run-e2e-tests
skill✓Run E2E tests to verify complete user workflows like environment discovery, creation, and selection. Use this before releases or after major changes.
apm::install
apm install @microsoft/run-e2e-testsapm::skill.md
---
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
```bash
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`:
```typescript
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.