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?

Nikita Fedyashev · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-17 12:04:41Z

218

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, 2022 at 12:04

Nikita Fedyashev

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answered Feb 22, 2011 at 0:37

zetetic

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6 Comments

tir38 Over a year ago

So you don't have to go searching, the direct link to zetetic's suggestion is here (for Rspec 2.12) relishapp.com/rspec/rspec-core/v/2-12/docs/command-line/…

jwg2s Over a year ago

We added a spec to our suite to ensure code never gets merged with focus: true still in source control. gist.github.com/jwg2s/7361603

zetetic Over a year ago

@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 Over a year ago

@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.

Otheus Over a year ago

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.

|

Joel Handwell · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-27 18:10:50Z

132

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, 2016 at 18:10

Joel Handwell

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answered Jun 22, 2011 at 9:31

Jan Minárik

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Comments

Rory O'Kane · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-13 23:09:38Z

111

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, 2021 at 23:09

Rory O'Kane

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answered May 26, 2014 at 20:15

Tom Chapin

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2 Comments

Ali Ghanavatian Over a year ago

In rspec 3.5, it is config.filter_run_when_matching and it could work just by adding :focus to the example

zach Over a year ago

If 'focus: true' is accidentally committed your CI will be passing despite not running most of the tests.

Alex Lang · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-21 18:25:12Z

71

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, 2011 at 18:25

Alex Lang

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Comments

Nick · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-18 02:50:53Z

60

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, 2014 at 2:50

Nick

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answered Dec 2, 2013 at 0:03

Jonathon Batson

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1 Comment

Igbanam Over a year ago

This is so gold! 🙇🏾‍♂️

Joshua Muheim · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-01 11:23:56Z

32

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.

edited Mar 1, 2014 at 11:23

answered Mar 1, 2014 at 11:02

Joshua Muheim

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Comments

jwfearn · Accepted Answer · 2018-03-31 02:01:52Z

11

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

answered Mar 31, 2018 at 2:01

jwfearn

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Comments

nikolayp · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-02 09:52:32Z

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 2, 2015 at 9:52

answered Sep 2, 2015 at 9:44

nikolayp

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2 Comments

Otheus Over a year ago

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.

Kris Over a year ago

spec_helper.rb is always included if you have --require spec_helper in .rspec in the project root.

Pyrce · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-24 18:42:46Z

3

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

edited Feb 24, 2016 at 18:42

Pyrce

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answered Feb 22, 2016 at 6:37

Avijit Majhi

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1 Comment

David Hempy Over a year ago

This is my favorite approach, tbh.

Senid · Accepted Answer · 2022-11-11 18:38:50Z

0

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

answered Nov 11, 2022 at 18:38

Senid

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