nodejs / nodejs/node

[Test Runner] `run()` ignores `testNamePatterns` / `testSkipPatterns` when `isolation: 'none'

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Description

Version

Latest v26.5.0, but also v24 and v22

Platform
Linux
Subsystem

No response

What steps will reproduce the bug?

How to reproduce

Create these two files in the same folder (no dependencies):

a.test.mjs

import { test } from "node:test";

test("keep_alpha", () => {});
test("drop_beta", () => {});

repro.mjs

import { run } from "node:test";

const files = ["./a.test.mjs"];

// Run the same name filter and return the names of the tests that actually ran.
async function main(isolation) {
  const names = [];

  for await (const e of run({ files, isolation, testNamePatterns: ["keep"] })) {
    if (e.type === "test:pass" || e.type === "test:fail")
      names.push(e.data.name);
  }

  return names.sort();
}

console.log("process:", await main("process")); // expect only keep_alpha
console.log("none:   ", await main("none")); // expect only keep_alpha
process.exit(0);

Command (run from that folder):

node repro.mjs

Expected result:

process: [ 'keep_alpha' ]
none:    [ 'keep_alpha' ]

Actual result:

process: [ 'keep_alpha' ]                <- correct: filter applied
none:    [ 'drop_beta', 'keep_alpha' ]   <- BUG: filter ignored, drop_beta ran

The same filter works as a CLI flag under isolation: none

Command (run from that folder):

node --test --experimental-test-isolation=none --test-name-pattern=keep a.test.mjs

Expected result: only keep_alpha runs — drop_beta is correctly filtered out even though isolation is none:

✔ keep_alpha
ℹ tests 1
ℹ pass 1
ℹ skipped 0
How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?

Always

What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?

testNamePatterns in run method should work also when isolation is set to none, not only when it is set to process

What do you see instead?

The testNamePatterns is NOT applied

Additional information

TL;DR

  • node:test's programmatic runner run() can filter tests by name with testNamePatterns (only run matching) and testSkipPatterns (skip matching).
  • Those two options do nothing when you pass isolation: 'none'. Every test runs, filter or not.
  • With the default isolation: 'process', the exact same options work fine. Only 'none' is broken.

Why this is a bug, not intended behavior

  • The docs for run() describe testNamePatterns and testSkipPatterns plainly, with no "doesn't work under isolation" note.
  • The same options table explicitly says execArgv, argv, and inspectPort have "No effect if isolation is 'none'." — but says nothing like that for the two pattern options.
  • So the docs promise these filters work everywhere. Under 'none', they don't.

Extra clue: the runtime can do this under 'none'

  • The same filtering works under 'none' when requested as a startup flag (--test-name-pattern / --test-skip-pattern) instead of a run() option — see the Run it section below for the exact commands.
  • So the filtering machinery works under 'none'; only the run() option path ignores it.
  • The flag must be present when the process starts. Pushing it onto process.execArgv at runtime does nothing.

NOTE

This seems like a duplicate of https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/57399, but this issue has not been fixed, apparently.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by running repro.mjs with a.test.mjs and compare run({ isolation: 'process' }) with run({ isolation: 'none' }). Trace the node:test run() option path for testNamePatterns and testSkipPatterns, then add regression coverage showing both filters work under 'none' while preserving the expected process-isolation behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript, node.js
Domain
testing-qa
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
55/100

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