avoid_skipped_tests

v1.1.0WarningConfigurableTesting Rules

Warns when a test, group or whole library is switched off with skip: or @Skip(...). A skipped test still counts as a test: the runner reports it and exits zero, so the suite keeps growing while the evidence it provides shrinks.

Every gate downstream stays green. CI passes. A mirror-test presence check like require_mirror_test is satisfied, because the file still exists. A coverage gate sees the file counted but never executed.

Don’t

A skip with no reason, and a skip with one — the reason makes it readable, not acceptable:

void main() {
  test('parses a malformed manifest', () {}, skip: true);

  test('handles a timeout', () {}, skip: 'flaky on CI');
}

A whole group at once:

void main() {
  group('upload', () {
    test('retries once', () {});
    test('gives up after three', () {});
  }, skip: true);
}

A whole file, as a library annotation. It must be the first directive in the file:

@Skip('needs a real device')
library;

void main() {
  test('reads the camera', () {});
}

Do

Fix the test:

void main() {
  test('parses a malformed manifest', () {
    expect(() => parse(malformed), throwsA(isA<ManifestFailure>()));
  });
}

Or delete it. A deleted test is honest about what is covered; a skipped one is not.

Permitting a documented skip

allow_reason: true reports only the bare skip: true form, and lets a skip carrying a reason string through:

analysis_options.yaml
many_lints.yaml

many_lints:
  rules:
    avoid_skipped_tests:
      allow_reason: true

rules:
  avoid_skipped_tests:
    allow_reason: true

void main() {
  // Still reported — nothing says why.
  test('parses a malformed manifest', () {}, skip: true);

  // Allowed at `allow_reason: true`.
  test('handles a timeout', () {}, skip: 'flaky on CI — see #412');
}

The default is false, because a documented skip still does not run.

Never reported

skip: false is a no-op, and occasionally appears as a deliberate placeholder:

void main() {
  test('runs like any other', () {}, skip: false);
}

A grep cannot replace this rule: skip: inside a string literal, or a skip parameter on a helper of your own, are indistinguishable from the real thing in text. The rule reads the AST, so they are not reported.

Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
`allow_reason`	bool	`false`	Permit `skip: 'reason string'`, and report only the bare `skip: true` form

Turning this rule off

This rule is in the recommended preset, so it is on with preset: recommended, preset: opinionated or preset: pedantic. Add it to preset: core with avoid_skipped_tests: true.

To turn it off:

rules:
  avoid_skipped_tests: false

To keep the rule on but skip certain paths — a quarantine directory, if your project wants one — use per-rule exclude.

avoid_focused_tests — Detect tests focused with solo:, which silences their siblings.
avoid_misused_test_matchers — Detect test matchers used with incompatible value types.
format_test_name — Hold test descriptions to a house pattern.
prefer_correct_test_file_name — Name test files so the runner actually runs them.