Rework e2e test setup for full isolation

Always start an isolated ephemeral Gitea instance with its own temp
directory, SQLite database, and config file. This addresses review
feedback that using the developer's existing instance is unreliable.

- Rewrite test-e2e.sh to create a temp workdir, find a free port,
  write a minimal app.ini, start the server, and clean up on exit
- Build a separate gitea-e2e binary using TEST_TAGS (includes sqlite)
- Simplify CI workflow: remove manual app.ini, server start, and
  redundant build steps
- Rename all env vars to use GITEA_TEST_E2E_* prefix
- Rename test user from "e2e" to "e2e-user"

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

.github/workflows/pull-e2e-tests.yml

@@ -31,32 +31,10 @@ jobs:
           node-version: 24
           cache: pnpm
           cache-dependency-path: pnpm-lock.yaml
-      - run: make deps-backend
-      - run: make backend
-        env:
-          TAGS: bindata sqlite sqlite_unlock_notify
       - run: make deps-frontend
       - run: make frontend
-      - run: |
+      - run: make deps-backend
-          mkdir -p custom/conf
+      - run: make test-e2e
-          cat <<'EOF' > custom/conf/app.ini
-          [database]
-          DB_TYPE = sqlite3
-
-          [server]
-          HTTP_PORT = 3000
-          ROOT_URL = http://localhost:3000
-
-          [service]
-          ENABLE_CAPTCHA = false
-
-          [security]
-          INSTALL_LOCK = true
-          EOF
-      - run: ./gitea web &
-      - run: make playwright
-      - run: E2E_URL=http://localhost:3000 make test-e2e
         timeout-minutes: 10
         env:
           FORCE_COLOR: 1
-          TAGS: bindata sqlite sqlite_unlock_notify

.gitignore

@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ cpu.out
 *.log.*.gz
 
 /gitea
+/gitea-e2e
 /gitea-vet
 /debug
 /integrations.test

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -184,9 +184,8 @@ Here's how to run the test suite:
 
 |  Variable       | Description                                                                 |
 | :-------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
-|``E2E_URL``      | URL of the Gitea server to test against (default: read from ``app.ini``)    |
+|``GITEA_TEST_E2E_DEBUG``    | When set, show Gitea server output                                          |
-|``E2E_DEBUG``    | When set, show Gitea server output (only for auto-started server)           |
+|``GITEA_TEST_E2E_FLAGS``    | Additional flags passed to Playwright (e.g. ``--headed --debug``)           |
-|``E2E_FLAGS``    | Additional flags passed to Playwright (e.g. ``--headed --debug``)           |
 
 ## Translation
 

Makefile

@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ clean-all: clean ## delete backend, frontend and integration files
 
 .PHONY: clean
 clean: ## delete backend and integration files
-	rm -rf $(EXECUTABLE) $(DIST) $(BINDATA_DEST_WILDCARD) \
+	rm -rf $(EXECUTABLE) gitea-e2e $(DIST) $(BINDATA_DEST_WILDCARD) \
 		integrations*.test \
 		tests/integration/gitea-integration-* \
 		tests/integration/indexers-* \
@@ -534,8 +534,9 @@ playwright: deps-frontend
 	@$(NODE_VARS) pnpm exec playwright install $(if $(GITHUB_ACTIONS),,--with-deps) chromium $(PLAYWRIGHT_FLAGS)
 
 .PHONY: test-e2e
-test-e2e: playwright $(EXECUTABLE)
+test-e2e: playwright
-	@EXECUTABLE=$(EXECUTABLE) ./tools/test-e2e.sh $(E2E_FLAGS)
+	$(GO) build $(GOFLAGS) $(EXTRA_GOFLAGS) -tags '$(TEST_TAGS)' -ldflags '-s -w $(EXTLDFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS)' -o gitea-e2e
+	@EXECUTABLE=gitea-e2e ./tools/test-e2e.sh $(GITEA_TEST_E2E_FLAGS)
 
