m3_testbots

m3 Testbots

m3_testbots contains Python testbot scripts that run the Neolith driver as a subprocess in console mode and validate its behavior through piped stdin/stdout. These are integration tests focused on end-to-end interaction with the m3_mudlib.

How It Works

1. The testbot launches the Neolith driver with pexpect.PopenSpawn.
2. Commands are sent line-by-line via stdin with interactive pattern matching.
3. The driver processes commands until stdin closes (EOF).
4. On EOF the driver shuts down automatically.
5. The testbot validates a clean exit (exit code 0) and checks expected output.

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• hatch (manages the virtual environment and dependencies)
• A built Neolith driver binary

Dependencies are declared in pyproject.toml and installed automatically by hatch.

Hatch environment note

pyproject.toml sets skip-install = true for [tool.hatch.envs.default].

This project is script-only (entry points run files in src/) and is not intended to be installed as a wheel/editable package. Without skip-install, hatch run can fail during metadata generation with a file-selection error from hatchling.

If this project is later converted into an installable package, remove skip-install and define explicit build targets under [tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel].

Running the Tests

One-time hatch setup

Register this project with hatch and enable project mode so hatch run works from any directory:

hatch config set projects.m3_testbots /path/to/neolith/examples/m3_testbots
hatch config set mode project

With this configuration hatch resolves the project by name rather than by CWD, so hatch run smoke_test works from anywhere. Combined with Neolith resolving MudlibDir relative to the conf file's location, the entire test setup requires no absolute paths.

Running

hatch run smoke_test

Each testbot script controls its own driver launch arguments (config file, console mode flag, etc.). Extra arguments passed on the command line are forwarded to the driver and are typically used for driver-level flags such as debug level, epilog level, or trace flags:

hatch run smoke_test -d1 -t011     # debug level 1 and trace flags 011 (octal)
hatch run smoke_test -e1           # epilog level 1

Scripts

Script	Description
src/smoke_test.py	Sends a basic set of commands (say, help, shutdown) and validates a clean exit. Use as a template for new testbots.

Example Output

✓ Using driver: ../../out/build/linux/src/RelWithDebInfo/neolith
✓ Using config: ../m3.conf

============================================================
CONSOLE MODE AUTOMATED TEST
============================================================
Platform: posix

Input commands:
  1. say Hello from Python test!
  2. help
  3. shutdown now

Driver started. Sending commands...
------------------------------------------------------------
...
✅ TEST PASSED - Driver exited successfully

Writing New Testbots

Copy src/smoke_test.py as a starting point. Declare the new entry point in pyproject.toml under [tool.hatch.envs.default.scripts] so it can be invoked with hatch run <name>.

Further Reading

• Console Mode
• Testbot Support
• m3_mudlib