pester-run

name

pester-run

description

Run Pester 5 tests with agent-optimized output — failures and summary only, no passing-test noise. Use when asked to run tests, execute the test suite, run a specific file, filter by tag, verify a change, or find what's failing. Triggers: "run the tests", "run Pester", "execute the test suite", "check if tests pass", "what tests are failing", "are all tests green", "does this break any tests". Not for writing tests (use pester-write) or reviewing quality (use pester-review).

Pester 5 Test Runner

Run Pester 5 tests with agent-optimized output: failures and summary only.

Efficiency Guidelines

• Always use New-PesterConfiguration with Run.PassThru = $true — this gives you a structured result object so you can check $result.FailedCount rather than parsing text output.
• Set Output.Verbosity = 'Normal' for all agent runs. This suppresses passing-test lines while showing full failure details and the final summary.
• Run a focused subset first (by tag or path) when verifying a specific change. Run the full suite only to confirm a branch is clean.
• Never re-run after a clean pass — report success and stop.
• The in-process runs below are correct for agent use. The one exception is VS Code's integrated PowerShell session, where Pester can hang the editor — there, run detached via Start-Process (see pester-patterns, Pattern 0).

Standard Invocation Patterns

Whole suite

$cfg = New-PesterConfiguration
$cfg.Output.Verbosity = 'Normal'
$cfg.Run.PassThru     = $true
$result = Invoke-Pester -Configuration $cfg

Specific file or directory

$cfg = New-PesterConfiguration
$cfg.Run.Path         = './tests/Get-Widget.Tests.ps1'
$cfg.Output.Verbosity = 'Normal'
$cfg.Run.PassThru     = $true
$result = Invoke-Pester -Configuration $cfg

Filter by tag

$cfg = New-PesterConfiguration
$cfg.Filter.Tag        = @('Unit')
$cfg.Filter.ExcludeTag = @('Slow', 'Integration')
$cfg.Output.Verbosity  = 'Normal'
$cfg.Run.PassThru      = $true
$result = Invoke-Pester -Configuration $cfg

Filter by test name pattern

$cfg = New-PesterConfiguration
$cfg.Filter.FullName  = '*Get-Widget*returns*'
$cfg.Output.Verbosity = 'Normal'
$cfg.Run.PassThru     = $true
$result = Invoke-Pester -Configuration $cfg

Reading the Result Object

Check $result.FailedCount — do not parse text output.

Property	Type	Description
$result.FailedCount	int	Number of failed tests
$result.PassedCount	int	Number of passed tests
$result.SkippedCount	int	Number of skipped tests
$result.TotalCount	int	Total tests executed
$result.Duration	TimeSpan	Total wall-clock time
$result.Failed	TestResult[]	Array of failed test objects
$result.Failed[n].ExpandedPath	string	Full test path: Describe > Context > It
$result.Failed[n].ErrorRecord.Exception.Message	string	Human-readable failure reason

Reporting Format

Report results concisely. Do not reproduce passing-test output.

All passing:

All 47 tests passed (3.2s)

With failures:

3 of 47 tests failed (4.1s)

✗ Get-Widget > when Id is negative > throws ArgumentException
  Expected exception [System.ArgumentException] but got [System.Exception]: Value was invalid.

✗ Invoke-Sync > when the API is unreachable > calls Write-Error once
  Expected Write-Error to be called 1 time(s) but was called 0 time(s).

✗ Export-Report > creates the output file
  Expected 'TestDrive:\report.csv' to exist, but it did not.

Passed: 44 | Failed: 3 | Skipped: 0 (4.1s)

Discovering Test Files

When no path is specified and the project layout is unknown, find all test files first:

# PowerShell
Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter '*.Tests.ps1' | Select-Object -ExpandProperty FullName

# Bash
find . -name '*.Tests.ps1' -not -path '*/node_modules/*'

Run from the project root so $PSCommandPath-relative imports and module paths resolve correctly.

Verbosity Reference

Level	Output	Use when
None	Silent	CI pipelines consuming XML test results only
Normal	Failures + final summary	Agent runs — default for this skill
Detailed	All test names with pass/fail status	Interactive debugging
Diagnostic	Internal Pester state + debug messages	Diagnosing Pester itself

Code Coverage

When ${user_config.coverageThreshold} is greater than 0, enable coverage tracking alongside the standard run:

$cfg = New-PesterConfiguration
$cfg.Output.Verbosity                   = 'Normal'
$cfg.Run.PassThru                       = $true
$cfg.CodeCoverage.Enabled               = $true
$cfg.CodeCoverage.CoveragePercentTarget = ${user_config.coverageThreshold}
$cfg.CodeCoverage.Path                  = @('./src/*.ps1', './src/*.psm1')  # adjust to project
$result = Invoke-Pester -Configuration $cfg

Coverage results live in $result.CodeCoverage:

Property	Description
$result.CodeCoverage.CoveragePercent	Actual coverage percentage achieved
$result.CodeCoverage.CommandsMissedCount	Uncovered commands
$result.CodeCoverage.CommandsExecutedCount	Covered commands

Report coverage inline with test results:

Coverage: 73.2% (target: ${user_config.coverageThreshold}%) ⚠ Below threshold
Missed: 12 commands — Get-Widget.ps1:42, Invoke-Sync.ps1:88, Export-Report.ps1:31

Skip coverage for focused runs (tag-filtered, single-file, quick feedback) — it adds overhead and means less on a subset. Enable it for full-suite runs where you want a coverage gate.

Common Failure Patterns

When $result.FailedCount -gt 0, match the error message before reporting to help the user understand root cause:

Error message contains	Likely cause
Cannot find module	Module not imported in BeforeAll; check path
The term '...' is not recognized	Missing mock, wrong scope, or function not loaded
Expected ... to be called	Mock defined in wrong scope (move to Describe-level BeforeAll)
Expected '...' to exist	TestDrive: path typo or file creation step missing
Cannot bind parameter	Source function signature changed; parameter name mismatch
is $null	BeforeAll variable used in It without $script: scope

Pester 5 Installation Check

If Pester is missing or below v5, install before running:

$pester = Get-Module Pester -ListAvailable | Sort-Object Version -Descending | Select-Object -First 1
if (-not $pester -or $pester.Version -lt [version]'5.0') {
    Install-Module Pester -MinimumVersion 5.0.0 -Scope CurrentUser -Force
}

-Scope CurrentUser avoids needing admin rights. On systems with both PS 5.1 and PS 7+, install into both if needed.