Pytest plugin to randomly order tests and control random.seed
.
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All of these features are on by default but can be disabled with flags.
random.seed()
at the start of every test case and test to a fixed number - this defaults to time.time()
from the start of your test run, but you can pass in --randomly-seed
to repeat a randomness-induced failure.faker
pytest fixture, by defining the faker_seed
fixture (docs).numpy.random
is reset at the start of every test.pytest_randomly.random_seeder
entry point and will have their seed reset at the start of every test. Register a function that takes the current seed value.Randomness in testing can be quite powerful to discover hidden flaws in the tests themselves, as well as giving a little more coverage to your system.
By randomly ordering the tests, the risk of surprising inter-test dependencies is reduced - a technique used in many places, for example Google's C++ test runner googletest. Research suggests that "dependent tests do exist in practice" and a random order of test executions can effectively detect such dependencies [1]. Alternatively, a reverse order of test executions, as provided by pytest-reverse, may find less dependent tests but can achieve a better benefit/cost ratio.
By resetting the random seed to a repeatable number for each test, tests can create data based on random numbers and yet remain repeatable, for example factory boy's fuzzy values. This is good for ensuring that tests specify the data they need and that the tested system is not affected by any data that is filled in randomly due to not being specified.
I have written a blog post covering the history of pytest-randomly, including how it started life as the nose plugin nose-randomly.
Additionally, I appeared on the Test and Code podcast to talk about pytest-randomly.
Install with:
python -m pip install pytest-randomly
Python 3.9 to 3.13 supported.
Pytest will automatically find the plugin and use it when you run pytest
. The output will start with an extra line that tells you the random seed that is being used:
$ pytest ... platform darwin -- Python ... Using --randomly-seed=1553614239 ...
If the tests fail due to ordering or randomly created data, you can restart them with that seed using the flag as suggested:
pytest --randomly-seed=1234
Or more conveniently, use the special value last
:
pytest --randomly-seed=last
(This only works if pytest’s cacheprovider plugin has not been disabled.)
Since the ordering is by module, then by class, you can debug inter-test pollution failures by narrowing down which tests are being run to find the bad interaction by rerunning just the module/class:
pytest --randomly-seed=1234 tests/module_that_failed/
You can disable behaviours you don't like with the following flags:
--randomly-dont-reset-seed
- turn off the reset of random.seed()
at the start of every test--randomly-dont-reorganize
- turn off the shuffling of the order of testsThe plugin appears to Pytest with the name 'randomly'. To disable it altogether, you can use the -p
argument, for example:
To fix the order of some tests, use the pytest-order
plugin. See its documentation section on usage with pytest-randomly.
If you're using a different randomness generator in your third party package, you can register an entrypoint to be called every time pytest-randomly
reseeds. Implement the entrypoint pytest_randomly.random_seeder
, referring to a function/callable that takes one argument, the new seed (int).
For example in your setup.cfg
:
[options.entry_points] pytest_randomly.random_seeder = mypackage = mypackage.reseed
Then implement reseed(new_seed)
.
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