config: add support for ini option aliases

changelog/13829.feature.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Added support for ini option aliases via the ``aliases`` parameter in :meth:`Parser.addini() <pytest.Parser.addini>`.
+
+Plugins can now register alternative names for ini options,
+allowing for more flexibility in configuration naming and supporting backward compatibility when renaming options.
+The canonical name always takes precedence if both the canonical name and an alias are specified in the configuration file.

src/_pytest/config/__init__.py

@@ -1461,7 +1461,8 @@ def pytest_collection(self) -> Generator[None, object, object]:
     def _checkversion(self) -> None:
         import pytest
 
-        minver = self.inicfg.get("minversion", None)
+        minver_ini_value = self.inicfg.get("minversion", None)
+        minver = minver_ini_value.value if minver_ini_value is not None else None
         if minver:
             # Imported lazily to improve start-up time.
             from packaging.version import Version
@@ -1519,9 +1520,9 @@ def _warn_or_fail_if_strict(self, message: str) -> None:
 
         self.issue_config_time_warning(PytestConfigWarning(message), stacklevel=3)
 
-    def _get_unknown_ini_keys(self) -> list[str]:
-        parser_inicfg = self._parser._inidict
-        return [name for name in self.inicfg if name not in parser_inicfg]
+    def _get_unknown_ini_keys(self) -> set[str]:
+        known_keys = self._parser._inidict.keys() | self._parser._ini_aliases.keys()
+        return self.inicfg.keys() - known_keys
 
     def parse(self, args: list[str], addopts: bool = True) -> None:
         # Parse given cmdline arguments into this config object.
@@ -1621,10 +1622,11 @@ def getini(self, name: str) -> Any:
         :func:`parser.addini <pytest.Parser.addini>` call (usually from a
         plugin), a ValueError is raised.
         """
+        canonical_name = self._parser._ini_aliases.get(name, name)
         try:
-            return self._inicache[name]
+            return self._inicache[canonical_name]
         except KeyError:
-            self._inicache[name] = val = self._getini(name)
+            self._inicache[canonical_name] = val = self._getini(canonical_name)
             return val
 
     # Meant for easy monkeypatching by legacypath plugin.
@@ -1636,14 +1638,32 @@ def _getini_unknown_type(self, name: str, type: str, value: object):
         raise ValueError(msg)  # pragma: no cover
 
     def _getini(self, name: str):
+        # If this is an alias, resolve to canonical name.
+        canonical_name = self._parser._ini_aliases.get(name, name)
+
         try:
-            _description, type, default = self._parser._inidict[name]
+            _description, type, default = self._parser._inidict[canonical_name]
         except KeyError as e:
             raise ValueError(f"unknown configuration value: {name!r}") from e
-        try:
-            value = self.inicfg[name]
-        except KeyError:
+
+        # Collect all possible values (canonical name + aliases) from inicfg.
+        # Each candidate is (IniValue, is_canonical).
+        candidates = []
+        if canonical_name in self.inicfg:
+            candidates.append((self.inicfg[canonical_name], True))
+        for alias, target in self._parser._ini_aliases.items():
+            if target == canonical_name and alias in self.inicfg:
+                candidates.append((self.inicfg[alias], False))
+
+        if not candidates:
             return default
+
+        # Pick the best candidate based on precedence:
+        # 1. CLI override takes precedence over file, then
+        # 2. Canonical name takes precedence over alias.
+        ini_value = max(candidates, key=lambda x: (x[0].origin == "override", x[1]))[0]
+        value = ini_value.value
+
         # Coerce the values based on types.
         #
         # Note: some coercions are only required if we are reading from .ini files, because

src/_pytest/config/argparsing.py

@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ def __init__(
         self._usage = usage
         self._inidict: dict[str, tuple[str, str | None, Any]] = {}
         self._ininames: list[str] = []
+        # Maps alias -> canonical name.
+        self._ini_aliases: dict[str, str] = {}
         self.extra_info: dict[str, Any] = {}
 
     def processoption(self, option: Argument) -> None:
@@ -179,6 +181,8 @@ def addini(
         ]
         | None = None,
         default: Any = NOT_SET,
+        *,
+        aliases: Sequence[str] = (),
     ) -> None:
         """Register an ini-file option.
 
