echo "Running in test mode"
else
    echo "Running in production"
fi

# Handle errors separately
lib_detect_testenv check --quiet
case $? in
    0) echo "Test environment detected" ;;
    1) echo "No test environment" ;;
    2) echo "Error occurred" ;;
esac

Available Commands

# Test Detection Commands (exit codes: 0=detected, 1=not detected, 2=error)
lib_detect_testenv check                    # Check any test environment
lib_detect_testenv check --quiet            # Silent mode, use exit code only
lib_detect_testenv check --arg-string "pytest test.py"  # Check custom string

lib_detect_testenv pytest                   # Check for pytest
lib_detect_testenv doctest                  # Check for doctest
lib_detect_testenv setup                    # Check for setup.py
lib_detect_testenv setup --test-only        # Check for "setup.py test" specifically

# Utility Commands
lib_detect_testenv info                     # Show package information
lib_detect_testenv hello                    # Demo: print greeting
lib_detect_testenv fail                     # Demo: trigger intentional failure

# Help
lib_detect_testenv --help                   # Show all commands
lib_detect_testenv check --help             # Command-specific help

CLI Examples

# Use in shell scripts
if lib_detect_testenv check --quiet; then
    echo "Running in test environment"
fi

# Use in CI/CD pipelines
lib_detect_testenv pytest --quiet && echo "pytest detected"

# Check with custom arguments
lib_detect_testenv pytest --arg-string "/pytest/__main__.py"

Python API

The library exports the following functions from lib_detect_testenv:

from lib_detect_testenv import (
    is_testenv_active,  # Detect any test environment
    is_doctest_active,  # Detect doctest/docrunner
    is_pytest_active,  # Detect pytest
    is_setup_active,  # Detect setup.py
    is_setup_test_active,  # Detect setup.py test
    is_doctest_in_arg_string,  # Check if doctest in arg string
    add_path_to_syspath,  # Add path to sys.path
    PathLikeOrString,  # Type alias for paths
)

Quick Start

The most common use case is detecting whether any test environment is active:

from lib_detect_testenv import is_testenv_active

if is_testenv_active():
    print("Running in test environment")
else:
    print("Running in production")

Function Reference

is_testenv_active(arg_string: Optional[str] = None) -> bool

Returns True if any test environment is detected (pytest, doctest, or setup.py test).

Parameters:

• arg_string (optional): If None, uses str(sys.argv())

Returns:

• True if test environment is detected

Example:

from lib_detect_testenv import is_testenv_active

# Auto-detect from sys.argv
if is_testenv_active():
    print("Test environment detected")

# Or pass custom arg string
if is_testenv_active(arg_string="pytest test.py"):
    print("pytest detected")

is_doctest_active(arg_string: Optional[str] = None) -> bool

Returns True if PyCharm's docrunner.py or doctest.py is detected.

Parameters:

• arg_string (optional): If None, uses str(sys.argv())

Returns:

• True if doctest/docrunner is detected

Example:

from lib_detect_testenv import is_doctest_active

# Examples
assert is_doctest_active(arg_string="") == False
assert is_doctest_active(arg_string="docrunner.py") == True
assert is_doctest_active(arg_string="doctest.py") == True

is_pytest_active(arg_string: Optional[str] = None) -> bool

Returns True if pytest is detected.

Parameters:

• arg_string (optional): If None, uses str(sys.argv())

Returns:

• True if pytest is detected

Example:

from lib_detect_testenv import is_pytest_active

# Examples
assert is_pytest_active(arg_string="pytest.py") == True
assert is_pytest_active(arg_string="/pytest/__main__.py") == True
assert is_pytest_active(arg_string="python -m pytest") == True

is_setup_active(arg_string: Optional[str] = None) -> bool

Returns True if setup.py is detected.

Parameters:

• arg_string (optional): If None, uses str(sys.argv())

Returns:

• True if setup.py is detected

Example:

from lib_detect_testenv import is_setup_active

# Examples
assert is_setup_active(arg_string="") == False
assert is_setup_active(arg_string="setup.py") == True

is_setup_test_active(arg_string: Optional[str] = None) -> bool

Returns True if "setup.py test" is detected.

Parameters:

• arg_string (optional): If None, uses str(sys.argv())

Returns:

• True if "setup.py test" is detected

Example:

from lib_detect_testenv import is_setup_test_active

# Examples
assert is_setup_test_active("") == False
assert is_setup_test_active("setup.py") == False
assert is_setup_test_active("setup.py test") == True

is_doctest_in_arg_string(arg_string: str) -> bool

Checks if docrunner.py is present in the argument string.

Parameters:

• arg_string: String to check

Returns:

• True if docrunner.py is found

Example:

from lib_detect_testenv import is_doctest_in_arg_string

# Examples
assert is_doctest_in_arg_string("test") == False
assert is_doctest_in_arg_string("test/docrunner.py::::test") == True

add_path_to_syspath(path_to_append: PathLikeOrString) -> None

Adds a path to sys.path if not already present. If the path is a file, its parent directory will be added instead.

Parameters:

• path_to_append: Path to append (string or PathLike object). Will be resolved to absolute path. If it's a file, the parent directory is added.

Returns:

• None

Example:

import pathlib
from lib_detect_testenv import add_path_to_syspath

# Add a directory
add_path_to_syspath(pathlib.Path(__file__).parent)

# Add a file (parent directory will be added)
add_path_to_syspath(pathlib.Path(__file__))

# Adding the same path twice won't create duplicates
add_path_to_syspath("/some/path")
add_path_to_syspath("/some/path")  # No duplicate added

Common Pattern: Auto-add Package to sys.path in Tests

A useful pattern is to automatically add your package directory to sys.path when running tests. This is helpful for local testing without installing the package:

# __init__.py
from lib_detect_testenv import is_testenv_active, add_path_to_syspath
import pathlib

if is_testenv_active():
    # Add parent directory to sys.path for local testing
    add_path_to_syspath(pathlib.Path(__file__).parent)

Development

For development setup, testing, and contribution guidelines, see:

• Development Handbook
• Contributor Guide

Quick Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/bitranox/lib_detect_testenv.git
cd lib_detect_testenv

# Run tests (sets up environment, runs tests with coverage)
make test

# Or use the Python scripts directly
python -m scripts.test

Further Documentation

• Install Guide - Detailed installation instructions
• Development Handbook - Development setup and workflows
• Contributor Guide - How to contribute
• Changelog - Version history
• Module Reference - Detailed module docs
• License - MIT License

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to "Uncle Bob" Robert C. Martin for his invaluable books on clean code and clean architecture.

License

This software is licensed under the MIT License.