🌟 [Major]: Parallel test run, configuration file and further modularization

[MariusStorhaug]

The PSModule v4 release is a major overhaul of the PowerShell module workflow, introducing significant architectural changes to improve speed, modularity, and maintainability. This update continues on the goal to split the once-monolithic process into distinct GitHub Actions for building, testing, documenting, and publishing modules. By refactoring the workflow into isolated steps and enabling parallel execution, v4 dramatically optimizes build and test times while ensuring a more reliable and customizable process for module developers.

Diagram - Old version

Features

Parallel Testing & Results Aggregation

The workflow has been reworked to support flexible, parallelizable test runs. The Test-PSModule action will now execute tests in parallel via matrix jobs (e.g. across multiple OSes or test stages). Separate helper actions (Get-PesterTestResults and Get-PesterCodeCoverage) have been introduced to aggregate Pester test outcomes and code coverage from those parallel jobs, providing unified reporting and enforcing test success and coverage thresholds across the matrix.

• Fixes 🚀[Feature]: Run each PesterTest in parallel #78
• Fixes 🚀[Feature]: Merge results on module tests to get correct coverage stats #119

Central Configuration File

A new configuration hierarchy allows customizing the process through a YAML (JSON or PSD1) settings file. Users can include a .github/PSModule.yml in their module repo to override defaults. This centralized config makes the pipeline more flexible and eliminates the need for hard-coded inputs in workflow files.

• Fixes 🚀[Feature]: Configure the process using a config hierarchy #144
• Fixes 🚀[Feature]: Have the option of not deleting prereleases #81
• Fixes 🚀[Feature]: Add functionality to skip tests #159

Dedicated Documentation Step

Documentation generation is now handled by a new Document-PSModule action. This step automatically builds the module's documentation (using PlatyPS) and uploads as an artifact, so that other steps can build a site and publish it to GitHub Pages. By isolating documentation in its own action, v4 ensures that doc-specific tools (e.g. PlatyPS and MkDocs) run without interference from build or test modules, and documentation is kept up-to-date with each release.

• Fixes 🚀[Feature]: Isolate build, test and document process #148
• Fixes 🚀[Feature]: Document-PSModule #77
• Fixes 🩹 [Patch]: Move mkdocs definition file under .github #95

Shared Helper Module Action

A new Install-PSModuleHelpers action has been introduced as a foundational setup step. It installs and configures common helper functions used by the pipeline (for example, version specification conversion, module dependency resolution, and module installation utilities). This ensures all subsequent actions operate with a consistent environment and shared logic. Common functionality like resolving module dependencies (Resolve-PSModuleDependency) and version parsing has been consolidated here, reducing duplication across the build/test/publish steps.

Enhanced Platform and Compatibility Support

The v4 workflow expands support and testing across platforms and PowerShell versions. The Test-PSModule action runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS with PowerShell Core (and includes light support for Windows PowerShell 5.1 for basic compatibility).

• Fixes 🚀[Feature]: Light support PS 5.1 #146

New test actions

Static analysis is performed via a dedicated Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer GitHub action, and Pester tests are executed in an isolated context via the Invoke-Pester GitHub action, ensuring consistent behavior across different environments and increases the reusability of the automation we built around Pester. The new design also honors repository-specific analyzer settings (automatically picking up settings from .github/linters/.powershell-psscriptanalyzer.psd1 in the repo for static code analysis), allowing module developers to customize linting rules.

• Fixes 🩹 [Patch]: Specify inclusion or exclusion rules for PsScriptAnalyzer #108
• Fixes [Feature] Add ability to override the PSScriptAnalyser settings file from local repo #130

Modular Workflows

By splitting the CI/CD process into discrete actions and enabling concurrency, the overall pipeline runtime is greatly reduced. Linting, unit tests, and integration tests can run in parallel, and the build step no longer blocks documentation or analysis. This time-optimized process means quicker feedback on pull requests and faster delivery of new module releases.

Simplified Build & Publish Process

The Build-PSModule action has been refactored into a pure module builder. New inputs like ArtifactName and WorkingDirectory give more control over build output naming and source path. The build step now produces a clean module package and uploads it as an artifact called module. Likewise, the Publish-PSModule action has been bumped to v2 with a clearer interface – it removes the old monolithic ConfigurationFile input in favor of explicit inputs and the new central settings file. The publish logic now uses the repository’s context (working directory defaulting to .) and respects the unified settings, simplifying how modules are published to the PowerShell Gallery.

Robust Dependency Handling

Module dependency resolution during builds is now more reliable and up-to-date. The pipeline switched to using PSResourceGet for installing required module dependencies, replacing the legacy PowerShellGet v2 approach. This change ensures compatibility with the latest PowerShell module packaging standards and improves the speed and success of acquiring dependencies. The helper scripts (Convert-VersionSpec and Resolve-PSModuleDependency) were moved into the shared helpers module, and their logic was hardened with better retry and null-check mechanisms when querying the PowerShell Gallery.

• Fixes 🩹 [Patch]: Refactor module dependency resolver to use PSResourceGet #62

Better Logging and Diagnostics

Each action now provides more transparent logging and output for easier troubleshooting. The Publish step, for example, now logs all input parameters at the start of execution for traceability. Verbose logging in dependency resolution has been replaced with clear console output to ensure important information is always visible. The Get-PesterTestResults action prints a detailed summary of test suites executed, including counts of passed/failed/skipped tests, and will mark the workflow as failed if any tests did not run or failed – giving immediate feedback if something went wrong in the parallel test jobs.

• Fixes 🩹 [Patch]: Order the properties of a hashtable-based RequiredModule entry #91

Other smaller issues

• Fixes 🪲[Bug]: Link in PowerShell Gallery publish comment on PR is incorrect. Remove the 'v' in the version :) #82

Related actions and PRs

• Install-PSModuleHelpers | 🌟 [Major]: Introducing Install-PSModuleHelpers Install-PSModuleHelpers#2
• Test-PSModule | 🌟 [Major]: Support parallel workflows and split in concerns Test-PSModule#98
• Get-PesterTestResults | 🌟 [Major]: Introducing Get-PesterTestResults Get-PesterTestResults#2
• Get-PesterCodeCoverage | 🌟 [Major]: Introducing Get-PesterCodeCoverage Get-PesterCodeCoverage#1
• Invoke-Pester
• Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer
• Document-PSModule | 🌟 [Major]: Introducing Document-PSModule Document-PSModule#16
• Build-PSModule | 🌟 [Major]: Standalone Module Builder with isolation Build-PSModule#108
• Publish-PSModule | 🌟 [Major]: Using settings from Process-PSModule + common dependencies Publish-PSModule#49