Command Line Interface

This document describes the command line interface for Testo.

Binary Path

If Testo is installed via Composer, the binary path will be vendor/bin/testo. The examples below use just testo for brevity, but in real projects use vendor/bin/testo or set up an alias in your environment.

Commands

testo run

Execute test suites with optional filtering and output formatting.

This is the default command and can be omitted when using flags.

testo run [options]
testo [options]  # run is optional

Examples:

# Explicit run command
testo run
testo run --suite=Unit

# Implicit run command (default)
testo
testo --suite=Unit

Common Configuration Flags

--config

Specify path to configuration file.

Default: ./testo.php

Examples:

testo run --config=./custom-testo.php
testo run --suite=Integration --config=./ci-testo.php

Running Tests

Output Formatting

--teamcity

Enable TeamCity service message format for JetBrains IDE integration.

Used by the Testo plugin for PHPStorm/IntelliJ IDEA and TeamCity CI server.

Examples:

testo --teamcity
testo --suite=Unit --teamcity

--json

Render the whole run as a single minimalistic JSON object on stdout — and nothing else. The JSON report is meant for machine consumers: AI agents and CI scripts that need to parse results instead of scraping the ANSI output.

The report contains only what's needed to act on a failing run: the overall status, duration, per-status totals, and a flat failures[] list. Each failure carries the test FQN, exception type, message, file and line, a trimmed stack trace, the chain of previous exceptions (causedBy), and any captured output.

--json is mutually exclusive with --teamcity — both render to stdout. To get JSON alongside a human-readable run, use --log-json instead.

testo --json
testo --suite=Unit --json

--log-json

Write the JSON report to a file while keeping the regular terminal output active. Mirrors --log-junit.

testo --log-json=runtime/report.json
testo --suite=Unit --log-json=runtime/report.json

--log-junit

Write a JUnit XML report to the given path (overrides the JUnit plugin config). Keeps the terminal output active.

testo --log-junit=runtime/junit.xml

Filtering

Testo provides several filters that can be combined to selectively run tests.

Filter Combination Logic:

• Same type filters use OR logic: --filter=test1 --filter=test2 → test1 OR test2
• Different type filters use AND logic: --filter=test1 --suite=Unit → test1 AND Unit
• Formula: AND(OR(filters), OR(paths), OR(suites), type, OR(groups), NOT OR(excludeGroups))

For detailed information about filtering behavior, see Filtering.

--suite

Filter tests by test suite name. Suites are defined in configuration.

Repeatable: Yes (OR logic)

Examples:

# Single suite
testo run --suite=Unit

# Multiple suites
testo run --suite=Unit --suite=Integration

--path

Filter test files by glob patterns. Supports wildcards: *, ?, [abc]

Repeatable: Yes (OR logic)

Note: Asterisk * is automatically appended if the path doesn't end with a wildcard.

• tests/Unit becomes tests/Unit*
• tests/Unit/ becomes tests/Unit/*

Examples:

# Matches tests/Unit*
testo run --path="tests/Unit"

# Matches tests/Unit/*Test.php
testo run --path="tests/Unit/*Test.php"

# Multiple paths
testo run --path="tests/Unit" --path="tests/Integration"

# Nested directories
testo run --path="tests/*/Security/*Test.php"

--filter

Filter tests by class, method, or function names.

Repeatable: Yes (OR logic)

Supported Formats:

• Method: ClassName::methodName or Namespace\ClassName::methodName
• FQN: Namespace\ClassName or Namespace\functionName
• Fragment: methodName, functionName, or ShortClassName

Examples:

# Specific method
testo run --filter=UserTest::testLogin

# Entire class
testo run --filter=UserTest

# By FQN
testo run --filter=Tests\Unit\UserTest

# Method name across all classes
testo run --filter=testLogin

# Multiple filters (OR)
testo run --filter=UserTest::testCreate --filter=UserTest::testUpdate

# Combine with other filters (AND)
testo run --filter=testAuthentication --suite=Unit
testo run --filter=UserTest --path="tests/Unit"

Filter Behavior: See Filtering for details.

--type

Filter tests by type. If specified, only tests of the matching type are run.

Possible values:

• test — regular tests (methods in classes)
• inline — inline tests (tests via #[TestInline]#[TestInline(array $arguments, mixed $result = null)]Declares an inline test on a method or function.)
• bench — benchmarks

Examples:

# Regular tests only
testo run --type=test

# Inline tests only
testo run --type=inline

# Benchmarks only
testo run --type=bench

# Combine with other filters
testo run --type=test --suite=Unit
testo run --type=inline --filter=testLogin

Middleware and test types

Middleware bound to a specific test type is excluded from the pipeline if the type doesn't match the one specified in --type.

--group

Filter tests by group. Groups are flat labels attached to tests with the #[Group]#[Group(string ...$names)]Labels a class, method, or function with one or more group names for selective filtering. attribute.

Repeatable: Yes (OR logic)

• A plain name includes a group: --group=database.
• A ! prefix excludes a group: --group=!slow. Exclusion wins over inclusion.

Examples:

# Only tests in the "database" group
testo run --group=database

# Tests in "database" OR "integration"
testo run --group=database --group=integration

# Everything except the "slow" group
testo run --group=!slow

# Combine with a name filter (AND)
testo run --group=database --filter=UserTest

See Filtering by Groups for inheritance rules.

Combining Filters

Examples:

# Name AND suite
testo run --filter=testLogin --suite=Unit

# Name AND path
testo run --filter=UserTest --path="tests/Unit"

# All three types (AND)
testo run --filter=testImportant --path="tests/Unit" --suite=Critical

# Multiple values with multiple types
testo run \
  --filter=testCreate --filter=testUpdate \
  --path="tests/Unit" --path="tests/Integration" \
  --suite=Critical

Exit Codes

• 0 (SUCCESS): All tests passed
• 1 (FAILURE): One or more tests failed
• 2 (INVALID): Invalid command or configuration