4.x: junitReporter doesn't record Before/After suite failures

[mirao]

In CodeceptJS 3.x there could be the "mocha-junit-reporter" configured in a CodeceptJS config in "mocha" section.
If the test failed in BeforeSuite(), Scenario() or AfterSuite() I could see the failure, typically in Jenkins's JUnit test result report plugin ✔️

For example:

---

In CodeceptJS 4.x, it was replaced by the plugin "junitReporter". It doesn't record any failure when the test fails in BeforeSuite() or AfterSuite() 🐛 . It records only Scenario() failures.

tests/My_test.ts:

Feature('My');

BeforeSuite(async ({ I }) => {
    I.say("Before Suite");
    throw new Error("Before Suite Error");
});

Scenario('test something',  ({ I }) => {
    I.amOnPage("https://example.com");
});

AfterSuite(async ({ I }) => {
    I.say("After Suite");
    throw new Error("After Suite Error");
});

codecept.conf.ts

import { setHeadlessWhen, setCommonPlugins } from "@codeceptjs/configure";
// turn on headless mode when running with HEADLESS=true environment variable
// export HEADLESS=true && npx codeceptjs run
setHeadlessWhen(process.env.HEADLESS);

// enable all common plugins https://github.com/codeceptjs/configure#setcommonplugins
setCommonPlugins();

export const config: CodeceptJS.MainConfig = {
  tests: "./tests/*_test.ts",
  output: "./output",
  helpers: {
    Playwright: {
      browser: "chromium",
      url: "http://localhost",
      show: true,
    },
  },
  include: {
    I: "./steps_file.ts",
  },
  noGlobals: true,
  plugins: {
    junitReporter: {
      enabled: true,
    },
  },
  name: "my",
  require: ["tsx/cjs"],
};

output:

mirao@rog:~/workspace/my$ codeceptjs run --verbose
***************************************
nodeInfo:  24.16.0
osInfo:  Linux 6.17 Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS 24.04.4 LTS (Noble Numbat)
cpuInfo:  (16) x64 AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 8-Core Processor
chromeInfo:  149.0.7827.155
edgeInfo:  "N/A"
firefoxInfo:  152.0
safariInfo:  N/A
playwrightBrowsers:  "chromium: 149.0.7827.55, firefox: 151.0, webkit: 26.5"
If you need more detailed info, just run this: npx codeceptjs info
***************************************
CodeceptJS v4.0.8 #StandWithUkraine
Using test root "/home/mirao/workspace/my"
Helpers: Playwright
Plugins: screenshot, junitReporter, retryFailedStep

My --
/home/mirao/workspace/my/tests/My_test.ts
    [1]  Starting recording promises
    Timeouts: 
 › [Session] Starting singleton browser session
  BeforeSuite()
    I say "Before Suite"
   Before Suite
    [1] Error | Error: Before Suite Error e => { const err = recorder.getAsyncErr() === null...
    [1] <teardown>  Stopping recording promises
  ✖ FAILED in 4ms

  AfterSuite()
    [2]  Starting recording promises
    I say "After Suite"
   After Suite
    [2] Error | Error: After Suite Error e => { const err = recorder.getAsyncErr() === null...
    [2] <teardown>  Stopping recording promises
  ✖ FAILED in 1ms


-- FAILURES:

  1) My
       "before all" hook: BeforeSuite for "test something":
     
  Before Suite Error
      at Context.<anonymous> (tests/My_test.ts:5:11)
      at promiseRetry.retries.retries (file:///home/mirao/workspace/my/node_modules/codeceptjs/lib/mocha/asyncWrapper.js:162:20)
  
  
  ◯ File: file:///home/mirao/workspace/my/tests/My_test.ts
  

  2) My
       "after all" hook: AfterSuite for "test something":
     
  After Suite Error
      at Context.<anonymous> (tests/My_test.ts:14:11)
      at promiseRetry.retries.retries (file:///home/mirao/workspace/my/node_modules/codeceptjs/lib/mocha/asyncWrapper.js:162:20)
      at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:104:5)
  
  
  ◯ File: file:///home/mirao/workspace/my/tests/My_test.ts
  


  FAIL  | 0 passed, 2 failed, 2 failedHooks   // 123ms
 › <junitReporter> JUnit report saved to /home/mirao/workspace/my/output/report.xml

output/report.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<testsuites name="CodeceptJS" tests="0" failures="0" skipped="0" errors="0" time="0.000" timestamp="2026-06-19T11:19:00.325Z"/>

[morgan-coded]

junitReporter seems to lose useful JUnit error/failure output when BeforeSuite or AfterSuite hooks fail.

A reporter regression there should make the formatter change concrete.

[mirao]

In our project we work around this with a pnpm patch on codeceptjs@4.0.8. It hooks into Mocha's runner fail event (the only signal that fires for all hook failures, including BeforeSuite/AfterSuite) and injects synthetic failed entries for suite-level hook failures before the JUnit XML is built. Per-test before each/after each hooks are intentionally excluded since those already appear in result.tests.

