fix(tstest): Fix test timing display issue and update TAP protocol documentation

2025-05-23 22:27:12 +00:00 · 2025-05-23 22:27:12 +00:00 · c48887a820
commit c48887a820
parent 02aeb8195e
9 changed files with 1041 additions and 211 deletions
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 # Changelog

+## 2025-05-23 - 1.9.3 - fix(tstest)
+Fix test timing display issue and update TAP protocol documentation
+
+- Changed TAP parser regex to non-greedy pattern to correctly separate test timing metadata
+- Enhanced readme.hints.md with detailed explanation of test timing fix and planned protocol upgrades
+- Updated readme.md with improved usage examples for tapbundle and comprehensive test framework documentation
+- Added new protocol design document (readme.protocol.md) and improvement plan (readme.plan.md) outlining future changes
+- Introduced .claude/settings.local.json update for npm and CLI permissions
+- Exported protocol utilities and added tapbundle protocol implementation for future enhancements
+
 ## 2025-05-23 - 1.9.2 - fix(logging)
 Fix log file naming to prevent collisions and update logging system documentation.

--- a/readme.hints.md
+++ b/readme.hints.md
@ -74,4 +74,34 @@ This fix ensures that test files with the same basename in different directories
 1. Takes the relative path from the current working directory
 2. Replaces path separators (`/`) with double underscores (`__`)
 3. Removes the `.ts` extension
-4. Creates a flat filename that preserves the directory structure
+4. Creates a flat filename that preserves the directory structure
+
+### Test Timing Display (Fixed in v1.9.2)
+
+Fixed an issue where test timing was displayed incorrectly with duplicate values like:
+- Before: `✅ test name # time=133ms (0ms)`
+- After: `✅ test name (133ms)`
+
+The issue was in the TAP parser regex which was greedily capturing the entire line including the TAP timing comment. Changed the regex from `(.*)` to `(.*?)` to make it non-greedy, properly separating the test name from the timing metadata.
+
+## Protocol Limitations and Improvements
+
+### Current TAP Protocol Issues
+The current implementation uses standard TAP format with metadata in comments:
+```
+ok 1 - test name # time=123ms
+```
+
+This has several limitations:
+1. **Delimiter Conflict**: Test descriptions containing `#` can break parsing
+2. **Regex Fragility**: Complex regex patterns that are hard to maintain
+3. **Limited Metadata**: Difficult to add rich error information or custom data
+
+### Planned Protocol V2
+A new internal protocol is being designed that will:
+- Use Unicode delimiters `⟦TSTEST:⟧` that won't conflict with test content
+- Support structured JSON metadata
+- Allow rich error reporting with stack traces and diffs
+- Maintain backwards compatibility during migration
+
+See `readme.protocol.md` for the full specification and `tapbundle.protocols.ts` for the implementation utilities.
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@ -141,9 +141,9 @@ tstest supports different test environments through file naming:
 | `*.browser.ts` | Browser environment | `test.ui.browser.ts` |
 | `*.both.ts` | Both Node.js and browser | `test.isomorphic.both.ts` |

-### Writing Tests
+### Writing Tests with tapbundle

-tstest includes a built-in TAP (Test Anything Protocol) test framework. Import it from the embedded tapbundle:
+tstest includes tapbundle, a powerful TAP-based test framework. Import it from the embedded tapbundle:

 ```typescript
 import { expect, tap } from '@git.zone/tstest/tapbundle';
@ -164,100 +164,392 @@ tstest provides multiple exports for different use cases:
 - `@git.zone/tstest/tapbundle` - Browser-compatible test framework
 - `@git.zone/tstest/tapbundle_node` - Node.js-specific test utilities

-#### Test Features
+## tapbundle Test Framework
+
+### Basic Test Syntax

-**Tag-based Test Filtering**
 ```typescript
-tap.tags('unit', 'api')
-  .test('should handle API requests', async () => {
-    // Test code
-  });
+import { tap, expect } from '@git.zone/tstest/tapbundle';

-// Run with: tstest test/ --tags unit,api
-```
-
-**Test Lifecycle Hooks**
-```typescript
-tap.describe('User API Tests', () => {
-  let testUser;
-  
-  tap.beforeEach(async () => {
-    testUser = await createTestUser();
-  });
-  
-  tap.afterEach(async () => {
-    await deleteTestUser(testUser.id);
-  });
-  
-  tap.test('should update user profile', async () => {
-    // Test code using testUser
-  });
+// Basic test
+tap.test('should perform basic arithmetic', async () => {
+  expect(2 + 2).toEqual(4);
 });
-```

-**Parallel Test Execution**
-```typescript
-// Files with matching parallel group names run concurrently
-// test.auth.para__1.ts
-tap.test('authentication test', async () => { /* ... */ });
-
-// test.user.para__1.ts  
-tap.test('user operations test', async () => { /* ... */ });
-```
-
-**Test Timeouts and Retries**
-```typescript
-tap.timeout(5000)
-  .retry(3)
-  .test('flaky network test', async (tools) => {
-    // This test has 5 seconds to complete and will retry up to 3 times
-  });
-```
-
-**Snapshot Testing**
-```typescript
-tap.test('should match snapshot', async (tools) => {
-  const result = await generateReport();
-  await tools.matchSnapshot(result);
+// Async test with tools
+tap.test('async operations', async (tools) => {
+  await tools.delayFor(100); // delay for 100ms
+  const result = await fetchData();
+  expect(result).toBeDefined();
 });
+
+// Start test execution
+tap.start();
 ```

-**Test Fixtures**
-```typescript
-// Define a reusable fixture
-tap.defineFixture('testUser', async () => ({
-  id: 1,
-  name: 'Test User',
-  email: 'test@example.com'
-}));
+### Test Modifiers and Chaining

-tap.test('user test', async (tools) => {
-  const user = tools.fixture('testUser');
-  expect(user.name).toEqual('Test User');
-});
-```
-
-**Skipping and Todo Tests**
 ```typescript
-tap.skip.test('work in progress', async () => {
+// Skip a test
+tap.skip.test('not ready yet', async () => {
  // This test will be skipped
 });