 .PHONY: bench-sqlite
 bench-sqlite: integrations.sqlite.test generate-ini-sqlite

playwright.config.ts

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
     timeout: env.CI ? 6000 : 3000,
   },
   use: {
-    baseURL: env.E2E_URL?.replace?.(/\/$/g, ''),
+    baseURL: env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_URL?.replace?.(/\/$/g, ''),
     locale: 'en-US',
     actionTimeout: env.CI ? 6000 : 3000,
     navigationTimeout: env.CI ? 12000 : 6000,

tests/e2e/env.d.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 declare namespace NodeJS {
   interface ProcessEnv {
-    E2E_USER: string;
+    GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER: string;
-    E2E_PASSWORD: string;
+    GITEA_TEST_E2E_EMAIL: string;
-    E2E_URL: string;
+    GITEA_TEST_E2E_PASSWORD: string;
+    GITEA_TEST_E2E_URL: string;
   }
 }

tests/e2e/milestone.test.ts

@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ test('create a milestone', async ({page}) => {
   const repoName = `e2e-milestone-${Date.now()}`;
   await login(page);
   await apiCreateRepo(page.request, {name: repoName});
-  await page.goto(`/${env.E2E_USER}/${repoName}/milestones/new`);
+  await page.goto(`/${env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER}/${repoName}/milestones/new`);
   await page.getByPlaceholder('Title').fill('Test Milestone');
   await page.getByRole('button', {name: 'Create Milestone'}).click();
   await expect(page.locator('.milestone-list')).toContainText('Test Milestone');
-  await apiDeleteRepo(page.request, env.E2E_USER, repoName);
+  await apiDeleteRepo(page.request, env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER, repoName);
 });

tests/e2e/readme.test.ts

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import {apiCreateRepo, apiDeleteRepo} from './utils.ts';
 test('README renders on repository page', async ({page}) => {
   const repoName = `e2e-readme-${Date.now()}`;
   await apiCreateRepo(page.request, {name: repoName});
-  await page.goto(`/${env.E2E_USER}/${repoName}`);
+  await page.goto(`/${env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER}/${repoName}`);
   await expect(page.locator('#readme')).toContainText(repoName);
-  await apiDeleteRepo(page.request, env.E2E_USER, repoName);
+  await apiDeleteRepo(page.request, env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER, repoName);
 });

tests/e2e/register.test.ts

@@ -51,13 +51,13 @@ test('register then login', async ({page}) => {
 
   // delete via API because of issues related to form-fetch-action
   const response = await page.request.delete(`/api/v1/admin/users/${username}?purge=true`, {
-    headers: {Authorization: `Basic ${btoa(`${env.E2E_USER}:${env.E2E_PASSWORD}`)}`},
+    headers: {Authorization: `Basic ${btoa(`${env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER}:${env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_PASSWORD}`)}`},
   });
   expect(response.ok()).toBeTruthy();
 });
 
 test('register with existing username shows error', async ({page}) => {
-  await page.getByLabel('Username').fill('e2e');
+  await page.getByLabel('Username').fill('e2e-user');
   await page.getByLabel('Email Address').fill('e2e-duplicate@e2e.gitea.com');
   await page.getByLabel('Password', {exact: true}).fill('password123!');
   await page.getByLabel('Confirm Password').fill('password123!');

tests/e2e/repo.test.ts

@@ -8,6 +8,6 @@ test('create a repository', async ({page}) => {
   await page.goto('/repo/create');
   await page.locator('input[name="repo_name"]').fill(repoName);
   await page.getByRole('button', {name: 'Create Repository'}).click();
-  await page.waitForURL(new RegExp(`/${env.E2E_USER}/${repoName}$`));
+  await page.waitForURL(new RegExp(`/${env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER}/${repoName}$`));
-  await apiDeleteRepo(page.request, env.E2E_USER, repoName);
+  await apiDeleteRepo(page.request, env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER, repoName);
 });

