pytest-tornado

What it is and what it does

pytest-tornado is a pytest plugin that bridges the gap between pytest's synchronous test model and Tornado's asynchronous event loop. It provides fixtures (io_loop, http_server, http_client, base_url, http_port) and a gen_test marker that let you write tests for Tornado web applications using both generator-based coroutines (yield) and modern async/await syntax. The plugin manages the IOLoop lifecycle per test, spins up temporary HTTP/HTTPS servers, and handles timeouts automatically.

You define a Tornado application as a pytest fixture, then write test functions marked with @pytest.mark.gen_test that can yield or await HTTP requests. The plugin injects fixtures like http_client and base_url so your test can make requests to the test server and verify responses. It also supports HTTPS testing when you provide an ssl_options fixture.

Use it for

• Test Tornado RequestHandler classes by making HTTP requests through http_client and verifying response codes and body content.
• Write async integration tests that exercise both client and server concurrently using run_sync=False to keep them on the same IOLoop.
• Validate HTTPS endpoints by providing ssl_options and using https_server and https_client fixtures.
• Test WebSocket handlers and other async Tornado features that require a running IOLoop and real HTTP server.
• Migrate legacy Tornado test suites from older test runners to pytest while preserving async test patterns.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.

Install

pytest-tornado on PyPI

Before you install

Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel. However, the package is abandoned—last release was 2020-06-17 and no commits since then. It remains marked Production/Stable and has seen no security issues, but you should expect no maintenance for compatibility with newer pytest or Tornado versions.

Requires pytest and tornado to be installed; gen_test tests default to a 5-second timeout (configurable via ASYNC_TEST_TIMEOUT environment variable or marker argument).

License in practice

Licensed under Apache License 2.0 (permissive), so you can use, modify, and distribute it freely with minimal restrictions. No license-based barriers to adoption.

Quickstart

pip install pytest-tornado

import pytest
import tornado.web

@pytest.fixture
def app():
    return tornado.web.Application([(r"/", MyHandler)])

@pytest.mark.gen_test
def test_example(http_client, base_url):
    response = yield http_client.fetch(base_url)
    assert response.code == 200

Package facts

Evidence: pytest_tornado-0.8.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl

Tags

More Software Development packages

See also pytest-tornasync · threadloop · tornado · pytest-twisted · terminado · pytest-aio · sanic-testing · pytest-fail-slow · pytest-timeout · pytest-markdown-docs