fix(runner): fail test on syntax error instead of silent halt (#628)

Author: Chemaclass

.github/workflows/static_analysis.yml

@@ -25,4 +25,6 @@ jobs:
         uses: ludeeus/action-shellcheck@master
         env:
           SHELLCHECK_OPTS: -e SC1091 -e SC2155 -e SC2016
+        with:
+          ignore_names: test_bashunit_when_syntax_error.bash
 

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 - Fix `clock::now` shell-time parsing when `EPOCHREALTIME` uses a comma decimal separator
 - Fix LCOV and HTML coverage reports generating incomplete/empty output due to post-increment operator causing silent exit under `set -e` (#618)
 - Enable parallel test execution on Alpine Linux; previously gated off due to race conditions, now resolved (#370)
+- Fix syntax error in test file silently passing; now reported as a failing test (#220)
 
 ## [0.34.1](https://github.com/TypedDevs/bashunit/compare/0.34.0...0.34.1) - 2026-03-20
 

docs/test-files.md

@@ -129,3 +129,23 @@ function tear_down_after_script() {
 }
 ```
 :::
+
+## Syntax errors in test files
+
+If a test file contains a Bash syntax error, **bashunit** records a failing
+test for that file instead of silently skipping the remaining tests. The exact
+error message from Bash (including file path and line number) is shown in the
+summary, and the suite exits with a non-zero status.
+
+```
+Running tests/example_test.sh
+✗ Error: Source
+    tests/example_test.sh: line 10: syntax error near unexpected token `fi'
+    tests/example_test.sh: line 10: `  fi'
+
+Tests:      1 failed, 1 total
+Some tests failed
+```
+
+This guarantees a broken test file always fails the suite, so it never
+passes by absence.

src/runner.sh

@@ -72,8 +72,26 @@ function bashunit::runner::load_test_files() {
     scripts_ids[scripts_ids_count]="${BASHUNIT_CURRENT_SCRIPT_ID}"
     scripts_ids_count=$((scripts_ids_count + 1))
     bashunit::internal_log "Loading file" "$test_file"
+    local source_err_file source_err source_status
+    source_err_file="$(bashunit::temp_file "source_err")"
     # shellcheck source=/dev/null
-    source "$test_file"
+    source "$test_file" 2>"$source_err_file"
+    source_status=$?
+    source_err=""
+    if [ -s "$source_err_file" ]; then
+      source_err="$(cat "$source_err_file")"
+    fi
+    rm -f "$source_err_file"
+    if [ "$source_status" -ne 0 ] || [ "$(printf '%s' "$source_err" \
+      | "$GREP" -cE 'syntax error|unexpected EOF' || true)" -gt 0 ]; then
+      local message="$source_err"
+      [ -z "$message" ] && message="Failed to source '$test_file' (exit $source_status)"
+      bashunit::runner::record_file_hook_failure \
+        "source" "$test_file" "$message" 1 true
+      bashunit::runner::clean_set_up_and_tear_down_after_script
+      bashunit::runner::restore_workdir
+      continue
+    fi
     # Update function cache after sourcing new test file
     _BASHUNIT_CACHED_ALL_FUNCTIONS=$(declare -F | awk '{print $3}')
     # Check if any tests match the filter before rendering header or running hooks

tests/acceptance/bashunit_syntax_error_test.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+function set_up_before_script() {
+  TEST_ENV_FILE="tests/acceptance/fixtures/.env.default"
+}
+
+function strip_ansi() {
+  sed -E 's/\x1B\[[0-9;]*[A-Za-z]//g'
+}
+
+function test_bashunit_when_test_file_has_syntax_error() {
+  local test_file=./tests/acceptance/fixtures/test_bashunit_when_syntax_error.bash
+
+  local actual_raw
+  set +e
+  actual_raw="$(LC_ALL=C LANG=C ./bashunit \
+    --no-parallel --detailed --env "$TEST_ENV_FILE" "$test_file" 2>&1)"
+  set -e
+
+  local actual
+  actual="$(printf "%s" "$actual_raw" | strip_ansi)"
+
+  assert_contains "failed" "$actual"
+  assert_contains "Error" "$actual"
+  assert_general_error "$(LC_ALL=C LANG=C ./bashunit \
+    --no-parallel --env "$TEST_ENV_FILE" "$test_file" 2>&1)"
+}

tests/acceptance/fixtures/test_bashunit_when_syntax_error.bash

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+function test_good() {
+  assert_equals 1 1
+}
+
+function test_with_syntax_error() {
+  if [ 1 -eq 1 ]
+    echo "missing then keyword"
+  fi
+}
+
+function test_another() {
+  assert_equals 2 2
+}