-tap.todo('implement user deletion', async () => {
-  // This marks a test as todo
+// Run only this test (exclusive)
+tap.only.test('focus on this', async () => {
+  // Only this test will run
+});
+
+// Todo test
+tap.todo('implement later', async () => {
+  // Marked as todo
+});
+
+// Chaining modifiers
+tap.timeout(5000)
+   .retry(3)
+   .tags('api', 'integration')
+   .test('complex test', async (tools) => {
+     // Test with 5s timeout, 3 retries, and tags
+   });
+```
+
+### Test Organization with describe()
+
+```typescript
+tap.describe('User Management', () => {
+  let testDatabase;
+  
+  tap.beforeEach(async () => {
+    testDatabase = await createTestDB();
+  });
+  
+  tap.afterEach(async () => {
+    await testDatabase.cleanup();
+  });
+  
+  tap.test('should create user', async () => {
+    const user = await testDatabase.createUser({ name: 'John' });
+    expect(user.id).toBeDefined();
+  });
+  
+  tap.describe('User Permissions', () => {
+    tap.test('should set admin role', async () => {
+      // Nested describe blocks
+    });
+  });
 });
 ```

-**Browser Testing**
+### Test Tools (Available in Test Function)
+
+Every test function receives a `tools` parameter with utilities:
+
+```typescript
+tap.test('using test tools', async (tools) => {
+  // Delay utilities
+  await tools.delayFor(1000); // delay for 1000ms
+  await tools.delayForRandom(100, 500); // random delay between 100-500ms
+  
+  // Skip test conditionally
+  tools.skipIf(process.env.CI === 'true', 'Skipping in CI');
+  
+  // Skip test unconditionally
+  if (!apiKeyAvailable) {
+    tools.skip('API key not available');
+  }
+  
+  // Mark as todo
+  tools.todo('Needs implementation');
+  
+  // Retry configuration
+  tools.retry(3); // Set retry count
+  
+  // Timeout configuration
+  tools.timeout(10000); // Set timeout to 10s
+  
+  // Context sharing between tests
+  tools.context.set('userId', 12345);
+  const userId = tools.context.get('userId');
+  
+  // Deferred promises
+  const deferred = tools.defer();
+  setTimeout(() => deferred.resolve('done'), 100);
+  await deferred.promise;
+  
+  // Colored console output
+  const coloredString = await tools.coloredString('Success!', 'green');
+  console.log(coloredString);
+  
+  // Error handling helper
+  const error = await tools.returnError(async () => {
+    throw new Error('Expected error');
+  });
+  expect(error).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+});
+```
+
+### Snapshot Testing
+
+```typescript
+tap.test('snapshot test', async (tools) => {
+  const output = generateComplexOutput();
+  
+  // Compare with saved snapshot
+  await tools.matchSnapshot(output);
+  
+  // Named snapshots for multiple checks in one test
+  await tools.matchSnapshot(output.header, 'header');
+  await tools.matchSnapshot(output.body, 'body');
+});
+
+// Update snapshots with: UPDATE_SNAPSHOTS=true tstest test/
+```
+
+### Test Fixtures
+
+```typescript
+// Define reusable fixtures
+tap.defineFixture('testUser', async (data) => ({
+  id: Date.now(),
+  name: data?.name || 'Test User',
+  email: data?.email || 'test@example.com',
+  created: new Date()
+}));
+
+tap.defineFixture('testPost', async (data) => ({
+  id: Date.now(),
+  title: data?.title || 'Test Post',
+  authorId: data?.authorId || 1
+}));
+
+// Use fixtures in tests
+tap.test('fixture test', async (tools) => {
+  const user = await tools.fixture('testUser', { name: 'John' });
+  const post = await tools.fixture('testPost', { authorId: user.id });
+  
+  expect(post.authorId).toEqual(user.id);
+  
+  // Factory pattern for multiple instances
+  const users = await tools.factory('testUser').createMany(5);
+  expect(users).toHaveLength(5);
+});
+```
+
+### Parallel Test Execution
+
+```typescript
+// Parallel tests within a file
+tap.testParallel('parallel test 1', async () => {
+  await heavyOperation();
+});
+
+tap.testParallel('parallel test 2', async () => {
+  await anotherHeavyOperation();
+});
+
+// File naming for parallel groups
+// test.api.para__1.ts - runs in parallel with other para__1 files
+// test.db.para__1.ts - runs in parallel with other para__1 files
+// test.auth.para__2.ts - runs after para__1 group completes
+```
+
+### Assertions with expect()
+
+tapbundle uses @push.rocks/smartexpect for assertions:
+
+```typescript
+// Basic assertions
+expect(value).toEqual(5);
+expect(value).not.toEqual(10);
+expect(obj).toDeepEqual({ a: 1, b: 2 });
+
+// Type assertions
+expect('hello').toBeTypeofString();
+expect(42).toBeTypeofNumber();
+expect(true).toBeTypeofBoolean();
+expect([]).toBeArray();
+expect({}).toBeTypeOf('object');
+
+// Comparison assertions
+expect(5).toBeGreaterThan(3);
+expect(3).toBeLessThan(5);
+expect(5).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(5);
+expect(5).toBeLessThanOrEqual(5);
+expect(0.1 + 0.2).toBeCloseTo(0.3, 10);
+
+// Truthiness
+expect(true).toBeTrue();
+expect(false).toBeFalse();
+expect('text').toBeTruthy();
+expect(0).toBeFalsy();
+expect(null).toBeNull();
+expect(undefined).toBeUndefined();
+expect(null).toBeNullOrUndefined();
+
+// String assertions
+expect('hello world').toStartWith('hello');
+expect('hello world').toEndWith('world');
+expect('hello world').toInclude('lo wo');
+expect('hello world').toMatch(/^hello/);
+expect('option').toBeOneOf(['choice', 'option', 'alternative']);
+
+// Array assertions
+expect([1, 2, 3]).toContain(2);
+expect([1, 2, 3]).toContainAll([1, 3]);
+expect([1, 2, 3]).toExclude(4);
+expect([1, 2, 3]).toHaveLength(3);
+expect([]).toBeEmptyArray();
+expect([{ id: 1 }]).toContainEqual({ id: 1 });
+
+// Object assertions
+expect(obj).toHaveProperty('name');
+expect(obj).toHaveProperty('user.email', 'test@example.com');
+expect(obj).toHaveDeepProperty(['level1', 'level2']);
+expect(obj).toMatchObject({ name: 'John' });
+
+// Function assertions
+expect(() => { throw new Error('test'); }).toThrow();
+expect(() => { throw new Error('test'); }).toThrow(Error);
+expect(() => { throw new Error('test error'); }).toThrowErrorMatching(/test/);
+expect(myFunction).not.toThrow();
+
+// Promise assertions
+await expect(Promise.resolve('value')).resolves.toEqual('value');
+await expect(Promise.reject(new Error('fail'))).rejects.toThrow();
+
+// Custom assertions
+expect(7).customAssertion(
+  value => value % 2 === 1,
+  'Value is not odd'
+);
+```
+
+### Pre-tasks
+
+Run setup tasks before tests start:
+
+```typescript
+tap.preTask('setup database', async () => {
+  await initializeTestDatabase();
+  console.log('Database initialized');
+});
+
+tap.preTask('load environment', async () => {
+  await loadTestEnvironment();
+});
+
+// Pre-tasks run in order before any tests
+```
+
+### Tag-based Test Filtering
+
+```typescript
+// Tag individual tests
+tap.tags('unit', 'api')
+   .test('api unit test', async () => {
+     // Test code
+   });
+
+tap.tags('integration', 'slow')
+   .test('database integration', async () => {
+     // Test code
+   });
+
+// Run only tests with specific tags
+// tstest test/ --tags unit,api
+```
+
+### Context Sharing
+
+Share data between tests:
+
+```typescript
+tap.test('first test', async (tools) => {
+  const sessionId = await createSession();
+  tools.context.set('sessionId', sessionId);
+});
+
+tap.test('second test', async (tools) => {
+  const sessionId = tools.context.get('sessionId');
+  expect(sessionId).toBeDefined();
+  
+  // Cleanup
+  tools.context.delete('sessionId');
+});
+```
+
+### Browser Testing with webhelpers
+
+For browser-specific tests:
+
 ```typescript
-// test.browser.ts
 import { tap, webhelpers } from '@git.zone/tstest/tapbundle';

