Implementation:Nightwatchjs Nightwatch Nightwatch CLI

Knowledge Sources	Nightwatch Nightwatch CLI Reference
Domains	Testing, CLI, Test_Execution
Last Updated	2026-02-12 00:00 GMT

Overview

Concrete CLI entry point for executing Nightwatch.js test suites via Nightwatch.cli() and CliRunner.

Description

Nightwatch.cli() is the primary entry point for command-line test execution. It parses CLI arguments via yargs, then invokes a callback with the parsed argv object. The bin/runner.js entry point calls Nightwatch.cli(), creates a CliRunner instance, sets up configuration, and runs tests. The exit code is 0 for success and 10 for test failures.

Usage

This is invoked automatically when running npx nightwatch from the command line. It can also be used in custom runner scripts that need CLI argument processing.

Code Reference

Source Location

Repository: nightwatch
File: lib/index.js (lines 231-272)
File: bin/runner.js (lines 1-41)

Signature

/**
 * CLI entry point - parses arguments and invokes callback
 * @param {Function} callback - receives parsed argv object
 */
Nightwatch.cli(callback: (argv: Object) => void) -> void

// argv properties:
//   _source: string[]    - test file paths
//   env: string          - browser environment name
//   headless: boolean    - run in headless mode
//   parallel: boolean    - enable parallel execution
//   config: string       - configuration file path
//   reporter: string     - reporter type
//   help: boolean        - show help
//   version: boolean     - show version
//   info: boolean        - show environment info

Import

const Nightwatch = require('nightwatch');

I/O Contract

Inputs

Name	Type	Required	Description
callback	Function	Yes	Function receiving parsed CLI argv object
argv._source	string[]	No	Test file paths to execute
argv.env	string	No	Browser environment (chrome, firefox, etc.)
argv.headless	boolean	No	Run browser in headless mode
argv.parallel	boolean	No	Enable parallel test execution
argv.config	string	No	Path to configuration file

Outputs

Name	Type	Description
Test execution	void	Tests are run; results reported
Exit code	number	0 = all passed, 10 = failures occurred

Usage Examples

CLI Usage

# Run all tests
npx nightwatch

# Run specific test file
npx nightwatch tests/login.js

# Run with specific browser
npx nightwatch --env firefox

# Run in headless mode
npx nightwatch --headless

# Run tests in parallel
npx nightwatch --parallel

Custom Runner Script

const Nightwatch = require('nightwatch');

try {
  Nightwatch.cli(function(argv) {
    argv._source = argv['_'].slice(0);

    const runner = Nightwatch.CliRunner(argv);

    return runner
      .setupAsync()
      .then(() => runner.runTests())
      .catch((err) => {
        console.error(err);
        runner.processListener.setExitCode(10).exit();
      });
  });
} catch (err) {
  console.error('Failed to start Nightwatch Runner:', err.message);
  process.exit(2);
}

Related Pages

Implements Principle

Principle:Nightwatchjs_Nightwatch_Test_Execution

Requires Environment

Uses Heuristic

Heuristic:Nightwatchjs_Nightwatch_Safari_Parallel_Limitation

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Principle

Implementation

Heuristic

Environment