mocha-gitlab-reporter

A GitLab CI compatible JUnit XML reporter for Mocha. Generates test reports that display correctly in GitLab's merge request and pipeline interfaces.

Why This Reporter?

GitLab CI has specific requirements for JUnit XML format to properly display test results. This reporter is specifically designed to generate XML that GitLab CI expects, ensuring the test results display correctly with:

• Test names and suite hierarchies properly formatted
• Relative file paths for easy navigation
• Proper classname/name structure that GitLab recognizes
• Full support for attachments (screenshots, logs, etc.)

Installation

npm install mocha-gitlab-reporter --save-dev

Usage

Run mocha with mocha-gitlab-reporter:

mocha test --reporter mocha-gitlab-reporter

This will output a results file at ./test-results.xml.

GitLab CI Configuration

Example .gitlab-ci.yml configuration:

test:
  stage: test
  script:
    - npm install
    - mocha test --reporter mocha-gitlab-reporter
  artifacts:
    when: always
    reports:
      junit: test-results.xml

Features

Proper Test Hierarchy

The reporter automatically generates XML with the correct structure for GitLab:

• testcase classname = full suite hierarchy (e.g., "API Tests.UserController")
• testcase name = individual test name (e.g., "should create user")
• Suite titles are always separated by . for clean display in GitLab
• Full suite titles are always included (nested suite hierarchy)
• File paths are automatically included in test cases and converted to be relative to the current working directory

Console Reporter

By default, this reporter only generates the XML file without console output. To enable console output, set the consoleReporter option:

Using a .mocharc.js configuration file:

module.exports = {
  reporter: 'mocha-gitlab-reporter',
    reporterOptions: [
        "consoleReporter=spec"
    ]
};

Or via command line:

mocha test --reporter mocha-gitlab-reporter --reporter-options consoleReporter=spec

Or via environment variable:

CONSOLE_REPORTER=spec mocha test --reporter mocha-gitlab-reporter

Any built-in Mocha reporter name (spec, dot, nyan, tap, landing, list, progress, json, min, etc.) or a custom reporter module can be used.

Results Report Filename

An alternate location for the results XML file can be specified by setting the mochaFile option:

Using a .mocharc.js configuration file:

module.exports = {
  reporter: 'mocha-gitlab-reporter',
    reporterOptions: [
        "mochaFile=./path_to_your/file.xml"
    ]
};

Or via command line:

mocha test --reporter mocha-gitlab-reporter --reporter-options mochaFile=./path_to_your/file.xml

Or via environment variable:

MOCHA_FILE=./path_to_your/file.xml mocha test --reporter mocha-gitlab-reporter --reporter-options mochaFile=./path_to_your/file.xml

File Path Transformation

If your test files are built/compiled to a different directory, you can use regex to transform the file paths in the report. This is useful when you want the report to reference source files instead of compiled files.

Note: The filePathTransforms value must be a string. Use the pipe-delimited format for easier CLI usage.

Single Transformation

module.exports = {
    reporter: 'mocha-gitlab-reporter',
    reporterOptions: [
        "filePathTransforms={search: '^build/'| replace: 'src/'}"
    ]
});

Multiple Transformations

module.exports = {
    reporter: 'mocha-gitlab-reporter',
    reporterOptions: [
        "filePathTransforms=[{search: '^build/'| replace: 'src/'}|{search: '.js$'| replace: '.ts'}]"
    ]
});

This will transform paths like:

• build/modules/example.spec.js

To:

• src/modules/example.test.ts

The transformations are applied in order, so the output of the first transformation becomes the input to the second transformation.

Console Output Capture

You can capture console output and errors:

it('should report output', function() {
  this.test.consoleOutputs = ['line 1 of output', 'line 2 of output'];
});

it('should report error', function() {
  this.test.consoleErrors = ['line 1 of errors', 'line 2 of errors'];
});

Enable outputs in your reporter options:

Using a .mocharc.js configuration file:

module.exports = {
  reporter: 'mocha-gitlab-reporter',
    reporterOptions: [
        "outputs=true"
    ]
};

Attachments Support

You can attach files and screenshots using the JUnit Attachments Plugin format:

it('should display login page', function() {
  // Your test code
  this.test.attachments = ['/absolute/path/to/screenshot.png'];
});

Enable attachments in your reporter options:

module.exports = {
    reporter: 'mocha-gitlab-reporter',
    reporterOptions: [
        "attachments=true"
    ]
});

Configuration Options

Parameter	Default	Effect
mochaFile	test-results.xml	Configures the file to write reports to
includePending	false	If set to a truthy value pending tests will be included in the report
toConsole	false	If set to a truthy value the produced XML will be logged to the console
consoleReporter	null	Name of a Mocha reporter to also output to console (e.g., "spec", "dot", "nyan")
outputs	false	If set to truthy value will include console output and console error output
attachments	false	If set to truthy value will attach files to report in JUnit Attachments Plugin format
filePathTransforms	null	String with pipe-delimited transformations (e.g., "[{search: '^build/'| replace: 'src/'}]")

Results Report Filename Placeholders

Results XML filename can contain placeholders for dynamic values:

placeholder	output
[hash]	MD5 hash of test results XML
[suiteFilename]	Filename of the spec file
[suiteName]	Name of the first test suite

Example:

module.exports = {
    reporter: 'mocha-gitlab-reporter',
    reporterOptions: [
        "mochaFile=test-results.[hash].xml"
    ]
});

This enables support of parallel execution of multiple mocha-gitlab-reporter's writing test results in separate files.

Example Output

Here's what the XML output looks like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<testsuites name="Mocha Tests" time="0.050" tests="2" failures="0">
  <testsuite name="Root Suite" timestamp="2025-10-24T09:18:46" tests="0" time="0.000" failures="0">
  </testsuite>
  <testsuite name="API Tests" timestamp="2025-10-24T09:18:46" tests="0" time="0.000" failures="0">
  </testsuite>
  <testsuite name="UserController" timestamp="2025-10-24T09:18:46" tests="2" time="0.050" failures="0">
    <testcase name="should create user" time="0.025" classname="API Tests.UserController" file="test/api/user-test.js">
    </testcase>
    <testcase name="should update user" time="0.025" classname="API Tests.UserController" file="test/api/user-test.js">
    </testcase>
  </testsuite>
</testsuites>

Note how:

• classname="API Tests.UserController" - This is what GitLab displays as the suite name in the UI
• name="should create user" - The individual test name shown in GitLab
• file="test/api/user-test.js" - Relative path for navigation in GitLab

Important: GitLab reads the suite name from the testcase classname attribute, not from the testsuite name attribute.

Differences from mocha-junit-reporter

This package is a simplified, GitLab-focused fork of mocha-junit-reporter. Key differences:

• Optimized for GitLab CI - Default settings work out of the box with GitLab
• Simplified configuration - Removed Jenkins-specific and Ant-specific options

Resources

• GitLab CI Unit Test Reports Documentation
• JUnit XML Format

License

MIT