tests/e2e/utils.ts

@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@ import {expect} from '@playwright/test';
 import type {APIRequestContext, Locator, Page} from '@playwright/test';
 
 export function apiBaseUrl() {
-  return env.E2E_URL?.replace(/\/$/g, '');
+  return env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_URL?.replace(/\/$/g, '');
 }
 
 export function apiHeaders() {
-  return {Authorization: `Basic ${globalThis.btoa(`${env.E2E_USER}:${env.E2E_PASSWORD}`)}`};
+  return {Authorization: `Basic ${globalThis.btoa(`${env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER}:${env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_PASSWORD}`)}`};
 }
 
 async function apiRetry(fn: () => Promise<{ok: () => boolean; status: () => number; text: () => Promise<string>}>, label: string) {
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ export async function clickDropdownItem(page: Page, trigger: Locator, itemText:
   await page.getByText(itemText).click();
 }
 
-export async function login(page: Page, username = env.E2E_USER, password = env.E2E_PASSWORD) {
+export async function login(page: Page, username = env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER, password = env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_PASSWORD) {
   await page.goto('/user/login');
   await page.getByLabel('Username or Email Address').fill(username);
   await page.getByLabel('Password').fill(password);

tools/test-e2e.sh

@@ -1,89 +1,90 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -euo pipefail
 
-# Determine the Gitea server URL, either from E2E_URL env var or from custom/conf/app.ini
+# Create isolated work directory
-if [ -z "${E2E_URL:-}" ]; then
+WORK_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
-  INI_FILE="custom/conf/app.ini"
-  if [ ! -f "$INI_FILE" ]; then
-    echo "error: $INI_FILE not found and E2E_URL not set" >&2
-    echo "Either start Gitea with a config or set E2E_URL explicitly:" >&2
-    echo "  E2E_URL=http://localhost:3000 make test-e2e" >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
-  # Note: this does not respect INI sections, assumes ROOT_URL only appears under [server]
-  ROOT_URL=$(sed -n 's/^ROOT_URL\s*=\s*//p' "$INI_FILE" | tr -d '[:space:]')
-  if [ -z "$ROOT_URL" ]; then
-    echo "error: ROOT_URL not found in $INI_FILE" >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
-  E2E_URL="$ROOT_URL"
-fi
 
-# Normalize URL: trim trailing slash to avoid double slashes when appending paths
+# Find a random free port
-E2E_URL="${E2E_URL%/}"
+FREE_PORT=$(node -e "const s=require('net').createServer();s.listen(0,'127.0.0.1',()=>{console.log(s.address().port);s.close()})")
 
-echo "Using Gitea server: $E2E_URL"
-
-# Disable CAPTCHA for e2e tests
-export GITEA__service__ENABLE_CAPTCHA=false
-
-SERVER_PID=""
 cleanup() {
-  if [ -n "$SERVER_PID" ]; then
+  if [ -n "${SERVER_PID:-}" ]; then
-    echo "Stopping temporary Gitea server (PID $SERVER_PID)..."
     kill "$SERVER_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
     wait "$SERVER_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
   fi
+  rm -rf "$WORK_DIR"
 }
 trap cleanup EXIT
 
-# For local development, if no gitea server is running, start a temporary one.
+# Write config file for isolated instance
-if [ -z "${CI:-}" ] && ! curl -sf --max-time 5 "$E2E_URL" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+mkdir -p "$WORK_DIR/custom/conf"
-  if [ ! -x "./$EXECUTABLE" ]; then
+cat > "$WORK_DIR/custom/conf/app.ini" <<EOF
-    echo "error: ./$EXECUTABLE not found or not executable, run 'make backend' first" >&2
+[database]
-    exit 1
+DB_TYPE = sqlite3
-  fi
+PATH = $WORK_DIR/data/gitea.db
-  echo "Starting temporary Gitea server..."
-  if [ -n "${E2E_DEBUG:-}" ]; then
-    "./$EXECUTABLE" web &
-  else
-    "./$EXECUTABLE" web > /dev/null 2>&1 &
-  fi
-  SERVER_PID=$!
-fi
 
