test_runner: todo/skip/expectFailure are truthy per docs, but implementation is otherwise

@ljharb

Version

v25.6.1

Subsystem

node:test

What steps will reproduce the bug?

Add the todo, skip or testFailure option to a test, setting it to an empty string. The result will be the same as if you set it to true or a non-empty string.

What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?

Unsure whether the bug is in the code or in the API docs.

The code clearly does not treat these options as truthy:

node/lib/internal/test_runner/test.js

Lines 639 to 641 in 2de3482

    
           this.expectFailure = expectFailure !== undefined && expectFailure !== false; 
        
           this.skipped = skip !== undefined && skip !== false; 
        
           this.isTodo = (todo !== undefined && todo !== false) || this.parent?.isTodo;

But the docs specifically state they should be:

node/doc/api/test.md

Lines 1691 to 1696 in 2de3482

    
           * `skip` {boolean|string} If truthy, the test is skipped. If a string is 
        
             provided, that string is displayed in the test results as the reason for 
        
             skipping the test. **Default:** `false`. 
        
           * `todo` {boolean|string} If truthy, the test marked as `TODO`. If a string 
        
             is provided, that string is displayed in the test results as the reason why 
        
             the test is `TODO`. **Default:** `false`.

Additional information

Previous discussions:

Three years ago: test_runner: fix spec skip detection #47537 (review) @ljharb
More recently as part of expectFailure development: doc(proposal): expectFailure label and/or matcher test-runner#10 (comment) @JakobJingleheimer

Based on my comment on #47537 (review), this seems like a bug - the empty string should be identical to false.

I can't think of a reason for them to not be truthy/falsy, like skip: 'skip' in opts && !!opts.skip

the effective change will be that '', null, NaN and the various flavors of 0 will no longer result in a todo/skip/expectFailure.

My guess is only the first and maybe the second will likely break any existing clients and even that will be rare.

test_runner: make skip/todo/expectFailure use JS truthiness (nodejs#6…

test_runner:make skip/todo/expectFailure use JS truthiness (nodejs#61815

This issue has been marked as stale due to 90 days of inactivity.
It will be automatically closed in 30 days if no further activity occurs. If this is still relevant, please leave a comment or update it to keep it open.

still an issue

Navigation Menu

Repository navigation

test_runner: todo/skip/expectFailure are truthy per docs, but implementation is otherwise #61815

Version

Subsystem

What steps will reproduce the bug?

What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?

Additional information

Metadata

Assignees

Labels

Type

Projects

Milestone

Relationships

Development

	this.expectFailure = expectFailure !== undefined && expectFailure !== false;
	this.skipped = skip !== undefined && skip !== false;
	this.isTodo = (todo !== undefined && todo !== false) \|\| this.parent?.isTodo;

	* `skip` {boolean\|string} If truthy, the test is skipped. If a string is
	provided, that string is displayed in the test results as the reason for
	skipping the test. Default: `false`.
	* `todo` {boolean\|string} If truthy, the test marked as `TODO`. If a string
	is provided, that string is displayed in the test results as the reason why
	the test is `TODO`. Default: `false`.

test_runner: todo/skip/expectFailure are truthy per docs, but implementation is otherwise #61815

Description

Version

Subsystem

What steps will reproduce the bug?

What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?

Additional information

Activity

ljharb commented on Feb 15, 2026

JakobJingleheimer commented on Feb 15, 2026

vassudanagunta commented on Feb 15, 2026

github-actions commented on Jul 20, 2026

vassudanagunta commented on Jul 20, 2026

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

Labels

Type

Projects

Milestone

Relationships

Development

Issue actions