Skip to main content

How to Set Up GitHub Actions to Automatically Run Pytests

Automating your software testing is a great way to ensure your code is reliable and to catch bugs early. If you're working on a Python project, you might find yourself manually running tests from the command line every time you make a change. This is a perfect opportunity to streamline your workflow.

This guide will walk you through setting up GitHub Actions to automatically run your pytest unit tests every time you push a change or open a pull request. We'll focus on a common scenario where tests are located in a Backend directory and will be executed in a GitHub-hosted Ubuntu Linux environment. By the end, you'll have a professional, automated testing process right within your repository.

Creating the GitHub Actions Workflow​

The first step is to tell GitHub what you want it to do. You'll accomplish this by creating a special configuration file.

  1. In the root of your repository, create a directory named .github.
  2. Inside the .github directory, create another directory named workflows.
  3. Finally, inside the .github/workflows directory, create a new file and name it python-tests.yml.

Now, copy and paste the following code into your new python-tests.yml file.

name: Python Unit Tests

on:
  push:
    branches: [ "main" ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ "main" ]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
    - name: Check out repository code
      uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Set up Python
      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
      with:
        python-version: '3.x'

    - name: Install dependencies
      run: |
        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
        pip install pytest
        # If your project has a requirements.txt file, uncomment the line below
        # pip install -r Backend/requirements.txt
      
    - name: Execute Pytest
      run: pytest
      working-directory: ./Backend

Understanding the Workflow File​

Let's break down what each part of this file does so you can feel confident customizing it for your own projects.

  • name: Python Unit Tests This sets the name of your workflow, which you'll see in the "Actions" tab of your GitHub repository.

  • on This section defines when the workflow should run. Here, we've configured it to trigger on every push and pull_request to the main branch.

  • jobs This section outlines the series of jobs to be executed.

    • build: We've named our single job build.
    • runs-on: ubuntu-latest: This tells GitHub to run our job on a virtual machine using the latest version of Ubuntu.

  • steps These are the individual tasks that make up the build job. They are executed in order.

    • Check out repository code: This step uses a pre-built community action (actions/checkout@v4) to download your repository's code onto the runner.
    • Set up Python: This uses another standard action (actions/setup-python@v5) to install your desired version of Python on the runner.
    • Install dependencies: This step executes shell commands to install pytest. If you have other dependencies listed in a Backend/requirements.txt file, you can uncomment the last line to install them as well.
    • Execute Pytest: This is the final step where the magic happens.
      • run: pytest: This command starts the pytest test runner.
      • working-directory: ./Backend: This crucial instruction tells GitHub to change into the Backend directory before running the command, perfectly mimicking how you run it locally.

Activating Your Workflow​

To get your new automated testing workflow up and running, all you need to do is commit and push the python-tests.yml file to your repository:

git add .github/workflows/python-tests.yml
git commit -m "Add GitHub Actions workflow for Python tests"
git push

That's it! The workflow is now active. It will automatically run on your next push or pull request to the main branch. You can monitor its progress, view logs, and see the results of your test runs in the Actions tab of your GitHub repository.

Adverts