Reintroduce PytestReturnNotNoneWarning

Since this warning is meant to be permanent, added proper documentation to the `assert` section in the docs.

Fixes #13477

Author: nicoddemus

changelog/13477.bugfix.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Reintroduced :class:`pytest.PytestReturnNotNoneWarning` which was removed by accident in pytest `8.4`.
+
+This warning is raised when a test functions returns a value other than ``None``, which is often a mistake made by beginners.
+
+See :ref:`return-not-none` for more information.

doc/en/deprecations.rst

@@ -316,46 +316,6 @@ Users expected in this case that the ``usefixtures`` mark would have its intende
 Now pytest will issue a warning when it encounters this problem, and will raise an error in the future versions.
 
 
-Returning non-None value in test functions
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-.. deprecated:: 7.2
-
-A ``pytest.PytestReturnNotNoneWarning`` is now emitted if a test function returns something other than `None`.
-
-This prevents a common mistake among beginners that expect that returning a `bool` would cause a test to pass or fail, for example:
-
-.. code-block:: python
-
-    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
-        ["a", "b", "result"],
-        [
-            [1, 2, 5],
-            [2, 3, 8],
-            [5, 3, 18],
-        ],
-    )
-    def test_foo(a, b, result):
-        return foo(a, b) == result
-
-Given that pytest ignores the return value, this might be surprising that it will never fail.
-
-The proper fix is to change the `return` to an `assert`:
-
-.. code-block:: python
-
-    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
-        ["a", "b", "result"],
-        [
-            [1, 2, 5],
-            [2, 3, 8],
-            [5, 3, 18],
-        ],
-    )
-    def test_foo(a, b, result):
-        assert foo(a, b) == result
-
-
 The ``yield_fixture`` function/decorator
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

doc/en/how-to/assert.rst

@@ -476,6 +476,50 @@ the conftest file:
    FAILED test_foocompare.py::test_compare - assert Comparing Foo instances:
    1 failed in 0.12s
 
+.. _`return-not-none`:
+
+Returning non-None value in test functions
+------------------------------------------
+
+A :class:`pytest.PytestReturnNotNoneWarning` is emitted when a test function returns a value other than ``None``.
+
+This helps prevent a common mistake made by beginners who assume that returning a ``bool`` (e.g., ``True`` or ``False``) will determine whether a test passes or fails.
+
+Example:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        ["a", "b", "result"],
+        [
+            [1, 2, 5],
+            [2, 3, 8],
+            [5, 3, 18],
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_foo(a, b, result):
+        return foo(a, b) == result  # Incorrect usage, do not do this.
+
+Since pytest ignores return values, it might be surprising that the test will never fail based on the returned value.
+
+The correct fix is to replace the ``return`` statement with an ``assert``:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        ["a", "b", "result"],
+        [
+            [1, 2, 5],
+            [2, 3, 8],
+            [5, 3, 18],
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_foo(a, b, result):
+        assert foo(a, b) == result
+
+
+
+
 .. _assert-details:
 .. _`assert introspection`:
 

doc/en/reference/reference.rst

@@ -1274,6 +1274,9 @@ Custom warnings generated in some situations such as improper usage or deprecate
 .. autoclass:: pytest.PytestExperimentalApiWarning
    :show-inheritance:
 
+.. autoclass:: pytest.PytestReturnNotNoneWarning
+  :show-inheritance:
+
 .. autoclass:: pytest.PytestRemovedIn9Warning
   :show-inheritance:
 

src/_pytest/python.py

@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@
 from _pytest.scope import Scope
 from _pytest.stash import StashKey
 from _pytest.warning_types import PytestCollectionWarning
+from _pytest.warning_types import PytestReturnNotNoneWarning
 
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -157,12 +158,12 @@ def pytest_pyfunc_call(pyfuncitem: Function) -> object | None:
     if hasattr(result, "__await__") or hasattr(result, "__aiter__"):
         async_fail(pyfuncitem.nodeid)
     elif result is not None:
-        fail(
-            (
-                f"Expected None, but test returned {result!r}. "
-                "Did you mean to use `assert` instead of `return`?"
-            ),
-            pytrace=False,
+        warnings.warn(
+            PytestReturnNotNoneWarning(
+                f"Test functions should return None, but {pyfuncitem.nodeid} returned {type(result)!r}.\n"
+                "Did you mean to use `assert` instead of `return`?\n"
+                "See https://docs.pytest.org/en/stable/how-to/assert.html#return-not-none for more information."
+            )
         )
     return True
 

src/_pytest/warning_types.py

@@ -71,6 +71,17 @@ def simple(cls, apiname: str) -> PytestExperimentalApiWarning:
         return cls(f"{apiname} is an experimental api that may change over time")
 
 
+@final
+class PytestReturnNotNoneWarning(PytestWarning):
+    """
+    Warning emitted when a test function is returning value other than None.
+
+    See :ref:`return-not-none` for details.
+    """
+
+    __module__ = "pytest"
+
+
 @final
 class PytestUnknownMarkWarning(PytestWarning):
     """Warning emitted on use of unknown markers.

src/pytest/__init__.py

@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@
 from _pytest.warning_types import PytestExperimentalApiWarning
 from _pytest.warning_types import PytestFDWarning
 from _pytest.warning_types import PytestRemovedIn9Warning
+from _pytest.warning_types import PytestReturnNotNoneWarning
 from _pytest.warning_types import PytestUnhandledThreadExceptionWarning
 from _pytest.warning_types import PytestUnknownMarkWarning
 from _pytest.warning_types import PytestUnraisableExceptionWarning
@@ -132,6 +133,7 @@
     "PytestFDWarning",
     "PytestPluginManager",
     "PytestRemovedIn9Warning",
+    "PytestReturnNotNoneWarning",
     "PytestUnhandledThreadExceptionWarning",
     "PytestUnknownMarkWarning",
     "PytestUnraisableExceptionWarning",

testing/acceptance_test.py

@@ -1489,15 +1489,15 @@ def test_no_brokenpipeerror_message(pytester: Pytester) -> None:
     popen.stderr.close()
 
 
-def test_function_return_non_none_error(pytester: Pytester) -> None:
+@pytest.mark.filterwarnings("default")
+def test_function_return_non_none_warning(pytester: Pytester) -> None:
     pytester.makepyfile(
         """
         def test_stuff():
             return "something"
     """
     )
     res = pytester.runpytest()
-    res.assert_outcomes(failed=1)
     res.stdout.fnmatch_lines(["*Did you mean to use `assert` instead of `return`?*"])