Running Tests

Running Tests

Linting

YAML Lint

All YAML files must pass yamllint with the project's .yamllint config:

# Lint all YAML files in the repo
yamllint -c .yamllint $(find . -type f -regex ".*y[a]ml" -print)

# Lint a specific task directory
yamllint -c .yamllint task/git-clone/0.9/

# Install yamllint if not present
pip install yamllint

The .yamllint config ignores vendor/ and hack/, disables line-length and document-start rules, and treats truthy and comments as warnings.

Go Formatting

Go files (test infrastructure only) must be formatted:

# Check for formatting issues
gofmt -d $(find * -name '*.go' ! -path 'vendor/*' ! -path 'third_party/*')

If gofmt produces any diff, the CI will reject the PR.

e2e Tests

Single Task Test

Test a single task locally using the test runner script. Requires a running Kubernetes cluster with Tekton Pipelines installed:

# Syntax: ./test/run-test.sh <kind> <name> <version>
./test/run-test.sh task git-clone 0.9
./test/run-test.sh task kaniko 0.6
./test/run-test.sh task buildah 0.7

The test runner:

1. Creates a random namespace
2. Applies the task YAML
3. Applies all YAML files in <kind>/<name>/<version>/tests/
4. Waits for TaskRun/PipelineRun completion
5. Reports pass/fail

Note: CI only tests tasks that were added or modified in the PR, unless TEST_RUN_ALL_TESTS is set.

Test Directory Structure

Each task version can have a tests/ directory:

task/<name>/<version>/tests/
  run.yaml                      # TaskRun or PipelineRun to execute
  pre-apply-task-hook.sh        # optional: runs before applying the Task
  pre-apply-taskrun-hook.sh     # optional: runs before applying test YAMLs
  fixtures/                     # optional: go-rest-api-test rules
    rules.yaml

Pre-Apply Hook Scripts

Hook scripts run via source, so they can export environment variables:

pre-apply-task-hook.sh

Runs before the Task is applied. Use for:

• Modifying the Task YAML for test purposes
• Setting up prerequisites in the namespace
• Creating ConfigMaps, Secrets, or other resources

pre-apply-taskrun-hook.sh

Runs before TaskRun/PipelineRun YAMLs are applied. Use for:

• Creating test resources (PVCs, Secrets)
• Setting up services (registries, mock APIs)
• Modifying TaskRun parameters

Helper Functions

Available in hook scripts (sourced from plumbing):

Fixtures-Based Testing

For tasks that call external REST APIs (e.g. GitHub, Jira), use go-rest-api-test fixtures:

1. Create tests/fixtures/ directory with YAML rules:

---
headers:
  method: POST
  path: /repos/{repo:[^/]+/[^/]+}/issues/{issue:[0-9]+}/comments
response:
  status: 200
  output: '{"status": 200}'
  content-type: text/json

2. The test runner auto-detects the fixtures/ directory and spins up a go-rest-api-test sidecar on http://localhost:8080

3. Override the API host URL parameter in your TaskRun:

params:
  - name: GITHUB_HOST_URL
    value: http://localhost:8080

Requirement: The task must support overriding the API URL via a parameter.

Full CI Suite

Local Kind Cluster

Spin up a full CI-like environment locally:

./hack/setup-kind.sh \
  --registry-url registry.local:5000 \
  --cluster-suffix cluster.local \
  --nodes 1 \
  --pipeline-version v1.9.0 \
  --e2e-script ./test/e2e-tests.sh \
  --e2e-env ./test/e2e-tests-kind-gha.env

This script:

1. Creates a Kind cluster with a local registry
2. Installs Tekton Pipelines at the specified version
3. Runs the e2e test suite

CI Pipeline

GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/ci.yaml) runs:

• linting job: yamllint + gofmt
• e2e-tests job: matrix of Tekton Pipeline versions:
  • latest (v1.9.0)
  • lts-latest (v1.9.0)
  • lts-latest-minus-one (v1.6.0)
  • lts-latest-minus-two (v1.3.0)
  • lts-latest-minus-three (v1.0.0)

Replicating CI Locally

# Linting (always run before pushing)
yamllint -c .yamllint $(find . -type f -regex ".*y[a]ml" -print)
gofmt -d $(find * -name '*.go' ! -path 'vendor/*' ! -path 'third_party/*')

# Single task e2e (requires cluster)
./test/run-test.sh task <name> <version>

Both linting checks must pass before requesting a review.

Interpreting Test Failures

• yamllint failures: Fix YAML formatting issues (indentation, trailing whitespace, truthy values)
• gofmt failures: Run gofmt -w <file> to auto-fix
• e2e test timeout: Check if the TaskRun is stuck — inspect pod logs with kubectl logs and events with kubectl describe taskrun
• Pre-apply hook failures: Check that all required tools are available in the test-runner image
• Fixtures test failures: Verify the fixture rules match the actual API calls made by the task

Debugging Running TaskRuns

When a TaskRun is failing or stuck:

# List TaskRuns in the test namespace
kubectl get taskrun -n <namespace>

# Describe a specific TaskRun (shows conditions, events, pod name)
kubectl describe taskrun <name> -n <namespace>

# Get the pod created by the TaskRun
kubectl get pods -n <namespace> -l tekton.dev/taskRun=<name>

# Stream logs from a running step container
kubectl logs -n <namespace> <pod-name> -c step-<step-name> -f

# If pod is in Pending/ImagePullBackOff — check events
kubectl describe pod <pod-name> -n <namespace>

# Check if Tekton controller is healthy
kubectl get pods -n tekton-pipelines

# Get all events in namespace sorted by time
kubectl get events -n <namespace> --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'

Common failure patterns:

• Pending pod: Usually a resource quota, missing PVC, or node scheduling issue
• ImagePullBackOff: Bad image reference — check digest/tag and registry access
• step container OOMKilled: Increase resource limits or reduce workload
• Script exit code non-zero: Read step logs for the actual error
• Timeout: TaskRun default timeout is 1h; check if the script is hung (e.g. waiting for input, network call blocked)

Kind Cluster Lifecycle

Setup

# Full setup with Tekton Pipelines (used by CI)
./hack/setup-kind.sh \
  --registry-url registry.local:5000 \
  --cluster-suffix cluster.local \
  --nodes 1 \
  --pipeline-version v1.9.0 \
  --e2e-script ./test/e2e-tests.sh \
  --e2e-env ./test/e2e-tests-kind-gha.env

# Minimal setup for local testing (just cluster + Tekton)
kind create cluster --name tekton-catalog-test
kubectl apply --filename https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/releases/download/v1.0.0/release.yaml
kubectl wait --for=condition=ready pod -l app=tekton-pipelines-controller -n tekton-pipelines --timeout=60s

Teardown

# Delete the Kind cluster
kind delete cluster --name tekton-catalog-test

# If using the CI script's default cluster name
kind delete cluster --name tekton

# Clean up leftover Docker networks (if Kind didn't clean up)
docker network prune -f

Iterating Without Full Teardown

When debugging a single task, you can reuse the cluster:

# Delete all TaskRuns in a namespace
kubectl delete taskrun --all -n <namespace>

# Delete and recreate just the task under test
kubectl delete task <name> -n <namespace>
kubectl apply -f task/<name>/<version>/<name>.yaml -n <namespace>

# Re-run the test
./test/run-test.sh task <name> <version>

Environment Variables