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Reading command line configuration options from files

RSpec reads command line configuration options from several different files, all conforming to a specific level of specificity. Options from a higher specificity will override conflicting options from lower specificity files.

The locations are:

  • Global options: First file from the following list (i.e. the user's personal global options)

  • Project options: ./.rspec (i.e. in the project's root directory, usually checked into the project)

  • Local: ./.rspec-local (i.e. in the project's root directory, can be gitignored)

Options specified at the command-line has even higher specificity, as does the SPEC_OPTS environment variable. That means that a command-line option would overwrite a project-specific option, which overrides the global value of that option.

The default options files can all be ignored using the --options command-line argument, which selects a custom file to load options from.

Color set in .rspec​

Given a file named ".rspec" with:

--force-color

And a file named "spec/example_spec.rb" with:

RSpec.describe "color_enabled?" do
  context "when set with RSpec.configure" do
    it "is true" do
      expect(RSpec.configuration).to be_color_enabled
    end
  end
end

When I run rspec ./spec/example_spec.rb

Then the examples should all pass.

Custom options file​

Given a file named "my.options" with:

--format documentation

And a file named "spec/example_spec.rb" with:

RSpec.describe "formatter set in custom options file" do
  it "sets formatter" do
    expect(RSpec.configuration.formatters.first).
      to be_a(RSpec::Core::Formatters::DocumentationFormatter)
  end
end

When I run rspec spec/example_spec.rb --options my.options

Then the examples should all pass.

RSpec ignores ./.rspec when custom options file is used​

Given a file named "my.options" with:

--format documentation

And a file named ".rspec" with:

--no-color

And a file named "spec/example_spec.rb" with:

RSpec.describe "custom options file" do
  it "causes .rspec to be ignored" do
    expect(RSpec.configuration.color_mode).to eq(:automatic)
  end
end

When I run rspec spec/example_spec.rb --options my.options

Then the examples should all pass.

Using ERB in .rspec​

Given a file named ".rspec" with:

--format <%= true ? 'documentation' : 'progress' %>

And a file named "spec/example_spec.rb" with:

RSpec.describe "formatter" do
  it "is set to documentation" do
    expect(RSpec.configuration.formatters.first).
      to be_an(RSpec::Core::Formatters::DocumentationFormatter)
  end
end

When I run rspec ./spec/example_spec.rb

Then the examples should all pass.