@posit-dev/positron-test-electron

Download Positron and run @vscode/test-electron-style extension-host integration tests against the live positron.* API without building Positron from source.

Supports macOS (darwin-arm64, darwin-x64), Windows (win32-x64, win32-arm64), and Linux (linux-x64, linux-arm64).

Windows/Linux caveat: channel: 'daily' and pinned versions work today. The latest channel: 'stable' is not available yet — the first stable release built from the new archive workflow has not been cut. Until then, use daily or pin a version on Windows/Linux. (macOS stable works.) See issue #2.

Install

npm install --save-dev @posit-dev/positron-test-electron

Usage (programmatic)

import * as path from 'path';
import { runTests } from '@posit-dev/positron-test-electron';

async function main() {
  const code = await runTests({
    channel: 'daily', // or 'stable'; or pin: version: '2026.08.0-365'
    extensionDevelopmentPath: path.resolve(__dirname, '../../'),
    extensionTestsPath: path.resolve(__dirname, './suite/index.js'),
  });
  process.exit(code);
}
main();

Usage (CLI)

npx positron-test-electron \
  --channel daily \
  --extension-development-path . \
  --extension-tests-path ./out/test/index.js

Options

| Option | CLI flag | Default | Meaning | |---|---|---|---| | channel | --channel | daily | stable → releases, daily → dailies | | version | --version | latest | exact pin, e.g. 2026.08.0-365 (reproducible CI) | | platform | --platform | host | darwin-arm64 | darwin-x64 | win32-x64 | win32-arm64 | linux-x64 | linux-arm64 | | cachePath | --cache-path | .positron-test | cache root | | extensionDevelopmentPath | --extension-development-path | — | required | | extensionTestsPath | --extension-tests-path | — | required | | disableExtensions | --enable-extensions (sets false) | true | isolate the extension under test; set false when tests need other extensions | | launchArgs | after -- | see below | merged after the defaults |

Default launch args: --disable-extensions --skip-welcome --skip-release-notes, plus a fresh temp --user-data-dir. When disableExtensions is false, --disable-extensions is omitted so Positron's bundled extensions (language runtimes, notebook export, etc.) load alongside the extension under test.