How to Find All Test Files in Terminal

Task

Find all test files within a big project folder and print out the list of these files. Any file containing the word “test” in its name will be recognized as a test file, except for those in the node_modules folder.

Solution

Even though the project folder structure may be quite complex, accomplishing this task is surprisingly easy with a basic terminal command

find . -type f -not -path "*node_modules*" -name "*test*" -print

Explanation

• Specifies the starting directory for the search, in this case, the current directory.
• -type f: Restricts the search to only files (not directories).
• -not -path "*node_modules*": Excludes any files with “node_modules” in their path. The -not predicate negates the condition, and -path specifies the path pattern to exclude.
• -name "*test*": Specifies files with “test” in their name.
• -print: Prints the names of the files that match the specified criteria.

With this command, you’ll search for files with “test” in their name, excluding any files with “node_modules” in their path.

Output Results

Useful Resources

• https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-search-files-in-the-linux-terminal/
• https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/find-command-exclude-ignore-files/