Julia 1.13: `runtests` fails immediately — `Test.TESTSET_PRINT_ENABLE` is now a `ScopedValue`, not a `Ref`

[PingoLee]

Summary

On Julia 1.13.0-rc4, runtests throws before executing a single test item:

caused by: MethodError: no method matching setindex!(::Base.ScopedValues.ScopedValue{Bool}, ::Bool)
  [1] _runtests_in_current_env(...)
    @ ReTestItems ~/.julia/packages/ReTestItems/1eYMm/src/ReTestItems.jl:434

Test.TESTSET_PRINT_ENABLE changed from Base.RefValue{Bool} to
Base.ScopedValues.ScopedValue{Bool}. Reads ([]) still work; assignments ([] = x) no longer do.

Versions

• ReTestItems v1.35.2 (current release)
• Julia 1.13.0-rc4 — a release candidate, not nightly

Reproducer

julia> using Test

julia> typeof(Test.TESTSET_PRINT_ENABLE)
Base.ScopedValues.ScopedValue{Bool}     # 1.13+ ; Base.RefValue{Bool} on 1.12

julia> Test.TESTSET_PRINT_ENABLE[]      # reads still fine
true

julia> Test.TESTSET_PRINT_ENABLE[] = false
ERROR: MethodError: no method matching setindex!(::Base.ScopedValues.ScopedValue{Bool}, ::Bool)

Confirmed on 1.14.0-DEV.2072 locally; on 1.12.6 the same assignment succeeds. The rc4 failure is in
this CI run: https://github.com/PingoLee/Nitro.jl/actions/runs/34342130233

Affected sites

Six assignments in src/ReTestItems.jl — lines 434, 499, 510, 536, 613, 627.
(test/runtests.jl:39 reads the flag, which still works.)

This may not be a mechanical fix

The flag is disabled in one function and re-enabled in others (434 turns it off; 499 and 510 turn it
back on so finish prints). That lifetime is not lexically scoped, so
ScopedValues.with(TESTSET_PRINT_ENABLE => false) do ... end is not a drop-in substitute for the
assignments — the enable/disable regions would have to be restructured, or the flag handled behind a
version-conditional shim.

Relation to #234

#234 reported this same MethodError and was closed on the grounds that Julia nightly is often
broken and stabilizes near release. That reasoning is what I would have applied too, but the change
has now reached a release candidate — so unless it is reverted, 1.13.0 ships with
TESTSET_PRINT_ENABLE as a ScopedValue and ReTestItems is unusable there.

Possible CI gap

Project.toml declares julia = "1.8" with no upper bound, so 1.13 is within the supported range,
but the CI matrix is 1.8 / 1.10 / 1.12 — there is no pre-release entry, so nothing surfaces this
before 1.13.0 is out. A ~1.13.0-0 job (the -0 lower bound is what opts semver into
pre-releases) would catch this class of breakage during the RC window.

Workaround we are using

In Nitro.jl we marked the 1.13 suite job continue-on-error
and added a separate blocking smoke-test job that does not depend on ReTestItems, so 1.13 still gets
some coverage. That keeps CI honest but means the real suite has no 1.13 signal.

---

Investigated and drafted with Claude Code; reviewed and posted by
@PingoLee. The reproducer output above was run, not generated.

[Drvi]

Thanks for the report. I'll have a look over the weekend

[Drvi]

Should be fixed by #244

[PingoLee]

Great job @Drvi

https://github.com/PingoLee/Nitro.jl/actions/runs/34800630878/job/103959768094 is running now.

Thanks