Atlas runs a Java test suite with the bash tool, passing a generous timeout in milliseconds so a slow Maven build is not killed mid-run, then triages the failures by root cause rather than by test name. A full JUnit 5 via mvn test run produces far more output than any model should read, so the bash tool truncates at 2000 lines or 50 KB, writes the complete log to a retained file, and tells you the path. Triage then happens against the whole log rather than a lossy tail.
How does Atlas run a full Java test suite without blowing up its context?
Atlas runs JUnit 5 via mvn test through the bash tool, which truncates output at 2000 lines or 50 KB, writes the complete log to a retained file, and prints the path in an output truncated header. A Maven reactor build across 40 modules is therefore readable and complete at the same time.
A Java suite is unusually verbose. Maven prints a banner per module, Surefire prints a header per test class, and a single failing assertion carries a stack trace 60 frames deep through Spring proxies and reflection. Dumping all of that into a model's context is both expensive and useless. The Atlas bash tool caps what comes back inline but never discards the rest: the full mvn test output goes to a file, and Atlas is told where. The triage that follows reads that file, so nothing is lost.
What does the output truncated header mean after mvn test?
The output truncated header is the Atlas bash tool telling you that the JUnit 5 via mvn test run exceeded 2000 lines or 50 KB and that the complete log was written to a named file. Atlas reads that file with the read tool rather than reasoning from the visible tail.
Reasoning from a tail is how triage goes wrong in Java. The last 200 lines of a mvn test run are the Maven reactor summary and the BUILD FAILURE banner, which tell you which modules failed but almost nothing about why. The interesting content, the first ClassNotFoundException, the first NullPointerException in the service layer, the misconfigured test container, is thousands of lines up. When Atlas sees output truncated, it opens the saved log and works from the top, where the causes actually are.
Why does Atlas group Java test failures by root cause instead of by test name?
Atlas groups Java failures by root cause because 47 red JUnit 5 tests are frequently 3 bugs. Atlas greps the saved mvn test log for the exception types and messages, so a single misconfigured Spring bean that fails 30 tests is one item to fix, not 30.
Grouping by test name produces a to-do list shaped like the failure report rather than like the work. Atlas instead runs grep over the retained log, scoping to the exception class names and assertion messages, and collapses the results. One cluster is every test in OrderServiceTest failing with the same IllegalStateException. Another is a single flaky timeout. A third is a genuine assertion regression in a payment calculation. That is three items, ranked, and it is a plan a Java developer can actually execute.
How does Atlas track Java test failures so none are forgotten?
Atlas records one todowrite entry per distinct root cause, with status pending, so the fixes are tracked instead of forgotten. A Maven build with 3 distinct causes becomes 3 todowrite items, each closed only when the affected JUnit 5 tests pass again.
The list is the working memory of the triage. Without it, a long Java debugging session drifts: you fix the Spring context problem, the number of failures drops from 47 to 12, and the remaining 12 quietly become someone else's problem. Atlas keeps each cause visible with its status, marks it completed only when the corresponding tests are green, and does not consider the suite triaged until the list is empty. Atlas also fans out work to subagents that can run in the foreground or in parallel background sessions, so independent causes can be investigated concurrently.
How do you fix and re-verify Java failures one cause at a time?
Atlas fixes Java failures one at a time with the edit tool, then re-runs only the affected tests through bash using Maven's own test filter rather than replaying the entire JUnit 5 suite. A targeted mvn test on one module closes the loop in a fraction of the full reactor build time.
Fixing all three causes and then running the whole suite once tells you only that something is still broken. Atlas edits src/main/java for the first cause, re-runs the affected test class through bash, confirms green, marks the todowrite entry completed, and moves on. Because bash is a real shell, the same Maven invocation you would type by hand is what runs. Spotless keeps the touched Java files formatted, and Atlas computes a unified diff for every edit and surfaces it for approval before writing.
What if the Java suite is slow and the command gets killed?
Atlas passes a generous timeout in milliseconds to the bash tool when running JUnit 5 via mvn test, precisely so a slow Maven reactor build is not killed mid-run. If a run is killed anyway, the bash metadata says so, and you retry with a larger timeout value.
A Java integration suite that spins up test containers can run for many minutes, and a killed run produces a truncated, misleading picture: modules that never executed look like they passed. Atlas sets the timeout up front. Every bash call is also permission-gated against allow, ask, and deny rules before it runs, so a mvn test invocation is something you approve, not something that happens to your machine. Atlas snapshots file changes as git patches, so any fix applied during triage can be diffed and rolled back.
Step by step
- 01Run atlas in a project with a pom.xml or build.gradle and let Atlas read your packages, classpath, and build configuration.
- 02Run the suite with the bash tool, invoking JUnit 5 via mvn test and passing a generous timeout in milliseconds so a slow Maven reactor build is not killed mid-run.
- 03If the output was truncated, read the file named in the output truncated header to see the complete log; bash caps inline output at 2000 lines or 50 KB.
- 04Group the failures by root cause with grep over the saved log, matching on exception types and assertion messages rather than on JUnit 5 test names.
- 05Record one todowrite entry per distinct cause, with status pending, so the fixes are tracked instead of forgotten.
- 06Fix the first cause with edit in src/main/java, reviewing the unified diff Atlas surfaces before it writes.
- 07Re-run only the affected tests via bash using Maven's test filter, then mark the todowrite entry completed once they are green.
- 08Run Spotless over the touched Java files, then re-run the full JUnit 5 via mvn test suite once the todowrite list is empty.
Frequently asked questions
- how to triage hundreds of failing JUnit tests in a Maven project
- Run JUnit 5 via mvn test through the Atlas bash tool with a generous timeout, read the complete log from the file named in the output truncated header, then grep it to group failures by exception and message. Record one todowrite entry per distinct cause.
- why does my AI agent only see part of the mvn test output
- The Atlas bash tool truncates inline output at 2000 lines or 50 KB to protect the context window, but it writes the complete log to a retained file and tells you the path. Read that file so triage happens against the whole log, not a lossy tail.
- can Atlas run mvn test on a slow Java integration suite
- Yes. Pass a generous timeout in milliseconds to the bash tool so the Maven reactor build is not killed mid-run. Every bash call is permission-gated against allow, ask, and deny rules, so you approve the mvn test invocation before it executes.
- does Atlas group Java test failures by root cause
- Yes. Atlas greps the saved mvn test log for exception types and assertion messages rather than grouping by JUnit 5 test name, because one misconfigured Spring bean can fail 30 tests. Each distinct cause becomes one todowrite entry with status pending.
- does Atlas work with Maven and Gradle
- Yes. Start atlas in a project with a pom.xml or build.gradle and it reads your packages, classpath, and build configuration. It runs JUnit 5 via mvn test through the bash tool, which is a real shell.
- will Atlas run Spotless after fixing Java code
- Atlas can run Spotless over the touched Java files through the bash tool, subject to your allow, ask, and deny permission rules. Every edit is also surfaced as a unified diff for approval before the file is written.
- how do I undo a fix Atlas applied during test triage
- Atlas snapshots file changes as git patches, so edits can be diffed and rolled back. It also reads git branches, status, and diffs, and can stage and create commits once the JUnit 5 suite is green again.
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