--- id: pytest-hot-reloading version: "0.1.0a19" license: unclear license_treatment: unclear maintenance: dormant --- # pytest-hot-reloading License: unclear · Maintenance: dormant · Downloads: 189.0K/mo ## What it is and what it does pytest-hot-reloading is a pytest plugin that runs a background daemon to watch your test files and automatically reload them without restarting the entire pytest process. Instead of re-importing libraries and re-running initialization logic on every test run, it caches those expensive operations and only re-executes the test code itself, dramatically reducing iteration time for large projects with slow imports. The plugin uses jurigged to monitor file changes and cachetools to store import state across runs. It trades off first-run speed (which can be 10–100% slower due to the caching overhead) for much faster subsequent runs. It requires Python 3.10 or later, must be configured in your pytest settings, and needs the daemon to be started separately or with a command-line flag. The plugin is dormant (last updated 690 days ago) and has no known vulnerabilities, but also receives no active maintenance. Use it for: - Speeding up test-driven development workflows where you run the same test suite repeatedly with small code changes. - Large projects with slow import times where skipping re-imports on each test run saves seconds per iteration. - Django projects using --keep-db to preserve the test database across hot-reloaded runs. - Development environments where you want to keep a pytest daemon running in the background and trigger tests from your IDE. ## Worth the install? AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying. A pytest plugin that runs a daemon to watch and hot-reload test code, skipping repeated imports and initialization to speed up test iteration cycles. Yes, if you have a large project with slow imports and run tests frequently during development. The dormant maintenance status and unclear license are minor concerns; the bigger risk is that the plugin may not work with all libraries (it notes workarounds exist but require manual setup) and can occasionally enter a bad state requiring a restart. Not worth installing if your test suite runs in under 5 seconds, or if you need active maintenance and support. ## Install pip install pytest-hot-reloading uv add pytest-hot-reloading poetry add pytest-hot-reloading ## Installing pytest-hot-reloading Before you install: Low install friction with only two runtime dependencies (cachetools and jurigged). Maintenance is dormant—last release was 690 days ago—so expect no active bug fixes or feature updates, though no known vulnerabilities are recorded. License in practice: License status is unclear; no SPDX identifier or raw license text is available in the metadata, so you cannot verify licensing terms before use. Quickstart: pip install pytest-hot-reloading Add to pyproject.toml: [tool.pytest.ini_options] addopts = "-p pytest_hot_reloading.plugin" Then run: pytest --daemon And in another terminal: pytest Requires Python 3.10 or later. Daemon must be started separately or with --daemon-start-if-needed flag; VS Code's default test adapter may hang unless you opt out of the experimental pythonTestAdapter. Verify before relying: - Whether the dormant maintenance status means critical bugs remain unfixed or if the plugin is stable enough for production-like dev workflows. - Real-world compatibility with popular test frameworks (Django, FastAPI, etc.) beyond the Django --keep-db note. - Whether the unclear license is a blocker for your organization's policy. ## Package facts - License: not declared (unclear) - Python support: supports_current - Install friction: low - Maintenance: dormant - Downloads: 189.0K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI) - Known vulnerabilities: none known ## Tags pytest hot reload plugin, fast test rerun daemon, pytest file watcher, skip test imports, pytest development speed, test iteration cache, pytest daemon mode, test-performance, dev-tool, pytest-plugin [View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/pytest-hot-reloading) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/pytest-hot-reloading/)