eslint-plugin-no-only-tests

ESLint rule for .only tests in Mocha, Jest, Jasmine, Mocha Cakes 2 and other JS testing libraries.

The following test blocks are matched by default: describe, it, context, tape, test, fixture, serial, Feature, Scenario, Given, And, When and Then.

Designed to prevent you from committing focused (.only) tests to CI, which may prevent your entire test suite from running.

If the testing framework you use doesn't use .only to focus tests, you can override the matchers with options.

Installation

Install ESLint if you haven't done so already, then install eslint-plugin-no-only-tests:

bun add --dev eslint eslint-plugin-no-only-tests

This package supports Node.js 5 or newer.

This repository uses Bun as its package manager.

If you're using Oxlint only, you do not need to install ESLint.

Usage

Flat Config (ESLint >= 9)

If you're using ESLint's flat config format, add the plugin to your eslint.config.js:

import noOnlyTests from "eslint-plugin-no-only-tests";

export default [
  {
    plugins: {
      "no-only-tests": noOnlyTests,
    },
    rules: {
      "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": "error",
    },
  },
];

Traditional Config (.eslintrc)

Add no-only-tests to the plugins section of your .eslintrc configuration file. You can omit the eslint-plugin- prefix:

"plugins": [
  "no-only-tests"
]

Then add the rule to the rules section of your .eslintrc:

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": "error"
}

Oxlint

Add eslint-plugin-no-only-tests to the jsPlugins section of your .oxlintrc.json.

"jsPlugins": ["eslint-plugin-no-only-tests"],

Then add the rule to the rules section of your .oxlintrc.json:

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": "error"
}

Tip

This package already works with Oxlint via jsPlugins. In v3.4.0, the rule was updated to use Oxlint's performance-focused createOnce API internally while keeping the same external configuration and ESLint compatibility.

Native test runner support

Some test runners can already fail focused tests at runtime:

• Mocha: --forbid-only
• Playwright Test: forbidOnly: !!process.env.CI
• Vitest: fails on .only in CI by default unless allowOnly is enabled

This plugin is still useful with those runners if you want editor feedback, ESLint-based CI, or opt-in autofixing.

Common framework setups

Jest

The default configuration works for describe.only, it.only and test.only:

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": "error"
}

Jest note: use this plugin when you want .only enforcement during linting, in editors, or in ESLint-based CI.

If your codebase also uses Jest's fit or fdescribe aliases, add them with functions:

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": ["error", { "functions": ["fit", "fdescribe"] }]
}

Vitest

The default configuration works for describe.only, it.only, test.only, and chained calls such as test.concurrent.only:

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": "error"
}

Note

Vitest already fails the run in CI when it encounters .only. The official allowOnly setting defaults to !process.env.CI, so focused tests fail by default in CI unless you opt back in.

Bun

If you use bun:test, the default configuration works for test.only and describe.only:

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": "error"
}

Note

Bun documents bun test --only as the switch that enables focused execution. Plain bun test still runs the full test suite, even when .only appears in the codebase.

Mocha

Mocha uses describe.only and it.only, so the default configuration works:

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": "error"
}

Note

Mocha has a native CI/runtime guard via --forbid-only, which fails the run if exclusive tests are present.

Cypress

Cypress uses Mocha-style describe.only and it.only, so the default configuration works:

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": "error"
}

Playwright Test

The default configuration works for test.only, test.describe.only, and similar chained APIs:

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": "error"
}

Note

Playwright has a native CI/runtime guard via forbidOnly.

Jasmine

Jasmine uses focused functions such as fit and fdescribe, so add them with functions:

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": ["error", { "functions": ["fit", "fdescribe"] }]
}

AVA

The default configuration works for AVA when your imported test function is named test, including test.only and test.serial.only:

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": "error"
}

If you alias the import, add the local name to block:

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": ["error", { "block": ["check"] }]
}

import check from "ava";

check.only("focused test", (t) => {
  t.pass();
});

node:test

node:test supports both .only helpers such as describe.only(...) and an options-based { only: true } API.

This rule can catch the .only call style with the default configuration:

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": "error"
}

node:test note: --test-only enables focused execution. It is not a fail-the-build guard like Mocha's --forbid-only or Playwright's forbidOnly.

Without --test-only, Node currently prints an informational message that only requires the --test-only flag and still exits successfully after running the tests.

This rule also does not flag object options such as { only: true }, so that node:test API shape is not fully covered by either the default runtime behavior or this plugin.

Overrides

If you use a testing framework that uses a test block name that isn't present in the defaults, or a different way of focusing test (something other than .only) you can specify an array of blocks and focus methods to match in the options.

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": [
    "error", {
      "block": ["test", "it", "assert"],
      "focus": ["only", "focus"]
    }
  ]
}

The above example will catch any uses of test.only, test.focus, it.only, it.focus, assert.only and assert.focus.

This rule supports opt-in autofixing when the fix option is set to true to avoid changing runtime code unintentionally when configured in an editor.

"rules": {
  "no-only-tests/no-only-tests": ["error", {"fix": true}]
}

Options

Option	Type	Description
block	string[]	Specify the block names that your testing framework uses. Add a * to the end of any string to enable prefix matching (ie. test* will match testExample.only) Defaults to ["describe", "it", "context", "test", "tape", "fixture", "serial", "Feature", "Scenario", "Given", "And", "When", "Then"]
focus	string[]	Specify the focus scope that your testing framework uses. Defaults to ["only"]
functions	string[]	Specify not permitted functions. Good examples are fit or xit. Defaults to [] (disabled)
fix	boolean	Enable this rule to auto-fix violations, useful for a pre-commit hook, not recommended for users with auto-fixing enabled in their editor. Defaults to false