 tap.test('DOM manipulation', async () => {
+  // Create DOM elements from HTML strings
  const element = await webhelpers.fixture(webhelpers.html`
-    <div>Hello World</div>
+    <div class="test-container">
+      <h1>Test Title</h1>
+      <button id="test-btn">Click Me</button>
+    </div>
  `);
-  expect(element).toBeInstanceOf(HTMLElement);
+  
+  expect(element.querySelector('h1').textContent).toEqual('Test Title');
+  
+  // Simulate interactions
+  const button = element.querySelector('#test-btn');
+  button.click();
+});
+
+tap.test('CSS testing', async () => {
+  const styles = webhelpers.css`
+    .test-class {
+      color: red;
+      font-size: 16px;
+    }
+  `;
+  
+  // styles is a string that can be injected into the page
+  expect(styles).toInclude('color: red');
+});
+```
+
+### Advanced Error Handling
+
+```typescript
+tap.test('error handling', async (tools) => {
+  // Capture errors without failing the test
+  const error = await tools.returnError(async () => {
+    await functionThatThrows();
+  });
+  
+  expect(error).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+  expect(error.message).toEqual('Expected error message');
+});
+```
+
+### Test Wrap
+
+Create wrapped test environments:
+
+```typescript
+import { TapWrap } from '@git.zone/tstest/tapbundle';
+
+const tapWrap = new TapWrap({
+  before: async () => {
+    console.log('Before all tests');
+    await globalSetup();
+  },
+  after: async () => {
+    console.log('After all tests');
+    await globalCleanup();
+  }
+});
+
+// Tests registered here will have the wrap lifecycle
+tapWrap.tap.test('wrapped test', async () => {
+  // This test runs with the wrap setup/teardown
 });
 ```

@ -330,6 +622,20 @@ tstest test/ --quiet

 ## Changelog

+### Version 1.9.2
+- 🐛 Fixed test timing display issue (removed duplicate timing in output)
+- 📝 Improved internal protocol design documentation
+- 🔧 Added protocol v2 utilities for future improvements
+
+### Version 1.9.1  
+- 🐛 Fixed log file naming to preserve directory structure
+- 📁 Log files now prevent collisions: `test__dir__file.log`
+
+### Version 1.9.0
+- 📚 Comprehensive documentation update
+- 🏗️ Embedded tapbundle for better integration
+- 🌐 Full browser compatibility
+
 ### Version 1.8.0
 - 📦 Embedded tapbundle directly into tstest project
 - 🌐 Made tapbundle fully browser-compatible
--- a/readme.plan.md
+++ b/readme.plan.md
@ -2,6 +2,81 @@

 !! FIRST: Reread /home/philkunz/.claude/CLAUDE.md to ensure following all guidelines !!

+## Improved Internal Protocol (NEW - Critical)
+
+### Current Issues
+- TAP protocol uses `#` for metadata which conflicts with test descriptions containing `#`
+- Fragile regex parsing that breaks with special characters
+- Limited extensibility for new metadata types
+
+### Proposed Solution: Protocol V2
+- Use Unicode delimiters `⟦TSTEST:META:{}⟧` that won't appear in test names
+- Structured JSON metadata format
+- Separate protocol blocks for complex data (errors, snapshots)
+- Backwards compatible with gradual migration
+
+### Implementation
+- Phase 1: Add protocol v2 parser alongside v1
+- Phase 2: Generate v2 by default with --legacy flag for v1
+- Phase 3: Full migration to v2 in next major version
+
+See `readme.protocol.md` for detailed specification.
+
+## Test Configuration System (NEW)
+
+### Global Test Configuration via 00init.ts
+- **Discovery**: Check for `test/00init.ts` before running tests
+- **Execution**: Import and execute before any test files if found
+- **Purpose**: Define project-wide default test settings
+
+### tap.settings() API
+```typescript
+interface TapSettings {
+  // Timing
+  timeout?: number;              // Default timeout for all tests (ms)
+  slowThreshold?: number;        // Mark tests as slow if they exceed this (ms)
+  
+  // Execution Control
+  bail?: boolean;                // Stop on first test failure
+  retries?: number;              // Number of retries for failed tests
+  retryDelay?: number;           // Delay between retries (ms)
+  
+  // Output Control
+  suppressConsole?: boolean;     // Suppress console output in passing tests
+  verboseErrors?: boolean;       // Show full stack traces
+  showTestDuration?: boolean;    // Show duration for each test
+  
+  // Parallel Execution
+  maxConcurrency?: number;       // Max parallel tests (for .para files)
+  isolateTests?: boolean;        // Run each test in fresh context
+  
+  // Lifecycle Hooks
+  beforeAll?: () => Promise<void> | void;
+  afterAll?: () => Promise<void> | void;
+  beforeEach?: (testName: string) => Promise<void> | void;
+  afterEach?: (testName: string, passed: boolean) => Promise<void> | void;
+  
+  // Environment
+  env?: Record<string, string>;  // Additional environment variables
+  
+  // Features
+  enableSnapshots?: boolean;     // Enable snapshot testing
+  snapshotDirectory?: string;    // Custom snapshot directory
+  updateSnapshots?: boolean;     // Update snapshots instead of comparing
+}
+```
+
+### Settings Inheritance
+- Global (00init.ts) → File level → Test level
+- More specific settings override less specific ones
+- Arrays/objects are merged, primitives are replaced
+
+### Implementation Phases
+1. **Core Infrastructure**: Settings storage and merge logic
+2. **Discovery**: 00init.ts loading mechanism
+3. **Application**: Apply settings to test execution
+4. **Advanced**: Parallel execution and snapshot configuration
+
 ## 1. Enhanced Communication Between tapbundle and tstest

 ### 1.1 Real-time Test Progress API
@ -18,45 +93,9 @@

 ## 2. Enhanced toolsArg Functionality

-### 2.1 Test Flow Control ✅
-```typescript
-tap.test('conditional test', async (toolsArg) => {
-  const result = await someOperation();
-  
-  // Skip the rest of the test
-  if (!result) {
-    return toolsArg.skip('Precondition not met');
-  }
-  
-  // Conditional skipping
-  await toolsArg.skipIf(condition, 'Reason for skipping');
-  
-  // Mark test as todo
-  await toolsArg.todo('Not implemented yet');
-});
-```
-
-### 2.2 Test Metadata and Configuration ✅
-```typescript
-// Fluent syntax ✅
-tap.tags('slow', 'integration')
-  .priority('high')
-  .timeout(5000)
-  .retry(3)
-  .test('configurable test', async (toolsArg) => {
-    // Test implementation
-  });
-```
-
-### 2.3 Test Data and Context Sharing ✅
+### 2.3 Test Data and Context Sharing (Partial)
 ```typescript
 tap.test('data-driven test', async (toolsArg) => {
-  // Access shared context ✅
-  const sharedData = toolsArg.context.get('sharedData');
-  
-  // Set data for other tests ✅
-  toolsArg.context.set('resultData', computedValue);
-  
  // Parameterized test data (not yet implemented)
  const testData = toolsArg.data<TestInput>();
  expect(processData(testData)).toEqual(expected);
@ -65,32 +104,7 @@ tap.test('data-driven test', async (toolsArg) => {

