feat(cli): auto-recompiling when aztec test is run by benesjan · Pull Request #20729 · AztecProtocol/aztec-packages

benesjan · 2026-02-20T15:39:33Z

In this PR I ensure that contracts get automatically recompiled when aztec test is run. To avoid unnecessary compilations I use make command inspired approach of checking timestamp of source files (*.toml and *.nr files) against the timestamp of the oldest artifact in the /target dir (as artifact I consider any *.json file).

Note: By using the oldest timestamp we would get constant recompilation on each run in case the dev placed there some random *.json file.

Question: Does the reviewer think this ^ is fine? Alternatively I could nuke the target dir whenever a recompilation is being run. This feels a bit dangerous though. Another approach would be to predict the artifact name of individual crates and just check against those. This would be the most efficient but it introduces complexity and brittleness in case nargo artifact names change. I think I would keep it as it is for now and come up with solution if someone complains about constant recompilations.

I initially thought I will implement this in the aztec test command but that command is fully implemented in bash. When I had AI implement this the resulting bash was impossible to comprehend so I told it to rewrite in typescript. Given that the aztec test command is calling aztec compile that is implemented in typescript it made sense for this PR to modify only that command. This has the added advantage that it will make bugs in this code way more visible because when a dev runs aztec compile they will either see that the code is getting re-compiled or they will get "No source changes detected, skipping compilation." log. If they modify a contract, run aztec compile and see that nothing got compiled it will be obvious that the thing is broken.

Closes https://linear.app/aztec-labs/issue/F-197/auto-recompile-contracts-on-tests

benesjan · 2026-02-20T15:39:48Z

feat(cli): auto-recompiling when aztec test is run #20729 👈 (View in Graphite)
feat(cli): warning if contract crate has tests #20723
merge-train/fairies

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nventuro · 2026-03-03T23:21:51Z

Note: By using the oldest timestamp we would get constant recompilation on each run in case the dev placed there some random *.json file.

Question: Does the reviewer think this ^ is fine? Alternatively I could nuke the target dir whenever a recompilation is being run. This feels a bit dangerous though. Another approach would be to predict the artifact name of individual crates and just check against those. This would be the most efficient but it introduces complexity and brittleness in case nargo artifact names change. I think I would keep it as it is for now and come up with solution if someone complains about constant recompilations.

I agree with your reasoning 100%. The target dir should not be used by users.

I initially thought I will implement this in the aztec test command but that command is fully implemented in bash. When I had AI implement this the resulting bash was impossible to comprehend so I told it to rewrite in typescript.

I believe part of the reason to implement it in bash was to skip loading all of the TS. Did you not notice a huge slowdown due to the importing of ts modules etc?

I do agree with bash being a terrible way to do things, but because the CLI is currently huge this is a problem today. The real solution would be to split the CLI (or to split commands) so that compile test etc are all lightweight.

benesjan · 2026-03-04T10:43:50Z

Did you not notice a huge slowdown due to the importing of ts modules etc?

@nventuro I just did measurements on the default workspace tests and the version with the check is like 0.3s slower than version without it. Given that to run it all takes like 5s this doesn't seem to be a problem.

Co-authored-by: Nicolás Venturo <nicolas.venturo@gmail.com>

nventuro

Lovely.

WE HAVE AUTORECOMPILE ON TEST YAY

BEGIN_COMMIT_OVERRIDE feat: add note hash and nullifier helper functions with domain separation (#21189) feat(cli): auto-recompiling when aztec test is run (#20729) docs: small delayedpubmut update (#21229) test: restore pubmut tests (#21228) END_COMMIT_OVERRIDE

In this PR I ensure that contracts get automatically recompiled when `aztec test` is run. To avoid unnecessary compilations I use `make` command inspired approach of checking timestamp of source files (*.toml and *.nr files) against the timestamp of the oldest artifact in the `/target` dir (as artifact I consider any `*.json` file). **Note:** By using the oldest timestamp we would get constant recompilation on each run in case the dev placed there some random `*.json` file. **Question**: Does the reviewer think this ^ is fine? Alternatively I could nuke the `target` dir whenever a recompilation is being run. This feels a bit dangerous though. Another approach would be to predict the artifact name of individual crates and just check against those. This would be the most efficient but it introduces complexity and brittleness in case `nargo` artifact names change. I think I would keep it as it is for now and come up with solution if someone complains about constant recompilations. I initially thought I will implement this in the `aztec test` command but that command is fully implemented in bash. When I had AI implement this the resulting bash was impossible to comprehend so I told it to rewrite in typescript. Given that the `aztec test` command is calling `aztec compile` that is implemented in typescript it made sense for this PR to modify only that command. This has the added advantage that it will make bugs in this code way more visible because when a dev runs `aztec compile` they will either see that the code is getting re-compiled or they will get "No source changes detected, skipping compilation." log. If they modify a contract, run `aztec compile` and see that nothing got compiled it will be obvious that the thing is broken. Closes https://linear.app/aztec-labs/issue/F-197/auto-recompile-contracts-on-tests --------- Co-authored-by: benesjan <benesjan@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Nicolás Venturo <nicolas.venturo@gmail.com>

