INVALID_OPERATION: testLevel of NoTestRun cannot be used in production organizations

[Sebastian-Axenon]

Summary

When deploying Custom Fields to a production org with sf project deploy start command, following error is returned:
Error (1): INVALID_OPERATION: testLevel of NoTestRun cannot be used in production organizations

Steps To Reproduce:

Run sf project deploy start targeting a production org and only deploying a custom field

[github-actions]

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[pgonzaleznetwork]

@Sebastian-Axenon I'm not from sf but I'm curious what were you expecting, the default behaviour where all local tests are run?

[Sebastian-Axenon]

Hi @pgonzaleznetwork, as the documentation state, the default value is NoTestRun.
Previous I've have not encountered enforcement to include Apex Tests when deploying fields only.

[mshanemc]

the old commands (force:source:deploy) would omit the testLevel from the deploy request unless specified. The metadata API interprets that as "let the org decide what it should do" which means it may or may not run tests depending on what the org requires (ex: apex tests have to run on a prod org but only if there's components in the deploy that require it, but a sandbox would not run the tests given the same deployment).

Would you want an option that means "do not specify" to delegate to the org's default behavior?

[github-actions]

Thank you for filing this feature request. We appreciate your feedback and will review the feature at our next grooming or sprint planning session. We prioritize feature requests with more upvotes and comments.

[git2gus]

This issue has been linked to a new work item: W-13176087

[marshallvaughn]

the old commands (force:source:deploy) would omit the testLevel from the deploy request unless specified. The metadata API interprets that as "let the org decide what it should do" which means it may or may not run tests depending on what the org requires (ex: apex tests have to run on a prod org but only if there's components in the deploy that require it, but a sandbox would not run the tests given the same deployment).

Would you want an option that means "do not specify" to delegate to the org's default behavior?

This issue impacts my team as well. I'm currently able to specify NoTestRun using the legacy sfdx CLI, but not sf. I frequently used that for things like PermissionSet updates, CustomField deployments, Layout hotfixes, etc. For things like that, there is no Apex Class built that will validate it, and it's not worth it to build one.

We can build a workaround by having it run an empty test class, but that seems a bit wonky as a permanent solution.

[ps-carl-bussema]

Agreed, this is a problematic gap. You can actually specify a non-existent test class: --testlevel RunSpecifiedTests --tests FakeClassName will work, but it's very annoying to have to do that when previously "let the org decide" was the default and there is no equivalent. I sometimes script low-risk or emergency deployments across multiple orgs, some sandbox and some production, and just letting the org decide would be ideal here.

[shetzel]

This issue was fixed with this PR to the deploy-retrieve plugin: salesforcecli/plugin-deploy-retrieve#611

Please reopen if you have steps that reproduce the problem.