run-e2e-tests

name	run-e2e-tests
description	Run E2E tests to verify complete user workflows like environment discovery, creation, and selection. Use this before releases or after major changes.

Run E2E (end-to-end) tests to verify complete user workflows work correctly.

When to Use This Skill

• Before submitting a PR with significant changes
• After modifying environment discovery, creation, or selection logic
• Before a release to validate full workflows
• When user reports a workflow is broken

Note: Run smoke tests first. If smoke tests fail, E2E tests will also fail.

Quick Reference

Action	Command
Run all E2E tests	npm run compile && npm run compile-tests && npm run e2e-test
Run specific test	npm run e2e-test -- --grep "discovers"
Debug in VS Code	Debug panel → "E2E Tests" → F5

How E2E Tests Work

Unlike unit tests (mocked) and smoke tests (quick checks), E2E tests:

1. Launch a real VS Code instance with the extension
2. Exercise complete user workflows via the real API
3. Verify end-to-end behavior (discovery → selection → execution)

They take longer (1-3 minutes) but catch integration issues.

Workflow

Step 1: Compile and Run

npm run compile && npm run compile-tests && npm run e2e-test

Step 2: Interpret Results

Pass:

  E2E: Environment Discovery
    ✓ Can trigger environment refresh
    ✓ Discovers at least one environment
    ✓ Environments have required properties
    ✓ Can get global environments

  4 passing (45s)

Fail: Check error message and see Debugging section.

Debugging Failures

Error	Cause	Fix
No environments discovered	Python not installed	Install Python, verify it's on PATH
Extension not found	Build failed	Run npm run compile
API not available	Activation error	Debug with F5, check Debug Console
Timeout exceeded	Slow operation or hang	Increase timeout or check for blocking code

For detailed debugging: Debug panel → "E2E Tests" → F5

Prerequisites

E2E tests have system requirements:

• Python installed - At least one Python interpreter must be discoverable
• Extension builds - Run npm run compile before tests
• CI needs webpack build - Run npm run compile (webpack) before tests, not just npm run compile-tests (tsc)

Adding New E2E Tests

Create files in src/test/e2e/ with pattern *.e2e.test.ts:

import * as assert from 'assert';
import * as vscode from 'vscode';
import { waitForCondition } from '../testUtils';
import { ENVS_EXTENSION_ID } from '../constants';

suite('E2E: [Workflow Name]', function () {
    this.timeout(120_000); // 2 minutes

    let api: ExtensionApi;

    suiteSetup(async function () {
        const extension = vscode.extensions.getExtension(ENVS_EXTENSION_ID);
        assert.ok(extension, 'Extension not found');
        if (!extension.isActive) await extension.activate();
        api = extension.exports;
    });

    test('[Test description]', async function () {
        // Use real API (flat structure, not nested!)
        // api.getEnvironments(), not api.environments.getEnvironments()
        await waitForCondition(
            async () => (await api.getEnvironments('all')).length > 0,
            60_000,
            'No environments found',
        );
    });
});

Test Files

File	Purpose
src/test/e2e/environmentDiscovery.e2e.test.ts	Discovery workflow tests
src/test/e2e/index.ts	Test runner entry point
src/test/testUtils.ts	Utilities (waitForCondition, etc.)

Notes

• E2E tests are slower than smoke tests (expect 1-3 minutes)
• They may create/modify files - cleanup happens in suiteTeardown
• First run downloads VS Code (~100MB, cached in .vscode-test/)
• For more details on E2E tests and how they compare to other test types, refer to the project's testing documentation.