 ## 3. Nested Tests and Test Suites

-### 3.1 Test Grouping with describe() ✅
-```typescript
-tap.describe('User Authentication', () => {
-  tap.beforeEach(async (toolsArg) => {
-    // Setup for each test in this suite
-    await toolsArg.context.set('db', await createTestDatabase());
-  });
-  
-  tap.afterEach(async (toolsArg) => {
-    // Cleanup after each test
-    await toolsArg.context.get('db').cleanup();
-  });
-  
-  tap.test('should login with valid credentials', async (toolsArg) => {
-    // Test implementation
-  });
-  
-  tap.describe('Password Reset', () => {
-    tap.test('should send reset email', async (toolsArg) => {
-      // Nested test
-    });
-  });
-});
-```
-
-### 3.2 Hierarchical Test Organization
+### 3.2 Hierarchical Test Organization (Not yet implemented)
 - Support for multiple levels of nesting
 - Inherited context and configuration from parent suites
 - Aggregated reporting for test suites
@ -98,15 +112,7 @@ tap.describe('User Authentication', () => {

 ## 4. Advanced Test Features

-### 4.1 Snapshot Testing
-```typescript
-tap.test('component render', async (toolsArg) => {
-  const output = renderComponent(props);
-  
-  // Compare with stored snapshot
-  await toolsArg.matchSnapshot(output, 'component-output');
-});
-```
+### 4.1 Snapshot Testing ✅ (Basic implementation complete)

 ### 4.2 Performance Benchmarking
 ```typescript
@ -124,30 +130,9 @@ tap.test('performance test', async (toolsArg) => {
 });
 ```

-### 4.3 Test Fixtures and Factories ✅
-```typescript
-tap.test('with fixtures', async (toolsArg) => {
-  // Create test fixtures
-  const user = await toolsArg.fixture('user', { name: 'Test User' });
-  const post = await toolsArg.fixture('post', { author: user });
-  
-  // Use factory functions
-  const users = await toolsArg.factory('user').createMany(5);
-});
-```

 ## 5. Test Execution Improvements

-### 5.1 Parallel Test Execution ✅
- Run independent tests concurrently ✅
- Configurable concurrency limits (via file naming convention)
- Resource pooling for shared resources
- Proper isolation between parallel tests ✅
-
-Implementation:
- Tests with `para__<groupNumber>` in filename run in parallel
- Different groups run sequentially
- Tests without `para__` run serially

 ### 5.2 Watch Mode
 - Automatically re-run tests on file changes
@ -155,11 +140,8 @@ Implementation:
 - Fast feedback loop for development
 - Integration with IDE/editor plugins

