2. Installing

Kaocha is distributed through Clojars, with the identifier lambdaisland/kaocha. You can find version information for the latest release at https://clojars.org/lambdaisland/kaocha.

The main namespace for use at the command line is kaocha.runner, regardless of which tool you're using to invoke Clojure.

For example:

clojure -Sdeps '{:deps {lambdaisland/kaocha {:mvn/version "1.77.1236"}}}' -m kaocha.runner --test-help

Below are instructions on the recommended way to set things up for various build tools.

Clojure CLI / deps.edn

In deps.edn, create a test "alias" (profile) that loads the lambdaisland/kaocha dependency.

;; deps.edn
{:deps { ,,, }
 :aliases
 {:test {:main-opts ["-m" "kaocha.runner"]
         :extra-deps {lambdaisland/kaocha {:mvn/version "1.77.1236"}}}}}

Other dependencies that are only used for tests, like test framework or assertion libraries, can also go here.

Next create a bin/kaocha wrapper script. Having it in this location is strongly recommended, as it's where developers coming from other projects will expect to find it.

In it invoke clojure with the :test alias and the kaocha.runner main namespace. This is what bin/kaocha by default looks like. Make sure to add "$@" so that any arguments to bin/kaocha are passed on to kaocha.runner.

#!/usr/bin/env bash

clojure -M:test "$@"

Make sure the script is executable:

chmod +x bin/kaocha

This script provides a useful place to encode extra flags or setup that is needed in order for tests to run correctly.

#!/usr/bin/env bash

. secrets.env
clojure -J-Xmx512m -M:dev:test --config-file test/tests.edn "$@"

This version also sets an alternative location for Kaocha's configuration file: tests.edn. It is generally recommended to leave it at the root of the project, but if you do want to move or rename it this is the way to go.

--config-file is the only Kaocha option that makes sense in this script, other Kaocha configuration should be done through tests.edn.

Now you can invoke Kaocha as such:

bin/kaocha --version

Alternative method: :exec-fn

We also support using the Clojure CLI :exec-fn/-X. However, we recommend the binstub approach above because it allows you to use traditional long and short options. If you nonetheless prefer :exec-fn/-X, you can set up deps.edn:

;; deps.edn
{:deps { ,,, }
 :aliases 
 {:test {:extra-deps {lambdaisland/kaocha {:mvn/version "1.77.1236"}}
         :exec-fn kaocha.runner/exec-fn
         :exec-args {}}}}

And then Kaocha can be invoked this way: clojure -X:test

Generally speaking, we recommend using tests.edn for all of your configuration rather than putting it in exec-args unless there's an alternative combination of options you frequently run.

In that case, you can put configuration options :exec-args as though it were tests.edn. Let's say you frequently use watch with :fail-fast and a subset of tests skipped. You could save that configuration with an additional alias: clojure -X:watch-test like so:

;; deps.edn
{:deps { ,,, }
 :aliases 
 {:test {:extra-deps {lambdaisland/kaocha {:mvn/version "1.77.1236"}}
         :exec-fn kaocha.runner/exec-fn
         :exec-args {}}
 :watch-test {:extra-deps {lambdaisland/kaocha {:mvn/version "1.77.1236"}}
         :exec-fn kaocha.runner/exec-fn
         :exec-args {:watch? true
	 :skip-meta :slow
	 :fail-fast? true }}}}

If you wanted to turn off fail-fast temporarily, you could run clojure -X:watch-test :fail-fast? false.

Leiningen

Add Kaocha to your :dev profile, then add an alias that invokes lein run -m kaocha.runner:

(defproject my-proj "0.1.0"
  :dependencies [,,,]
  :profiles {:dev {:dependencies [,,, [lambdaisland/kaocha "1.77.1236"]]}}
  :aliases {"kaocha" ["run" "-m" "kaocha.runner"]})

Now you can invoke Kaocha as such:

lein kaocha --version

It is still recommeded to create a bin/kaocha wrapper for consistency among projects. The rest of the documentation assumes you can invoke Kaocha with bin/kaocha.

#!/usr/bin/env bash

lein kaocha "$@"

For more information on :dev, see the Leiningen docs.

Alternative method: separate :kaocha profile

If you want to use Kaocha only in certain circumstances, say when profiling tests, you may not want to add it to your :dev profile.

Instead, add a :kaocha profile with the Kaocha dependency, then add an alias that activates the profile and invokes lein run -m kaocha.runner:

(defproject my-proj "0.1.0"
  :dependencies [,,,]
  :profiles {:kaocha {:dependencies [[lambdaisland/kaocha "1.77.1236"]]}}
  :aliases {"kaocha" ["with-profile" "+kaocha" "run" "-m" "kaocha.runner"]})

Invoking Kaocha and creating bin/kaocha will work the same way. However, Kaocha will not be available in your REPL by default.

Boot

See kaocha-boot for instructions.