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Many Lints

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.

Why use this rule

Section titled “Why use this rule”

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. Nothing in the output says the assertion stopped running — you have to go looking.

That matters more the less of the code you wrote yourself. Faced with a failing assertion, adding skip: true is the shortest path to a green run, and it is invisible in review unless somebody greps for it. It turns a hard gate into a suggestion, silently.

A grep cannot replace this rule: skip: in a string literal, or a skip parameter on somebody’s own function, are indistinguishable from the real thing in text. The AST tells them apart.

See also: package:test — skipping tests | eslint-plugin-jest: no-disabled-tests

Don’t

Section titled “Don’t”
// A skip with no reason.
test('parses a malformed manifest', () {}, skip: true);


// A reason makes the skip readable, not acceptable — it still proves nothing.
test('handles a timeout', () {}, skip: 'flaky on CI');


// A whole group.
group('upload', () {}, skip: true);

A whole file, as a library annotation — it must be the first directive in the file, so it is shown on its own:

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

Do

Section titled “Do”
// Fix the test.
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.

skip: false is never reported. It is a no-op, and occasionally appears as a deliberate placeholder.

Turning this rule off

Section titled “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:

many_lints.yaml
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.

Options

Section titled “Options”
analysis_options.yaml
many_lints:
  rules:
    avoid_skipped_tests:
      allow_reason: true
Option Type Default Description
allow_reason bool false Permit skip: 'reason string', and report only the bare skip: true form

The default is false because “a documented skip is better than a deleted test” is a real argument that still does not make the test run. A project that wants an audit trail can opt into it; leaving it off keeps the default honest.

Section titled “Related rules”