Pytest cannot find settings

[wolph]

The current working directory is not in the sys.path so it cannot find my settings file... now I'm wondering what would be the "clean" way to fix this.

I have no problem running other parts of py.test but the pytest_django module cannot find my settings.

My file structure is roughly like this:

project_directory/settings.py
project_directory/app_1/
project_directory/app_2/
project_directory/manage.py

Obviously manage.py has no problems importing the settings.

Py.test is being called like this:
py.test --ds settings

The exception:

_pytest.config.UsageError: Could not import settings 'settings' (Is it on sys.path? Is there an import error in the settings file?): No module named settings

What is the proper way to fix this? I know I can set the PYTHONPATH variable in my environment but that just seems hacky. Why won't pytest_django import from the current directory as you would expect?

[wolph]

For clarity, something like this works without a problem of course:

In a file called test_settings.py:

import settings
assert settings

Running like this: py.test test_settings.py

[wolph]

Nevermind... just found the FAQ item that says to install the package locally. Not the prettiest way imho but it's at least a clean workaround :)

[rafales]

It's in the FAQ (http://pytest-django.readthedocs.org/en/latest/faq.html#i-see-an-error-saying-could-not-import-myproject-settings) but I think it's not clear enough.

It's a bug (or maybe a feature?) in py.test. There are couple of ways to solve this:

• just adjust your PYTHONPATH environment variable to include project directory
• insert path to your project into sys.path in your conftest.py file
• if you're using virtualenvwrapper then use add2virtualenv script
• you can write a proper setup.py script, which will adjust python path automatically (via .pth files) when installed in development mode

Personally I think setup.py is the best option IF you are already using it for distributing your code. If not then I'd go with other options.

[wolph]

The setup.py is my current solution but it's not really the prettiest solution I think. It would be useful if pytest would give a somewhat clearer error in this regard.

Perhaps pytest_django should just append the current working directory (i.e. sys.path.append('.')) to sys.path. It's a bit scary imho but it's the only way pytest_django can work so there is no way around it anyhow. All of your proposed solutions effectively add the directory to the sys.path anyhow so why avoid it :)

[kissgyorgy]

Guys, this should be more visible. I was struggling with this a fair bit, when I had the idea to look up closed issues...

[benjaoming]

Because this issue does indeed show up in search results, I'd like to add the most simple work-around for afaik:

• Disable searching for manage.py by adding django_find_project = false to pytest.ini
• Add pytest-pythonpath to test requirements or pip install pytest-pythonpath. This seems to add cwd to path automatically, so I didn't have to configure anything further.

http://pytest-django.readthedocs.io/en/latest/managing_python_path.html#managing-the-python-path-explicitly

[Natim]

I encountered this issue while having a bogus pytest.ini file:

[pytest]
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE = "project.settings"

Removing the quotes fixed it:

[pytest]
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE = project.settings