-### 5.3 Advanced Test Filtering ✅ (partially)
+### 5.3 Advanced Test Filtering (Partial)
 ```typescript
-// Run tests by tags ✅
-tstest --tags "unit,fast"
-
 // Exclude tests by pattern (not yet implemented)
 tstest --exclude "**/slow/**"

@ -198,50 +180,36 @@ tstest --changed
 - Links to documentation
 - Code examples in error output

-### 7.2 Interactive Mode (Needs Detailed Specification)
- REPL for exploring test failures
-  - Need to define: How to enter interactive mode? When tests fail?
-  - What commands/features should be available in the REPL?
- Debugging integration  
-  - Node.js inspector protocol integration?
-  - Breakpoint support?
- Step-through test execution
-  - Pause between tests? 
-  - Step into/over/out functionality?
- Interactive test data manipulation
-  - Modify test inputs on the fly?
-  - Inspect intermediate values?
-
-### 7.3 ~~VS Code Extension~~ (Scratched)
- ~~Test explorer integration~~
- ~~Inline test results~~
- ~~CodeLens for running individual tests~~
- ~~Debugging support~~
-
 ## Implementation Phases

-### Phase 1: Core Enhancements (Priority: High) ✅
-1. Implement enhanced toolsArg methods (skip, skipIf, timeout, retry) ✅
-2. Add basic test grouping with describe() ✅
-3. Improve error reporting between tapbundle and tstest ✅
+### Phase 1: Improved Internal Protocol (Priority: Critical) (NEW)
+1. Implement Protocol V2 parser in tstest
+2. Add protocol version negotiation
+3. Update tapbundle to generate V2 format with feature flag
+4. Test with real-world test suites containing special characters

-### Phase 2: Advanced Features (Priority: Medium)
-1. Implement nested test suites ✅ (basic describe support)
-2. Add snapshot testing ✅
-3. Create test fixture system ✅
-4. Implement parallel test execution ✅
+### Phase 2: Test Configuration System (Priority: High)
+1. Implement tap.settings() API with TypeScript interfaces
+2. Add 00init.ts discovery and loading mechanism
+3. Implement settings inheritance and merge logic
+4. Apply settings to test execution (timeouts, retries, etc.)

-### Phase 3: Developer Experience (Priority: Medium)
+### Phase 3: Enhanced Communication (Priority: High)
+1. Build on Protocol V2 for richer communication
+2. Implement real-time test progress API
+3. Add structured error reporting with diffs and traces
+
+### Phase 4: Developer Experience (Priority: Medium)
 1. Add watch mode
 2. Implement custom reporters
-3. ~~Create VS Code extension~~ (Scratched)
-4. Add interactive debugging (Needs detailed spec first)
+3. Complete advanced test filtering options
+4. Add performance benchmarking API

-### Phase 4: Analytics and Performance (Priority: Low)
+### Phase 5: Analytics and Performance (Priority: Low)
 1. Build test analytics dashboard
-2. Add performance benchmarking
-3. Implement coverage integration
-4. Create trend analysis tools
+2. Implement coverage integration
+3. Create trend analysis tools
+4. Add test impact analysis

 ## Technical Considerations

--- a/readme.protocol.md
+++ b/readme.protocol.md
@ -0,0 +1,287 @@
+# Improved Internal Protocol Design
+
+## Current Issues with TAP Protocol
+
+1. **Delimiter Conflict**: Using `#` for metadata conflicts with test descriptions containing `#`
+2. **Ambiguous Parsing**: No clear boundary between test name and metadata
+3. **Limited Extensibility**: Adding new metadata requires regex changes
+4. **Mixed Concerns**: Protocol data mixed with human-readable output
+
+## Proposed Internal Protocol v2
+
+### Design Principles
+
+1. **Clear Separation**: Protocol data must be unambiguously separated from user content
+2. **Extensibility**: Easy to add new metadata without breaking parsers
+3. **Backwards Compatible**: Can coexist with standard TAP for gradual migration
+4. **Machine Readable**: Structured format for reliable parsing
+5. **Human Friendly**: Still readable in raw form
+
+### Protocol Options
+
+#### Option 1: Special Delimiters
+```
+ok 1 - test description ::TSTEST:: {"time":123,"retry":0}
+not ok 2 - another test ::TSTEST:: {"time":45,"error":"timeout"}
+ok 3 - skipped test ::TSTEST:: {"time":0,"skip":"not ready"}
+```
+
+**Pros**: 
+- Simple to implement
+- Backwards compatible with TAP parsers (they ignore the suffix)
+- Easy to parse with split()
+
+**Cons**: 
+- Still could conflict if test name contains `::TSTEST::`
+- Not standard TAP
+
+#### Option 2: Separate Metadata Lines
+```
+ok 1 - test description
+::METADATA:: {"test":1,"time":123,"retry":0}
+not ok 2 - another test  
+::METADATA:: {"test":2,"time":45,"error":"timeout"}
+```
+
+**Pros**:
+- Complete separation of concerns
