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SPECIFICTION
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Molecule

docs.ansible.com

Linux
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Spec score 7.1 #23 of 28 in Infrastructure Testing Tools

Spec sheet

Purpose
Molecule is an Ansible testing framework for developing and testing collections, playbooks, and roles.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Integrations
Molecule uses Ansible features such as inventory, playbooks, and collections, and community drivers are available through molecule-plugins.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Security
The documentation recommends installing Molecule in a virtual environment and notes a possible issue on SELinux-supporting systems when installed into one.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Support
The project directs users to the Ansible community forum for questions and help, and says possible security bugs can be reported to [email protected].Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
License
The project GitHub page identifies Molecule as MIT licensed.Read 5 Oct 2026 · github.com
Founded
2015Read 28 Sep 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Ansible version support
Molecule supports only the latest two major versions of Ansible.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Ansible versions
Molecule supports only the latest two major versions of Ansible (N/N-1).Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
CI
The documentation gives a GitHub Actions example that installs dependencies and runs `molecule test`.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
CI integrations
The documentation provides continuous integration examples for GitHub Actions, Travis CI, GitLab CI, Azure Pipelines, Jenkins Pipeline, and Tox.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Command line
Molecule can be invoked with the molecule command or as a Python module using python3 -m molecule.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Container option
Molecule is included in the Ansible Development Tools container image.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Drivers
Molecule uses the delegated driver by default, and other drivers can be installed separately, most through the molecule-plugins package.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Installation
The documentation names pip as the only supported installation method and recommends installing Molecule through the ansible-dev-tools package.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Inventory
Molecule can use existing Ansible inventory sources, including static files, dynamic scripts, and inventory plugins.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Notable limitation
Molecule does not include ansible-lint; the installation documentation instructs users to install it separately.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Platform requirements
Installation requires Python packaging and Python management on the system running Molecule, and the documentation gives package installation examples for CentOS and Ubuntu.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Pricing
The project documentation provides pip installation instructions and does not list a paid plan or price.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Requirements
Molecule requires a recent supported version of ansible-core, and selected drivers may require additional operating system packages or Python packages.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Test targets
Test scenarios can target systems and services reachable from Ansible, including containers, virtual machines, cloud infrastructure, APIs, databases, and network devices.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Test workflows
Its configurable actions include provisioning, dependency installation, preparation, convergence, idempotence checks, verification, cleanup, and destruction.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Who it is for
The getting-started guides direct Ansible role, playbook project, and collection developers to different testing paths.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com
Workflow
The `molecule test` command runs a configurable sequence of testing actions, including syntax, create, converge, idempotence, and verify.Read 5 Oct 2026 · docs.ansible.com

Where Specifiction places it

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