Gaurav Varma

RSpec 3.9 continues to improve the developer experience for large test suites with two major usability enhancements: grouped failures and advanced example filtering.

Grouped failures

Debugging a test suite becomes easier when related failures are grouped together. RSpec 3.9 introduces structured output that organizes failing examples by file and context, making it quicker to pinpoint and address issues.

Enhanced Example Filtering

You now have more power to target specific tests. RSpec 3.9 supports:

Tag-based filtering using metadata like :focus or custom tags
Line number targeting (e.g. run a test near a specific line)
Regex filtering with --example-matches, which lets you run examples that match a pattern in the description

Example

1rspec spec/models/user_spec.rb:42

Or use --example-matches for fuzzy matching:

1rspec --example-matches "user updates"

New: Minimalist Failure Formatter

A new formatter, --format failure_list (or just -f f), was introduced. It outputs failing specs in a clean, quick-fix-friendly format:

1spec/models/user_spec.rb:15 # User validations fails with invalid email
2spec/services/payment_service_spec.rb:37 # PaymentService charges card

Great for CI pipelines or quick copy-paste debugging.

Behind the Scenes

Other internal improvements in RSpec 3.9 include:

Smarter error handling when loading spec support files
did_you_mean suggestions for LoadErrors
Improved thread safety in mocks using mutexes
Generator support for system specs, generators, and controller routes in rspec-rails

Summary

With improved filtering, grouped failure output, and new CLI tools like --example-matches and failure_list, RSpec 3.9 makes debugging faster and more intuitive — especially in large or flaky test suites.

RSpec 3.9 adds example filtering and failure grouping