+- No chance of conflicts
+- Can include arbitrary metadata
+
+**Cons**:
+- Requires correlation between lines
+- More complex parsing
+
+#### Option 3: YAML Blocks (TAP 13 Compatible)
+```
+ok 1 - test description
+  ---
+  time: 123
+  retry: 0
+  ...
+not ok 2 - another test
+  ---
+  time: 45
+  error: timeout
+  stack: |
+    Error: timeout
+      at Test.run (test.js:10:5)
+  ...
+```
+
+**Pros**:
+- Standard TAP 13 feature
+- Structured data format
+- Human readable
+- Extensible
+
+**Cons**:
+- More verbose
+- YAML parsing overhead
+
+#### Option 4: Binary Protocol Markers (Recommended)
+```
+ok 1 - test description
+␛[TSTEST:eyJ0aW1lIjoxMjMsInJldHJ5IjowfQ==]␛
+not ok 2 - another test
+␛[TSTEST:eyJ0aW1lIjo0NSwiZXJyb3IiOiJ0aW1lb3V0In0=]␛
+```
+
+Using ASCII escape character (␛ = \x1B) with base64 encoded JSON.
+
+**Pros**:
+- Zero chance of accidental conflicts
+- Compact
+- Fast to parse
+- Invisible in most terminals
+
+**Cons**:
+- Not human readable in raw form
+- Requires base64 encoding/decoding
+
+### Recommended Implementation: Hybrid Approach
+
+Use multiple strategies based on context:
+
+1. **For timing and basic metadata**: Use structured delimiters
+   ```
+   ok 1 - test name ⟦time:123,retry:0⟧
+   ```
+
+2. **For complex data (errors, snapshots)**: Use separate protocol lines
+   ```
+   ok 1 - test failed
+   ⟦TSTEST:ERROR⟧
+   {"message":"Assertion failed","stack":"...","diff":"..."}
+   ⟦/TSTEST:ERROR⟧
+   ```
+
+3. **For human-readable output**: Keep standard TAP comments
+   ```
+   # Test suite: User Authentication
+   ok 1 - should login
+   ```
+
+### Implementation Plan
+
+#### Phase 1: Parser Enhancement
+1. Add new protocol parser alongside existing TAP parser
+2. Support both old and new formats during transition
+3. Add protocol version negotiation
+
+#### Phase 2: Metadata Structure
+```typescript
+interface TestMetadata {
+  // Timing
+  time: number;           // milliseconds
+  startTime?: number;     // Unix timestamp
+  endTime?: number;       // Unix timestamp
+  
+  // Status
+  skip?: string;          // skip reason
+  todo?: string;          // todo reason
+  retry?: number;         // retry attempt
+  maxRetries?: number;    // max retries allowed
+  
+  // Error details
+  error?: {
+    message: string;
+    stack?: string;
+    diff?: string;
+    actual?: any;
+    expected?: any;
+  };
+  
+  // Test context
+  file?: string;          // source file
+  line?: number;          // line number
+  column?: number;        // column number
+  
+  // Custom data
+  tags?: string[];        // test tags
+  custom?: Record<string, any>;
+}
+```
+
+#### Phase 3: Protocol Messages
+
+##### Success Message
+```
+ok 1 - user authentication works
+⟦TSTEST:META:{"time":123,"tags":["auth","unit"]}⟧
+```
+
+##### Failure Message
+```
+not ok 2 - login fails with invalid password
+⟦TSTEST:META:{"time":45,"retry":1,"maxRetries":3}⟧
+⟦TSTEST:ERROR⟧
+{
+  "message": "Expected 401 but got 500",
+  "stack": "Error: Expected 401 but got 500\n    at Test.run (auth.test.ts:25:10)",
+  "actual": 500,
+  "expected": 401
+}
+⟦/TSTEST:ERROR⟧
+```
+
+##### Skip Message
+```
+ok 3 - database integration test ⟦TSTEST:SKIP:No database connection⟧
+```
+
+##### Snapshot Communication
+```
+⟦TSTEST:SNAPSHOT:user-profile⟧
+{
+  "name": "John Doe",
+  "email": "john@example.com",
+  "roles": ["user", "admin"]
+}
+⟦/TSTEST:SNAPSHOT⟧
+```
+
+### Migration Strategy
+
+1. **Version Detection**: First line indicates protocol version
+   ```
+   ⟦TSTEST:PROTOCOL:2.0⟧
+   TAP version 13
+   ```
+
+2. **Gradual Rollout**:
+   - v1.10: Add protocol v2 parser, keep v1 generator
+   - v1.11: Generate v2 by default, v1 with --legacy flag  
+   - v2.0: Remove v1 support
+
+3. **Feature Flags**:
+   ```typescript
+   tap.settings({
+     protocol: 'v2',        // or 'v1', 'auto'
+     protocolFeatures: {
+       structuredErrors: true,
+       enhancedTiming: true,
+       binaryMarkers: false
+     }
+   });
+   ```
+
+### Benefits of New Protocol
+
+1. **Reliability**: No more regex fragility or description conflicts
+2. **Performance**: Faster parsing with clear boundaries
+3. **Extensibility**: Easy to add new metadata fields
+4. **Debugging**: Rich error information with stack traces and diffs
+5. **Integration**: Better IDE and CI/CD tool integration
+6. **Forward Compatible**: Room for future enhancements
+
+### Example Parser Implementation
+
+```typescript
+class ProtocolV2Parser {
+  private readonly MARKER_START = '⟦TSTEST:';
+  private readonly MARKER_END = '⟧';
+  
+  parseMetadata(line: string): TestMetadata | null {
