---
name: "Test2::Tools"
section: "3p"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
platforms: ["openbsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/Test2::Tools"
---

# Test2::Tools(3p)

Documentation for Tools.

## NAME

Test2::Tools - Documentation for Tools.

## DESCRIPTION

Tools are packages that export test functions, typically all related to a specific aspect of testing. If you have a couple different categories of exports then you may want to break them into separate modules.

Tools should export testing functions. Loading tools **should not** have side- effects, or alter the behavior of other tools. If you want to alter behaviors or create side-effects then you probably want to write a Test2::Plugin.

## FAQ

- Why is it called Test2::Tools, and not Test2::Tool?

  This question arises since Tools is the only namespace in the plural. This is because each Plugin should be a distinct unit of functionality, but a Tools dist can (and usually should) export several tools. A bundle is also typically described as a single unit. Nobody would like Test2::Bundles::Foo.

- Should my tools subclass Test2::Tools?

  No. Currently this class is empty. Eventually we may want to add behavior, in which case we do not want anyone to already be subclassing it.

## HOW DO I WRITE A 'TOOLS' MODULE?

It is very easy to write tools:

```
    package Test2::Tools::Mine
    use strict;
    use warnings;
    # All tools should use the context() function.
    use Test2::API qw/context/;
    our @EXPORTS = qw/ok plan/;
    use base 'Exporter';
    sub ok($;$) {
        my ($bool, $name) = @_;
        # All tool functions should start by grabbing a context
        my $ctx = context();
        # The context is the primary interface for generating events
        $ctx->ok($bool, $name);
        # When you are done you release the context
        $ctx->release;
        return $bool ? 1 : 0;
    }
    sub plan {
        my ($max) = @_;
        my $ctx = context();
        $ctx->plan($max);
        $ctx->release;
    }
    1;
```

See Test2::API::Context for documentation on what the `$ctx` object can do.

## SOURCE

The source code repository for Test2-Suite can be found at *https://github.com/Test-More/test-more/*.

## MAINTAINERS

- Chad Granum \<exodist@cpan.org\>

  ## AUTHORS

- Chad Granum \<exodist@cpan.org\>

  ## COPYRIGHT

Copyright Chad Granum \<exodist@cpan.org\>.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

See *http://dev.perl.org/licenses/*