But I don't know if such solution can be used for a PR.

diff --git a/lib/plugin/junitReporter.js b/lib/plugin/junitReporter.js
index 179f285605ebddb77a040d058b4af084f1c78cf5..0533121568910f60b11c22b57969e66704107f01 100644
--- a/lib/plugin/junitReporter.js
+++ b/lib/plugin/junitReporter.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { DOMImplementation, XMLSerializer } from '@xmldom/xmldom'
 import event from '../event.js'
 import store from '../store.js'
 import output from '../output.js'
+import container from '../container.js'
 
 const defaultConfig = {
   outputName: 'report.xml',
@@ -62,11 +63,67 @@ const INVALID_XML_CHARS = new RegExp('[\\u0000-\\u0008\\u000B\\u000C\\u000E-\\u0
  *
  * @param {*} config
  */
+// Matches Mocha's suite-level hook titles, e.g. `"before all" hook: BeforeSuite for "..."`
+// or `"after all" hook: codeceptjs.afterSuite for "..."`. Per-test (`before each` /
+// `after each`) hooks are intentionally excluded — those tests already live in result.tests.
+const SUITE_HOOK_TITLE = /^"(before all|after all)" hook:/
+
 export default function (config = {}) {
   config = Object.assign({}, defaultConfig, config)
 
   let written = false
 
+  // Capture suite-level hook failures so they surface as a synthetic failed <testcase>.
+  // The Mocha runner's `fail` event is the only signal that fires for *all* hook failures:
+  // both test-file BeforeSuite/AfterSuite hooks AND helper-lifecycle hooks
+  // (_beforeSuite/_afterSuite). The latter report only through Mocha — they emit no
+  // event.test.failed / event.hook.failed on the CodeceptJS bus and never enter
+  // result.tests — so without this they are invisible in the JUnit report
+  // (regression vs. the 3.x mocha-junit-reporter, which reported the hook as a test).
+  const hookFailures = []
+  const seenHookFailures = new Set()
+  let runnerAttached = false
+
+  const attachRunner = () => {
+    if (runnerAttached) return
+    let mocha
+    try {
+      mocha = container.mocha()
+    } catch (err) {
+      return // container/mocha not ready yet
+    }
+    const runner = mocha && (mocha.runner || mocha.Runner)
+    if (!runner || typeof runner.on !== 'function') return
+    runnerAttached = true
+    runner.on('fail', (failed, err) => {
+      // Only suite-level hooks; real test failures already live in result.tests.
+      if (!failed || failed.type !== 'hook' || !SUITE_HOOK_TITLE.test(failed.title || '')) return
+      const suite = failed.parent
+      const suiteTitle = (suite && suite.title) || ''
+      const key = `${suiteTitle}::${failed.title}`
+      if (seenHookFailures.has(key)) return // Mocha fires one fail per hook; guard re-entry
+      seenHookFailures.add(key)
+
+      hookFailures.push({
+        title: failed.title || 'hook failed',
+        state: 'failed',
+        err: err || failed.err || {},
+        parent: suite,
+        file: failed.file || (suite && suite.file),
+        tags: suiteTitle.match(/@[\w-]+/g) || [],
+        meta: {},
+        steps: [],
+        duration: failed.duration || 0,
+      })
+    })
+  }
+
+  // The Mocha runner is created right after event.all.before; attach on the first event
+  // where it exists — well before any suite hook can fail.
+  event.dispatcher.on(event.all.before, attachRunner)
+  event.dispatcher.on(event.suite.before, attachRunner)
+  event.dispatcher.on(event.test.before, attachRunner)
+
   const writeReport = result => {
     if (written) return
     if (!result || !Array.isArray(result.tests)) return
@@ -76,7 +133,7 @@ export default function (config = {}) {
     mkdirp.sync(dir)
     const file = path.join(dir, config.outputName)
 
-    fs.writeFileSync(file, buildXml(result, config))
+    fs.writeFileSync(file, buildXml(result, config, hookFailures))
     output.plugin('junitReporter', `JUnit report saved to ${file}`)
   }
 
@@ -84,17 +141,18 @@ export default function (config = {}) {
   event.dispatcher.on(event.workers.result, writeReport)
 }
 
-function buildXml(result, config) {
+function buildXml(result, config, hookFailures = []) {
   const doc = new DOMImplementation().createDocument(null, null, null)
-  const suites = groupBySuite(result.tests)
+  const allTests = result.tests.concat(hookFailures)
+  const suites = groupBySuite(allTests)
 
   const root = doc.createElement('testsuites')
   setAttr(root, 'name', config.testGroupName)
-  setAttr(root, 'tests', result.tests.length)
-  setAttr(root, 'failures', countState(result.tests, 'failed'))
-  setAttr(root, 'skipped', countSkipped(result.tests))
+  setAttr(root, 'tests', allTests.length)
+  setAttr(root, 'failures', countState(allTests, 'failed'))
+  setAttr(root, 'skipped', countSkipped(allTests))
   setAttr(root, 'errors', 0)
-  setAttr(root, 'time', toSeconds(sumDuration(result.tests)))
+  setAttr(root, 'time', toSeconds(sumDuration(allTests)))
   setAttr(root, 'timestamp', toIso(result.stats && result.stats.start))
   doc.appendChild(root)

Applied via pnpm patch codeceptjs@4.0.8 in our repo and confirmed it produces a failed entry for both BeforeSuite/AfterSuite failures and helper _beforeSuite/_afterSuite failures, without touching per-test hooks that were already reported correctly.

[mirao]

@DavertMik Your fix covers only BeforeSuite() and AferSuite(), but not _beforeSuite() and _afterSuite() (i.e. helper methods).
E.g. when a test fails in _beforeSuite() then output/report.xml remains empty 🐛 .

[mirao]

@DavertMik Your fix covers only BeforeSuite() and AferSuite(), but not _beforeSuite() and _afterSuite() (i.e. helper methods). E.g. when a test fails in _beforeSuite() then output/report.xml remains empty 🐛 .

I created #5660