@@ -213,6 +217,12 @@ def addini(
             Defaults to ``string`` if ``None`` or not passed.
         :param default:
             Default value if no ini-file option exists but is queried.
+        :param aliases:
+            Additional names by which this option can be referenced.
+            Aliases resolve to the canonical name.
+
+            .. versionadded:: 9.0
+                The ``aliases`` parameter.
 
         The value of ini-variables can be retrieved via a call to
         :py:func:`config.getini(name) <pytest.Config.getini>`.
@@ -234,6 +244,13 @@ def addini(
         self._inidict[name] = (help, type, default)
         self._ininames.append(name)
 
+        for alias in aliases:
+            if alias in self._inidict:
+                raise ValueError(f"alias {alias!r} conflicts with existing ini option")
+            if (already := self._ini_aliases.get(alias)) is not None:
+                raise ValueError(f"{alias!r} is already an alias of {already!r}")
+            self._ini_aliases[alias] = name
+
 
 def get_ini_default_for_type(
     type: Literal[

src/_pytest/config/findpaths.py

@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@
 
 from collections.abc import Iterable
 from collections.abc import Sequence
+from dataclasses import dataclass
 import os
 from pathlib import Path
 import sys
+from typing import Literal
 from typing import TypeAlias
 
 import iniconfig
@@ -16,9 +18,23 @@
 from _pytest.pathlib import safe_exists
 
 
-# Even though TOML supports richer data types, all values are converted to str/list[str] during
-# parsing to maintain compatibility with the rest of the configuration system.
-ConfigDict: TypeAlias = dict[str, str | list[str]]
+@dataclass(frozen=True)
+class IniValue:
+    """Represents an ini configuration value with its origin.
+
+    This allows tracking whether a value came from a configuration file
+    or from a CLI override (--override-ini), which is important for
+    determining precedence when dealing with ini option aliases.
+    """
+
+    # Even though TOML supports richer data types, all values are converted to
+    # str/list[str] during parsing to maintain compatibility with the rest of
+    # the configuration system.
+    value: str | list[str]
+    origin: Literal["file", "override"]
+
+
+ConfigDict: TypeAlias = dict[str, IniValue]
 
 
 def _parse_ini_config(path: Path) -> iniconfig.IniConfig:
@@ -45,7 +61,7 @@ def load_config_dict_from_file(
         iniconfig = _parse_ini_config(filepath)
 
         if "pytest" in iniconfig:
-            return dict(iniconfig["pytest"].items())
+            return {k: IniValue(v, "file") for k, v in iniconfig["pytest"].items()}
         else:
             # "pytest.ini" files are always the source of configuration, even if empty.
             if filepath.name == "pytest.ini":
@@ -56,7 +72,7 @@ def load_config_dict_from_file(
         iniconfig = _parse_ini_config(filepath)
 
         if "tool:pytest" in iniconfig.sections:
-            return dict(iniconfig["tool:pytest"].items())
+            return {k: IniValue(v, "file") for k, v in iniconfig["tool:pytest"].items()}
         elif "pytest" in iniconfig.sections:
             # If a setup.cfg contains a "[pytest]" section, we raise a failure to indicate users that
             # plain "[pytest]" sections in setup.cfg files is no longer supported (#3086).
@@ -83,7 +99,7 @@ def load_config_dict_from_file(
             def make_scalar(v: object) -> str | list[str]:
                 return v if isinstance(v, list) else str(v)
 
-            return {k: make_scalar(v) for k, v in result.items()}
+            return {k: IniValue(make_scalar(v), "file") for k, v in result.items()}
 
     return None
 
@@ -181,7 +197,7 @@ def get_dir_from_path(path: Path) -> Path:
     return [get_dir_from_path(path) for path in possible_paths if safe_exists(path)]
 
 
-def parse_override_ini(override_ini: Sequence[str] | None) -> dict[str, str]:
+def parse_override_ini(override_ini: Sequence[str] | None) -> ConfigDict:
     """Parse the -o/--override-ini command line arguments and return the overrides.
 
     :raises UsageError:
@@ -199,7 +215,7 @@ def parse_override_ini(override_ini: Sequence[str] | None) -> dict[str, str]:
                 f"-o/--override-ini expects option=value style (got: {ini_config!r})."
             ) from e
         else:
-            overrides[key] = user_ini_value
+            overrides[key] = IniValue(user_ini_value, "override")
     return overrides