+    const start = line.lastIndexOf(this.MARKER_START);
+    if (start === -1) return null;
+    
+    const end = line.indexOf(this.MARKER_END, start);
+    if (end === -1) return null;
+    
+    const content = line.substring(start + this.MARKER_START.length, end);
+    const [type, data] = content.split(':', 2);
+    
+    switch (type) {
+      case 'META':
+        return JSON.parse(data);
+      case 'SKIP':
+        return { skip: data };
+      case 'TODO':
+        return { todo: data };
+      default:
+        return null;
+    }
+  }
+  
+  parseTestLine(line: string): ParsedTest {
+    // First extract any metadata
+    const metadata = this.parseMetadata(line);
+    
+    // Then parse the TAP part (without metadata)
+    const cleanLine = this.removeMetadata(line);
+    const tapResult = this.parseTAP(cleanLine);
+    
+    return { ...tapResult, metadata };
+  }
+}
+```
+
+### Next Steps
+
+1. Implement proof of concept with basic metadata support
+2. Test with real-world test suites for edge cases
+3. Benchmark parsing performance
+4. Get feedback from users
+5. Finalize protocol specification
+6. Implement in both tapbundle and tstest
--- a/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
+++ b/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
@ -3,6 +3,6 @@
 */
 export const commitinfo = {
  name: '@git.zone/tstest',
-  version: '1.9.2',
+  version: '1.9.3',
  description: 'a test utility to run tests that match test/**/*.ts'
 }
--- a/ts/tstest.classes.tap.parser.ts
+++ b/ts/tstest.classes.tap.parser.ts
@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ export class TapParser {
  expectedTests: number;
  receivedTests: number;

-  testStatusRegex = /(ok|not\sok)\s([0-9]+)\s-\s(.*)(\s#\s(.*))?$/;
+  testStatusRegex = /(ok|not\sok)\s([0-9]+)\s-\s(.*?)(\s#\s(.*))?$/;
  activeTapTestResult: TapTestResult;
  collectingErrorDetails: boolean = false;
  currentTestError: string[] = [];
@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ export class TapParser {
          return false;
        })();

-        const testSubject = regexResult[3];
+        const testSubject = regexResult[3].trim();
        const testMetadata = regexResult[5]; // This will be either "time=XXXms" or "SKIP reason" or "TODO reason"
        
        let testDuration = 0;
--- a/ts_tapbundle/index.ts
+++ b/ts_tapbundle/index.ts
@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 export { tap } from './tapbundle.classes.tap.js';
 export { TapWrap } from './tapbundle.classes.tapwrap.js';
 export { webhelpers } from './webhelpers.js';
+
+// Protocol utilities (for future protocol v2)
+export * from './tapbundle.protocols.js';
 export { TapTools } from './tapbundle.classes.taptools.js';

 import { expect } from '@push.rocks/smartexpect';
--- a/ts_tapbundle/tapbundle.protocols.ts
+++ b/ts_tapbundle/tapbundle.protocols.ts
@ -0,0 +1,226 @@
+/**
+ * Internal protocol constants and utilities for improved TAP communication
+ * between tapbundle and tstest
+ */
+
+export const PROTOCOL = {
+  VERSION: '2.0',
+  MARKERS: {
+    START: '⟦TSTEST:',
+    END: '⟧',
+    BLOCK_END: '⟦/TSTEST:',
+  },
+  TYPES: {
+    META: 'META',
+    ERROR: 'ERROR',
+    SKIP: 'SKIP',
+    TODO: 'TODO',
+    SNAPSHOT: 'SNAPSHOT',
+    PROTOCOL: 'PROTOCOL',
+  }
+} as const;
+
+export interface TestMetadata {
+  // Timing
+  time?: number;           // milliseconds
+  startTime?: number;      // Unix timestamp
+  endTime?: number;        // Unix timestamp
+  
+  // Status
+  skip?: string;           // skip reason
+  todo?: string;           // todo reason
+  retry?: number;          // retry attempt
+  maxRetries?: number;     // max retries allowed
+  
+  // Error details
+  error?: {
+    message: string;
+    stack?: string;
+    diff?: string;
+    actual?: any;
+    expected?: any;
+  };
+  
+  // Test context
+  file?: string;           // source file
+  line?: number;           // line number
+  column?: number;         // column number
+  
+  // Custom data
+  tags?: string[];         // test tags
+  custom?: Record<string, any>;
+}
+
+export class ProtocolEncoder {
+  /**
+   * Encode metadata for inline inclusion
+   */
+  static encodeInline(type: string, data: any): string {
+    if (typeof data === 'string') {
+      return `${PROTOCOL.MARKERS.START}${type}:${data}${PROTOCOL.MARKERS.END}`;
+    }
+    return `${PROTOCOL.MARKERS.START}${type}:${JSON.stringify(data)}${PROTOCOL.MARKERS.END}`;
+  }
+  
+  /**
+   * Encode block data for multi-line content
+   */
+  static encodeBlock(type: string, data: any): string[] {
