Blog

Brad Wood

December 18, 2017

Spread the word


Share your thoughts

For Christmas this year, why don't you give the gift of unit tests to everyone (including yourself) who may work on your app in the future.  Nothing else brings about the same amount of confidence in refactoring or assurance that your app still works on that new CF engine update you just installed.  While you use TestBox to write and run your tests, CommandBox has some commands built in to help you do it in style.  And most importantly, these CLI commands are perfect for automating your tests on your favorite CI server like Jenkins or Travis.

testbox run

There is a testbox run command available that will run your unit or integration tests from the command line. All you need is to have your server running (it doesn't have to be a CommandBox server).

Run your test suite like so (modify the runner URL to match your site).

testbox run "http://localhost:8080/tests/runner.cfm"

This will hit your runner URL and output a CLI-formatted report of your test results. If your test suite failed, the command will also return a failing exit code when being run from your native shell. This makes integrations with CI tools like Jenkins or Travis-CI very easy since a failing test will fail your build automatically.

Default runner URL

You can also set up the default runner URL in your box.json and it will be used for you. Setting the URL is a one-time operation.

package set testbox.runner="http://localhost:8080/tests/runner.cfm"
testbox run

Note that in CommandBox 4.0, you will be able to have relative runner URLs like /tests/runner.cfm which means you don't have to worry about the host or port.

Example Output

Here is an example of the non-verbose output.  Non-verbose only shows failing tests which can be handy when you have hundreds of tests and only care about the failing ones.

testbox run --noVerbose

Executing tests via http://127.0.0.1:55197/tests/runner.cfm?&recurse=true&reporter=json, please wait...
TestBox v2.5.0+107
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Passed  | Failed  | Errored | Skipped | Time    | Bundles | Suites  | Specs   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 8       | 0       | 0       | 0       | 112 ms  | 1       | 3       | 8       |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Test Watcher

This is an extension of the testbox run command but will watch the files in a directory and run the default TestBox suite on any file change.  The watcher works great for IDEs that have an integrated terminal since you can edit your code and instantly see if you're testing are still passing as soon as you hit save.

testbox watch

In order for this command to work, you need to have started your server and configured the URL to the test runner in your box.json.

package set testbox.runner=http://localhost:8080/tests/runner.cfm
server start
testbox watch

You can also control what files to watch.

testbox watch **.cfc

If you need more control over what tests run and their output, you can set additional options in your box.json which will be picked up automatically by testbox run when it fires.

package set testbox.verbose=false
package set testbox.labels=foo
package set testbox.testSuites=bar
package set testbox.watchDelay=1000
package set testbox.watchPaths=/models/**.cfc

This command will run in the foreground until you stop it. When you are ready to shut down the watcher, press Ctrl+C

Add Your Comment

Recent Entries

Must-See Into the Box 2025 Sessions for CommandBox Users!

Must-See Into the Box 2025 Sessions for CommandBox Users!

Power Up your CommandBox experience and practices at Into the Box 2025

Want to get hands-on with the new CommandBox features or learn how others are pushing it to the next level? These are the must-see sessions at ITB 2025 if you're a CommandBox user:

Maria Jose Herrera
Maria Jose Herrera
April 21, 2025
Must-See ITB 2025 Sessions for TestBox Users!

Must-See ITB 2025 Sessions for TestBox Users!

Are you a fan of TestBox or looking to level up your testing game in 2025? Whether you're just getting started with unit testing or you're already building advanced specs for ColdBox and BoxLang apps, Into the Box 2025 has an exciting lineup tailored just for you. Into the Box 2025 has an exciting lineup tailored just for you. With the recent launch of TestBox 6.3.0 we have amazing new tools, features and tips and tricks to get your testing experience to the next level, review our sessions and test like a pro efficiently and easy!

From hands-on testing strategies to BoxLang innovations, here are the sessions you won’t want to miss this May — and why they matter to you as a TestBox user.

Maria Jose Herrera
Maria Jose Herrera
April 17, 2025
The Into the Box 2025 Agenda is LIVE and Done!

The Into the Box 2025 Agenda is LIVE and Done!

The wait is over! The official Into the Box 2025 agenda is now live — and it's packed with high-impact sessions designed for modern CFML and BoxLang developers. Whether you’re building APIs, modernizing legacy apps, diving into serverless, or exploring AI integrations, this is the conference you’ve been waiting for.

Here’s a look at what you can expect — categorized by key topics to help you plan your learning journey, there’s something for everyone covering modern CFML tools and BoxLang:

Maria Jose Herrera
Maria Jose Herrera
April 15, 2025