Why bun test ignore test script from package.json

[jcubic]

What is the reason why you can't change how bun test works? Anything you put into scripts is ignored, and Bun uses an internal testing tool. Which just throws errors if you use Vitest.

[binhtddev]

@jcubic, You should use bun run test to run the script from package.json similar to bun run build

[jcubic]

Yes, I know, but why? You can use the bun start and it will run the start script. Any name will work. Why not bun test do the same?

[amyssnippet]

The reason is that bun test is a first-class native command, similar to how go test or cargo test works in other ecosystems.

Since Bun includes its own high-performance test runner built directly into the runtime, it reserves the bun test namespace to invoke that specific tool. If bun test defaulted to running the package.json script, there would be no ergonomic way to invoke Bun's native runner (you would likely have to type something verbose like bun --test or bun:test).

The difference with bun start:
bun start is a special case. There is no "internal native start feature" that conflicts with it. It exists purely as a compatibility alias for bun run start because that is the established convention in the Node.js ecosystem (matching npm start).

Summary:

• bun test → Invokes the native Bun Test Runner.
• bun run test → Invokes the user-defined script in package.json.

[jcubic]

Why can't you just put an if statement like this?

if (package.json test exist) {
   run package json test;
} else {
   run native test command;
}