How do I run only specific tests in Rspec?

Question

I think there's a way to run only tests with a given label. Anybody know?

score 210 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 17 '22 at 12:04

210

You can tag examples with :focus hash attribute. For example,

# spec/foo_spec.rb
RSpec.describe Foo do
  it 'is never executed' do
    raise "never reached"
  end

  it 'runs this spec', focus: true do
    expect(1).to eq(1)
  end
end

rspec --tag focus spec/foo_spec.rb

More info on GitHub. (anyone with a better link, please advise)

(update)

RSpec is now superbly documented on relishapp.com. See the --tag option section for details.

As of v2.6 this kind of tag can be expressed even more simply by including the configuration option treat_symbols_as_metadata_keys_with_true_values, which allows you to do:

describe "Awesome feature", :awesome do

where :awesome is treated as if it were :awesome => true.

Also, see this answer for how to configure RSpec to automatically run 'focused' tests. This works especially well with Guard.

edited Jun 17 '22 at 12:04

BinaryButterfly

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answered Feb 22 '11 at 00:37

zetetic

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So you don't have to go searching, the direct link to zetetic's suggestion is here (for Rspec 2.12) https://www.relishapp.com/rspec/rspec-core/v/2-12/docs/command-line/tag-option – tir38 Apr 10 '13 at 19:31
We added a spec to our suite to ensure code never gets merged with focus: true still in source control. https://gist.github.com/jwg2s/7361603 – jwg2s Nov 07 '13 at 20:44
@jwg2s I use a git hook to block commits with `:focus`, which also prevents undesirables like 'binding.pry`, `console.log`, etc. from creeping in to the codebase. – zetetic Nov 07 '13 at 21:35
Are you involved with rspec's documentation efforts? – Otheus Jul 20 '16 at 17:55
1

@Otheus no, I'm just a fan :) I really like what they did on Relish, but SO just launched its own documentation feature, so we may see some competition. – zetetic Jul 22 '16 at 05:55
1

Maybe you can point me in the way of documentation that actually describes usage and actual behavior of the `rspec` program :) Because the Relish doc does not. – Otheus Jul 22 '16 at 15:22

score 129 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 27 '16 at 18:10

129

You can run all tests that contain a specific string with --example (or -e) option:

rspec spec/models/user_spec.rb -e "User is admin"

I use that one the most.

edited Aug 27 '16 at 18:10

Joel Handwell

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answered Jun 22 '11 at 09:31

Jan Minárik

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score 108 · Answer 3 · edited Jan 13 '21 at 23:09

108

Make sure RSpec is configured in your spec_helper.rb to pay attention to focus:

RSpec.configure do |config|
  config.filter_run focus: true
  config.run_all_when_everything_filtered = true
end

Then in your specs, add focus: true as an argument:

it 'can do so and so', focus: true do
  # This is the only test that will run
end

You can also focus tests by changing it to fit (or exclude tests with xit), like so:

fit 'can do so and so' do
  # This is the only test that will run
end

edited Jan 13 '21 at 23:09

Rory O'Kane

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answered May 26 '14 at 20:15

Tom Chapin

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2

In rspec 3.5, it is `config.filter_run_when_matching` and it could work just by adding `:focus` to the example – Ali Ghanavatian Sep 10 '16 at 07:24
5

If 'focus: true' is accidentally committed your CI will be passing despite not running most of the tests. – zach Oct 19 '17 at 05:36

score 70 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 21 '11 at 18:25

70

alternatively you can pass the line number: rspec spec/my_spec.rb:75 - the line number can point to a single spec or a context/describe block (running all specs in that block)

answered Feb 21 '11 at 18:25

Alex Lang

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score 59 · Answer 5 · edited Jul 18 '14 at 02:50

59

You can also string multiple line numbers together with colon :

$ rspec ./spec/models/company_spec.rb:81:82:83:103

Output:

Run options: include {:locations=>{"./spec/models/company_spec.rb"=>[81, 82, 83, 103]}}

edited Jul 18 '14 at 02:50

Nick

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answered Dec 02 '13 at 00:03

Jonathon Batson

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This is so gold! ‍♂️ – Igbanam May 25 '18 at 17:00

Joshua Muheim · Answer 6 · 2014-03-01T11:23:56.233

As of RSpec 2.4 (I guess) you can prepend an f or x to it, specify, describe and context:

fit 'run only this example' do ... end
xit 'do not run this example' do ... end

http://rdoc.info/github/rspec/rspec-core/RSpec/Core/ExampleGroup#fit-class_method http://rdoc.info/github/rspec/rspec-core/RSpec/Core/ExampleGroup#xit-class_method

Be sure to have config.filter_run focus: true and config.run_all_when_everything_filtered = true in your spec_helper.rb.

score 10 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 31 '18 at 02:01

In newer versions of RSpec, it's even easier to configure support fit:

# spec_helper.rb

# PREFERRED
RSpec.configure do |c|
  c.filter_run_when_matching :focus
end

# DEPRECATED
RSpec.configure do |c|
  c.filter_run focus: true
  c.run_all_when_everything_filtered = true
end

See:

https://relishapp.com/rspec/rspec-core/docs/filtering/filter-run-when-matching

https://relishapp.com/rspec/rspec-core/v/3-7/docs/configuration/run-all-when-everything-filtered

itsnikolay · Answer 8 · 2015-09-02T09:52:32.527

5

Also you can run specs which have focus: true by default

spec/spec_helper.rb

RSpec.configure do |c|
  c.filter_run focus: true
  c.run_all_when_everything_filtered = true
end

Then simply run

$ rspec

and only focused test will be run

then when you remove focus: true all tests well be run again

More information: https://www.relishapp.com/rspec/rspec-core/v/2-6/docs/filtering/inclusion-filters

edited Sep 02 '15 at 09:52

answered Sep 02 '15 at 09:44

itsnikolay

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Is `spec/spec_helper.rb` always included ? Or only if no options are given? Why do test modules have `require 'spec_helber'`, and doesn't having the above code eliminate the possibility of running a single test by specifying the file? I can't find any documentation on this. – Otheus Jul 20 '16 at 17:57
1

`spec_helper.rb` is always included if you have `--require spec_helper` in `.rspec` in the project root. – Kris Aug 04 '17 at 11:52

score 3 · Answer 9 · edited Feb 24 '16 at 18:42

3

You can run as rspec spec/models/user_spec.rb -e "SomeContext won't run this".

edited Feb 24 '16 at 18:42

Pyrce

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answered Feb 22 '16 at 06:37

Avijit Majhi

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This is my favorite approach, tbh. – David Hempy Aug 25 '22 at 17:27

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Nov 11 '22 at 18:38

You can simply run by any metadata using filter_run_including and filter_run_excluding. It allows more flexibility

For example below line will allow running only Rails system tests

config.filter_run_including type: :system

And this line will allow running everything except Rails system tests

config.filter_run_excluding type: :system

How do I run only specific tests in Rspec?

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