Garbled test result output from meteortesting:mocha - testing

Question

The recommended testing framework for Meteor 1.7 seems to be meteortesting:mocha.
With Meteor 1.7.0.3 I created a default app (meteor create my-app), which has the following tests (in test/main.js)
import assert from "assert";
describe("my-app", function () {
it("package.json has correct name", async function () {
const { name } = await import("../package.json");
assert.strictEqual(name, "noteit");
});
if (Meteor.isClient) {
it("client is not server", function () {
assert.strictEqual(Meteor.isServer, false);
});
}
if (Meteor.isServer) {
it("server is not client", function () {
assert.strictEqual(Meteor.isClient, false);
});
}
});
I ran
meteor add meteortesting:mocha
meteor test --driver-package meteortesting:mocha
and with meteortesting:mocha#2.4.5_6 I got this in the console:
I20180728-12:06:37.729(2)? --------------------------------
I20180728-12:06:37.729(2)? ----- RUNNING SERVER TESTS -----
I20180728-12:06:37.729(2)? --------------------------------
I20180728-12:06:37.729(2)?
I20180728-12:06:37.730(2)?
I20180728-12:06:37.731(2)?
I20180728-12:06:37.737(2)? the server
✓ fails a test.753(2)?
I20180728-12:06:37.755(2)?
I20180728-12:06:37.756(2)?
I20180728-12:06:37.756(2)? 1 passing (26ms)
I20180728-12:06:37.756(2)?
I20180728-12:06:37.757(2)? Load the app in a browser to run client tests, or set the TEST_BROWSER_DRIVER environment variable. See https://github.com/meteortesting/meteor-mocha/blob/master/README.md#run-app-tests
=> Exited with code: 0
=> Your application is crashing. Waiting for file change.
Actually, it was repeated three times. Not pretty. And I wasn't expecting a passing test to crash my app.
Also in the browser I got this
I was expecting something more like the nice output, as per the Meteor testing guide:

Answer 1

As with most things Node.js, there are a multitude of forks of almost anything. So also with meteortesting:mocha.
cultofcoders:mocha seems to be a few commits ahead of practicalmeteor:mocha, which was at one point the recommended testing framework for Meteor.
If you run
meteor add cultofcoders:mocha
meteor test --driver-package cultofcoders:mocha
you'll get the nice output.
As a curiousity, I found that the version of cultofcoders:mocha I got (meteor list | grep mocha) was 2.4.6, a version that the github repo does not have...

Answer 2

The screenshot, you reference to, is made using practicalmeteor:mocha, but meteortesting:mocha is not (as the other answer claims) a fork of it but a separately developed package, aiming for the same goal, which is running of tests in Meteor.
The usage of the packages is very different and practicalmeteor:mocha might look a bit trickier to set up and this list only applies to it's version 1.0.1 and might change later.
But I have to admit that the documentation needs a refresh ... Anyways, here are some helpful tipps which I'll include in the documentation soon.
If you just want to get started, run this:
meteor add meteortesting:mocha
npm i --save-dev puppeteer#^1.5.0
TEST_BROWSER_DRIVER=puppeteer meteor test --driver-package meteortesting:mocha --raw-logs --once
Do you want to exit after the tests are completed or re-run them after file-change?
Usually, Meteor will restart your application when it exits (a normal exit or a crash), which includes the test-runner.
In case you want to use it in one of your CI or you just want to run the tests once, add --once to the meteor-command, otherwise set TEST_WATCH=1 before running this script. If you don't set the env variable, and don't define --once, Meteor will print these lines and restart the tests once they're finished:
=> Exited with code: 0
=> Your application is crashing. Waiting for file change.
As of now I haven't found a way to check if the flag --once is set, which would omit the env variable. The flexibility here to choose between CI and continuous testing is very useful.
Maybe you're currently working on a feature and want to run the tests as you work. If you have set TEST_WATCH=1 and are not using --once, Meteor will restart the tests once it registers that a file was changed. You can even limit the test collection using MOCHA_GREP.
Where and how do you want to see the results?
You currently have to choose between seeing all the test-results on the command-line or to show the server-tests in the commandline and the client-tests in the browser. Currently practicalmeteor:mocha does not support showing the result of the server- and client-tests in the browser, as your screenshot shows.
Please take a look at the package documentation for further details:
You should disable the Meteor timestamp to make it look better.
Tests might look quite gambled because of the timestamp added to every line. To avoid this, add --raw-logs to your command.
I hope this answers most of your question. I know that the documentation needs some improvements and would welcome if someone would take the time to take it into a more logical order for people who "just want to get started".