---
id: pynose
version: "1.5.5"
license: GNU LGPL
license_treatment: copyleft
maintenance: active
---

# pynose — pynose fixes nose to extend unittest and make testing easier

License: copyleft · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 1.1M/mo

## What it is and what it does

pynose is a maintained fork that extends unittest with automatic test discovery and flexible test selection. It fixes multiple compatibility issues that broke the original version under modern Python—including AttributeError from deprecated collections.Callable and inspect.getargspec, ImportError from unittest internals, and deprecation warnings from pkg_resources. The package replaces the obsolete imp module with importlib and adds features like --capture-logs, --logging-init, and --capture-output for controlling test output verbosity.

Developers use pynose to run tests via command-line tools, which automatically discover test files and functions matching naming patterns, run them with unittest semantics, and capture stdout and logging output from failing tests for debugging. Configuration can be set via command-line flags, .noserc files, or setup.cfg. The package supports plugins for doctest, code coverage, and profiling, and runs on Python 3.7 through 3.14 across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Use it for:

- Migrate legacy test suites to modern Python without rewriting tests or switching frameworks.
- Run tests with automatic discovery and flexible selection by file, module, or test case name.
- Debug failing tests by capturing and displaying print() output and log messages alongside failures.
- Configure test behavior via .noserc or setup.cfg files instead of repeating command-line options.
- Use doctest, coverage, or profiling plugins to extend test capabilities without modifying test code.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

pynose is an updated test runner that extends unittest with automatic test discovery, flexible test selection, and output capture—fixing compatibility issues for modern Python versions.

Yes. pynose is worth installing if you have an existing test suite or prefer its discovery and output-capture model. It is actively maintained, has no runtime dependencies, installs easily, and fixes all known compatibility issues with modern Python. The copyleft license (GNU LGPL) is not a barrier for most open-source projects but should be reviewed by proprietary teams. No known vulnerabilities.

## Install

pip install pynose
uv add pynose
poetry add pynose

## Installing pynose

Before you install: Low install friction with no runtime dependencies. Actively maintained as of 2026-06-01 with recent releases; compatible with Python 3.7 through 3.14.

License in practice: Licensed under GNU LGPL (copyleft). Any derivative work or modification must be distributed under the same or compatible copyleft license; proprietary projects should review copyleft obligations before use.

Quickstart:

pip install pynose

# Run tests in current directory
pynose

# Or use the nosetests command
nosetests [options] [test files or directories]

# Or import in a script
import pynose

Requires Python 3.7 or later.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package maintains full backward compatibility with plugins written for the original nose.
- Performance characteristics compared to other test discovery tools for large test suites.
- Specific details on which plugins are included or supported by default.

## Package facts

- License: GNU LGPL (copyleft)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 1.1M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

test runner discovery, unittest extension, automatic test collection, python testing tool, test output capture, doctest runner, test framework, test-discovery, unittest-extension, legacy-migration

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/pynose) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/pynose/)