-# Verify server is reachable, retry for up to 2 minutes for slow startup
+[server]
+HTTP_PORT = $FREE_PORT
+ROOT_URL = http://localhost:$FREE_PORT
+STATIC_ROOT_PATH = $(pwd)
+
+[security]
+INSTALL_LOCK = true
+
+[service]
+ENABLE_CAPTCHA = false
+
+[log]
+MODE = console
+LEVEL = Warn
+EOF
+
+export GITEA_WORK_DIR="$WORK_DIR"
+
+# Start Gitea server
+echo "Starting Gitea server on port $FREE_PORT (workdir: $WORK_DIR)..."
+if [ -n "${GITEA_TEST_E2E_DEBUG:-}" ]; then
+  "./$EXECUTABLE" web &
+else
+  "./$EXECUTABLE" web > "$WORK_DIR/server.log" 2>&1 &
+fi
+SERVER_PID=$!
+
+# Wait for server to be reachable
+E2E_URL="http://localhost:$FREE_PORT"
 MAX_WAIT=120
 ELAPSED=0
 while ! curl -sf --max-time 5 "$E2E_URL" > /dev/null 2>&1; do
-  if [ -n "$SERVER_PID" ] && ! kill -0 "$SERVER_PID" 2>/dev/null; then
+  if ! kill -0 "$SERVER_PID" 2>/dev/null; then
-    echo "error: Gitea server process exited unexpectedly" >&2
+    echo "error: Gitea server process exited unexpectedly. Server log:" >&2
+    cat "$WORK_DIR/server.log" 2>/dev/null >&2 || true
     exit 1
   fi
   if [ "$ELAPSED" -ge "$MAX_WAIT" ]; then
-    echo "error: Gitea server at $E2E_URL is not reachable after ${MAX_WAIT}s" >&2
+    echo "error: Gitea server not reachable after ${MAX_WAIT}s. Server log:" >&2
+    cat "$WORK_DIR/server.log" 2>/dev/null >&2 || true
     exit 1
   fi
   sleep 2
   ELAPSED=$((ELAPSED + 2))
 done
 
-# Create e2e test user if it does not already exist
+echo "Gitea server is ready at $E2E_URL"
-E2E_USER="e2e"
-E2E_EMAIL="e2e@e2e.gitea.com"
-E2E_PASSWORD="password"
-if ! curl -sf --max-time 5 "$E2E_URL/api/v1/users/$E2E_USER" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-  echo "Creating e2e test user..."
-  if "./$EXECUTABLE" admin user create --username "$E2E_USER" --email "$E2E_EMAIL" --password "$E2E_PASSWORD" --must-change-password=false --admin; then
-    echo "User '$E2E_USER' created"
-  else
-    echo "error: failed to create user '$E2E_USER'" >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
-fi
 
-export E2E_URL
+# Create admin test user
-export E2E_USER
+GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER="e2e-user"
-export E2E_PASSWORD
+GITEA_TEST_E2E_EMAIL="e2e-user@e2e.gitea.com"
+GITEA_TEST_E2E_PASSWORD="password"
+"./$EXECUTABLE" admin user create \
+  --username "$GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER" \
+  --email "$GITEA_TEST_E2E_EMAIL" \
+  --password "$GITEA_TEST_E2E_PASSWORD" \
+  --must-change-password=false \
+  --admin
+
+export GITEA_TEST_E2E_URL="$E2E_URL"
+export GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER
+export GITEA_TEST_E2E_EMAIL
+export GITEA_TEST_E2E_PASSWORD
 
 pnpm exec playwright test "$@"