## Summary Backports 6 PRs with aztec CLI improvements from `next` to `v4-next`: - #20681 - refactor: aztec new and init creating 2 crates - #20711 - test: aztec new scaffold works - #20723 - feat(cli): warning if contract crate has tests - #20729 - feat(cli): auto-recompiling when aztec test is run - #21007 - feat: aztec new supporting multiple contract crates - #21245 - feat: asserts that aztec dep version matches cli

benesjan · 2026-04-16T02:20:29Z

Backported to v4-next in #22587

BEGIN_COMMIT_OVERRIDE fix(pxe): cap event filter toBlock to last synced block (#22573) fix(pxe): round tx expiration timestamp to reduce precision (#22577) fix: eliminate anvil watcher warp race and false success logs (#22584) refactor: aztec new and init creating 2 crates (#20681) test: aztec new scaffold works (#20711) feat(cli): warning if contract crate has tests (#20723) feat(cli): auto-recompiling when aztec test is run (#20729) feat: aztec new supporting multiple contract crates (#21007) feat: asserts that aztec dep version matches cli (#21245) chore: backport aztec CLI improvements to v4-next (#22587) feat: check noir release has nargo binaries before releasing (#22551) chore: cache chainInfo in embeddedwallet (#22592) fix: wrap external getCapsule in transactionAsync (#22595) fix(pxe): throw clear error for invalid comparator in pick_notes (#22585) refactor(aztec-nr): rename conversion fns to encode_/decode_ naming (#22576) feat: infrastructure for testing `[new_contract_artfiacts, old_aztec_stack]` (#22593) chore: fix unnecessary and inconsistent side-effect counter increments (#22245) fix: update FaceID wallet redirects and strip anchors in redirect validation (#22505) docs: add getting started on testnet guide (#22366) docs: add getting started on testnet guide (backport #22366) (#22619) feat(aztec-nr): new BoundedVec emit private log APIs (#22064) END_COMMIT_OVERRIDE

benesjan mentioned this pull request Feb 20, 2026

feat(cli): warning if contract crate has tests #20723

Merged

benesjan force-pushed the 02-20-feat_cli_auto-recompiling_when_aztec_test_is_run branch from 4fe024b to 0ce0067 Compare February 21, 2026 10:26

benesjan force-pushed the 02-20-feat_cli_asserting_that_contract_crates_have_no_tests branch from c23a37d to 05bbbf0 Compare February 21, 2026 10:40

benesjan force-pushed the 02-20-feat_cli_auto-recompiling_when_aztec_test_is_run branch 2 times, most recently from 7a2fec1 to 96b2f70 Compare February 23, 2026 06:58

benesjan force-pushed the 02-20-feat_cli_asserting_that_contract_crates_have_no_tests branch 2 times, most recently from f9b122d to fc7e946 Compare February 23, 2026 15:11

benesjan force-pushed the 02-20-feat_cli_auto-recompiling_when_aztec_test_is_run branch 3 times, most recently from 277bf39 to 54a6fc1 Compare February 23, 2026 16:25

benesjan force-pushed the 02-20-feat_cli_asserting_that_contract_crates_have_no_tests branch from d3a3170 to 11d8d00 Compare February 23, 2026 16:25

benesjan force-pushed the 02-20-feat_cli_auto-recompiling_when_aztec_test_is_run branch from 54a6fc1 to b16a65d Compare February 24, 2026 04:19

Base automatically changed from 02-20-feat_cli_asserting_that_contract_crates_have_no_tests to merge-train/fairies February 24, 2026 04:32

benesjan force-pushed the 02-20-feat_cli_auto-recompiling_when_aztec_test_is_run branch 4 times, most recently from 59a1df5 to a12d173 Compare February 26, 2026 10:28

benesjan and others added 9 commits February 26, 2026 15:57

feat(cli): asserting that contract crates have no tests

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cleanup

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simplifying

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simplifying mo

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benesjan force-pushed the 02-20-feat_cli_auto-recompiling_when_aztec_test_is_run branch from ee08542 to c70a2ba Compare February 26, 2026 15:57

benesjan marked this pull request as ready for review February 26, 2026 16:08

benesjan requested a review from nventuro February 26, 2026 16:56

nventuro reviewed Mar 4, 2026

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benesjan marked this pull request as draft March 5, 2026 06:18

benesjan and others added 6 commits March 5, 2026 07:18

Update yarn-project/aztec/scripts/aztec.sh

8ca9f96

Co-authored-by: Nicolás Venturo <nicolas.venturo@gmail.com>

re-ordering funcs

1f9e1a2

clarifying dir naming

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better name

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clarifying touch fn

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dropping redundant test case

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benesjan marked this pull request as ready for review March 5, 2026 08:23

benesjan requested a review from nventuro March 5, 2026 09:01

nventuro approved these changes Mar 6, 2026

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nventuro merged commit 409d7f7 into merge-train/fairies Mar 6, 2026
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nventuro deleted the 02-20-feat_cli_auto-recompiling_when_aztec_test_is_run branch March 6, 2026 23:38

AztecBot mentioned this pull request Mar 6, 2026

feat: merge-train/fairies #21230

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benesjan mentioned this pull request Apr 16, 2026

chore: backport aztec CLI improvements to v4-next #22587

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AztecBot mentioned this pull request Apr 16, 2026

chore: Accumulated backports to v4-next #22580

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feat(cli): auto-recompiling when aztec test is run#20729

feat(cli): auto-recompiling when aztec test is run#20729
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