pytest-restrict 4.9.0

Pytest plugin to restrict the test types allowed

Pytest plugin to restrict the test types allowed.

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Features

This plugin allows you to restrict the test types allowed to ensure they inherit from one of a given list of classes. Useful on projects where you have custom test classes that developers may forget about.

Installation

Install with:

python -m pip install pytest-restrict

Python 3.10 to 3.14 supported.

Usage

Pytest will automatically find the plugin and use it when you run pytest, but by default there are no restrictions. To restrict the test types, set the restrict_types configuration option or the --restrict-types command line option. Either takes a list of import paths to allowed test base classes, passed to pkgutil.resolve_name(), for which you should prefer the form <module.path>:<classname>.

Configuration option

Set the restrict_types option in your pytest configuration file to a list of strings, each being an import path to an allowed test base class. For example, to only allow Django’s test case classes within pyproject.toml:

[tool.pytest]
restrict_types = ["django.test:SimpleTestCase"]

To allow function tests and other non-class test types (such as doctests), add the special string “None”:

[tool.pytest]
restrict_types = ["None", "django.test:SimpleTestCase"]

Command line option

Set the --restrict-types command line option when running pytest to a comma-separated list of import paths to allowed test base classes. For example, to only allow Django’s test case classes:

pytest --restrict-types=django.test:SimpleTestCase

You can set this option in addopts in your pytest configuration file:

[tool.pytest]
addopts = ["--restrict-types=django.test:SimpleTestCase"]

…but in this case, it’s preferable to use the restrict_types configuration option instead.

History

I developed this feature in a closed source Nose plugin whilst working on the big Django project at YPlan. We had some custom enhancements and fixes on top of the Django test classes, but developers sometimes forgot about using them and instead used the built-in unittest classes, or the plain Django ones. Our solution was to just make the test runner error if it encountered non-whitelisted test types.

This package is a pytest port of that plugin.