Basic Usage

Running Tests

To run tests using clitest, just pass the tests files to the clitest command:

clitest [options] [test-file] [test-file] ...

The test runner will exit with a non-zero exit code if any command does not match its expected output.

Test File Structure

Each test file should start with the shebang:

#!/usr/bin/env clitest --v0

The --v0 flag indicates that the test file uses version 0 of the syntax. This ensures backwards compatibility as the syntax evolves in future versions.

Basic Commands

Executing Commands

Commands are prefixed with $:

$ echo "Hello World"
! Hello World

You can split long commands across multiple lines using either backslashes or quotes:

$ echo "This is a very long command that \
spans multiple lines"
! This is a very long command that spans multiple lines

$ echo "This is another way to
split a command across lines"
! This is another way to
! split a command across lines 

Comments

Comments start with # and are ignored during test execution:

# This is a comment
$ echo "Hello World"
! Hello World

Basic Output Matching

The simplest way to match output is using the ! pattern, which treats non-grok parts as literal text:

$ echo "Hello World"
! Hello World

Exit Codes

By default, clitest expects commands to exit with code 0. You can specify a different expected exit code using %EXIT:

$ exit 1
%EXIT 1

To expect a command to return a failing exit code (ie: non-zero):

$ exit 1
%EXIT fail

Or to accept any exit code (this will also accept a command that times out):

$ exit 1
%EXIT any