+    const lines: string[] = [];
+    lines.push(`${PROTOCOL.MARKERS.START}${type}${PROTOCOL.MARKERS.END}`);
+    
+    if (typeof data === 'string') {
+      lines.push(data);
+    } else {
+      lines.push(JSON.stringify(data, null, 2));
+    }
+    
+    lines.push(`${PROTOCOL.MARKERS.BLOCK_END}${type}${PROTOCOL.MARKERS.END}`);
+    return lines;
+  }
+  
+  /**
+   * Create a TAP line with metadata
+   */
+  static createTestLine(
+    status: 'ok' | 'not ok',
+    number: number,
+    description: string,
+    metadata?: TestMetadata
+  ): string {
+    let line = `${status} ${number} - ${description}`;
+    
+    if (metadata) {
+      // For skip/todo, use inline format for compatibility
+      if (metadata.skip) {
+        line += ` ${this.encodeInline(PROTOCOL.TYPES.SKIP, metadata.skip)}`;
+      } else if (metadata.todo) {
+        line += ` ${this.encodeInline(PROTOCOL.TYPES.TODO, metadata.todo)}`;
+      } else {
+        // For other metadata, append inline
+        const metaCopy = { ...metadata };
+        delete metaCopy.error; // Error details go in separate block
+        
+        if (Object.keys(metaCopy).length > 0) {
+          line += ` ${this.encodeInline(PROTOCOL.TYPES.META, metaCopy)}`;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    
+    return line;
+  }
+}
+
+export class ProtocolDecoder {
+  /**
+   * Extract all protocol markers from a line
+   */
+  static extractMarkers(line: string): Array<{type: string, data: any, start: number, end: number}> {
+    const markers: Array<{type: string, data: any, start: number, end: number}> = [];
+    let searchFrom = 0;
+    
+    while (true) {
+      const start = line.indexOf(PROTOCOL.MARKERS.START, searchFrom);
+      if (start === -1) break;
+      
+      const end = line.indexOf(PROTOCOL.MARKERS.END, start);
+      if (end === -1) break;
+      
+      const content = line.substring(start + PROTOCOL.MARKERS.START.length, end);
+      const colonIndex = content.indexOf(':');
+      
+      if (colonIndex !== -1) {
+        const type = content.substring(0, colonIndex);
+        const dataStr = content.substring(colonIndex + 1);
+        
+        let data: any;
+        try {
+          // Try to parse as JSON first
+          data = JSON.parse(dataStr);
+        } catch {
+          // If not JSON, treat as string
+          data = dataStr;
+        }
+        
+        markers.push({
+          type,
+          data,
+          start,
+          end: end + PROTOCOL.MARKERS.END.length
+        });
+      }
+      
+      searchFrom = end + 1;
+    }
+    
+    return markers;
+  }
+  
+  /**
+   * Remove protocol markers from a line
+   */
+  static cleanLine(line: string): string {
+    const markers = this.extractMarkers(line);
+    
+    // Remove markers from end to start to preserve indices
+    let cleanedLine = line;
+    for (let i = markers.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+      const marker = markers[i];
+      cleanedLine = cleanedLine.substring(0, marker.start) + 
+                    cleanedLine.substring(marker.end);
+    }
+    
+    return cleanedLine.trim();
+  }
+  
+  /**
+   * Parse a test line and extract metadata
+   */
+  static parseTestLine(line: string): {
+    cleaned: string;
+    metadata: TestMetadata;
+  } {
+    const markers = this.extractMarkers(line);
+    const metadata: TestMetadata = {};
+    
+    for (const marker of markers) {
+      switch (marker.type) {
+        case PROTOCOL.TYPES.META:
+          Object.assign(metadata, marker.data);
+          break;
+        case PROTOCOL.TYPES.SKIP:
+          metadata.skip = marker.data;
+          break;
+        case PROTOCOL.TYPES.TODO:
+          metadata.todo = marker.data;
+          break;
+      }
+    }
+    
+    return {
+      cleaned: this.cleanLine(line),
+      metadata
+    };
+  }
+  
+  /**
+   * Check if a line starts a protocol block
+   */
+  static isBlockStart(line: string): {isBlock: boolean, type?: string} {
+    const trimmed = line.trim();
+    if (trimmed.startsWith(PROTOCOL.MARKERS.START) && trimmed.endsWith(PROTOCOL.MARKERS.END)) {
+      const content = trimmed.slice(PROTOCOL.MARKERS.START.length, -PROTOCOL.MARKERS.END.length);
+      if (!content.includes(':')) {
+        return { isBlock: true, type: content };
+      }
+    }
+    return { isBlock: false };
+  }
+  
+  /**
+   * Check if a line ends a protocol block
+   */
+  static isBlockEnd(line: string, type: string): boolean {
+    return line.trim() === `${PROTOCOL.MARKERS.BLOCK_END}${type}${PROTOCOL.MARKERS.END}`;
+  }
+}