https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/ Recent content in Project file on Hugo -- gohugo.io Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0200 https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/introduction/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0200 https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/introduction/ A CAT project file is a plain text file in YAML format. It is the single input every CAT tool reads: the tool opens a project file, resolves the definitions it points to, runs the tests and writes the outputs. A minimal project file — one data source, one test, one output: Data sources: - Name: FlightsSystem Provider: SqlServer@2 Connection string: data source=localhost;initial catalog=DWH;integrated security=true Tests: - Name: Departures are loaded Data source: FlightsSystem Query: SELECT * FROM FACT. https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/complete-example/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0200 https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/complete-example/ The example below is deliberately exhaustive: it exercises most of what the file accepts in one document, so the shape of the whole is visible in one place. Read it as a map of what is possible, not as a template to copy. # ---------------------------------------- data sources defined in this file Data sources: - Name: FlightsSystem Provider: SqlServer@2 Connection string: > Server=sql-aero-flights-prod.database.windows.net; Authentication=Active Directory Service Principal; Database=sqldb-aero-flights-prod; User Id=%FLIGHTS_TESTING_PRINCIPAL_ID%; Password=%FLIGHTS_TESTING_PRINCIPAL_SECRET%; - Name: PassengersSystem Provider: Postgres@1 Connection string: "%PASSENGERS_CONNECTION_STRING%" # ------------------------- more data sources, read from another YAML file Get list of data sources from: - Provider: Yaml@1 Connection string: ". https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/naming-conventions/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0200 https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/naming-conventions/ The documentation names each property in one canonical form — the test reference calls one of them Test suite, for example. That is not the only accepted spelling, and for some properties not the only accepted name. CAT matches property names against a set of synonyms, and the match is not case sensitive. Why synonyms exist # Definitions do not only live in the project file. They live in database tables, in stored procedure result sets, in worksheets, in other YAML files — see Lists. https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/lists/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0200 https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/lists/ CAT does not read definitions from the project file. It reads them from lists, and the project file is one of the things a list can point at. There are three kinds of list — lists of data sources, lists of queries and lists of tests — and each kind is resolved the same way: a provider is opened, rows are read, and each row becomes one definition. A list is declared in one of two ways. https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/root-settings/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0200 https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/root-settings/ Root settings are single values written at the root of the project file — no indentation before the key, no list under it. Threads: 3 Threads # How many tests CAT evaluates at the same time. Accepts A positive integer, or a string that resolves to one after environment variable expansion, such as "%CAT_THREADS%". Default 1. The key may be omitted, and Threads: 1 has exactly the same effect as omitting it. https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/environment-variables/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0200 https://docs.justcat.it/reference/project-file/environment-variables/ Environment variables serve two purposes in CAT configuration: keeping sensitive values — passwords, secrets, whole connection strings — out of the file, and out of version control; parametrizing a project file, so one set of definitions can be run against several environments, terminals, regions and so on. Syntax # Refer to an environment variable as %YOUR_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE_NAME%. Variable names follow the rules of the operating system: on Windows %testing_user% and %TESTING_USER% are the same variable, on Linux and macOS they are not.