Create and import helper functions in tests without creating packages in test directory using py.test

You could define a helper class in conftest.py, then create a fixture that returns that class (or an instance of it, depending on what you need).

import pytest


class Helpers:
    @staticmethod
    def help_me():
        return "no"


@pytest.fixture
def helpers():
    return Helpers

Then in your tests, you can use the fixture:

def test_with_help(helpers):
    helpers.help_me()

my option is to create an extra dir in tests dir and add it to pythonpath in the conftest so.

tests/
    helpers/
      utils.py
      ...
    conftest.py
setup.cfg

in the conftest.py

import sys
import os
sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'helpers'))

in setup.cfg

[pytest]
norecursedirs=tests/helpers

this module will be available with import utils, only be careful to name clashing.

While searching for a solution for this problem I came across this SO question and ended up adopting the same approach. Creating a helpers package, munging sys.path to make it importable and then just importing it...

This did not seem the best approach, so, I created pytest-helpers-namespace. This plugin allows you to register helper functions on your conftest.py:

import pytest

pytest_plugins = ['helpers_namespace']

@pytest.helpers.register
def my_custom_assert_helper(blah):
    assert blah

# One can even specify a custom name for the helper
@pytest.helpers.register(name='assertme')
def my_custom_assert_helper_2(blah):
    assert blah

# And even namespace helpers
@pytest.helpers.asserts.register(name='me')
def my_custom_assert_helper_3(blah):
    assert blah

And then, within a test case function body just use it like

def test_this():
    assert pytest.helpers.my_custom_assert_helper(blah) 

def test_this_2():
    assert pytest.helpers.assertme(blah)

def test_this_3():
    assert pytest.helpers.asserts.me(blah)

Its pretty simple and the documentation pretty small. Take a look and tell me if it addresses your problem too.