Bug/260 setting max pester version below 6

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- `Invoke-NovaTest`, `Test-NovaBuild`, and `% nova test` now resolve and import a supported installed `Pester` version from `5.7.1` through `5.10.0` instead of using an unsupported `Pester 6.x` installation automatically.
+    - Nova test workflows now fail early with a clear dependency error when only unsupported `Pester 6.x` versions are available.
+- Nova test workflows now reuse an already loaded supported `Pester 5.x` version in the current PowerShell session before selecting a different installed version.
+    - Repository CI no longer trips the `Pester` assembly loader by importing a gallery-installed `NovaModuleTools` module, building the local module, and then switching to another supported `Pester` version in the same session.
+
 ### Security
 
 ## [3.3.0] - 2026-06-16

README.md

@@ -298,8 +298,9 @@ Notes:
 - if `project.json` sets `Pester.CodeCoverage.CoveragePercentTarget`, `Invoke-NovaTest` fails when the measured coverage percentage is lower than that configured target
 - this repository currently enables coverage with a `99` percent target; the template and packaged example
   `project.json` files ship the same JaCoCo configuration shape with `Enabled=false` and a `90` percent opt-in target
-- make sure `Pester 5.7.1` is available before running `Invoke-NovaTest` or `Test-NovaBuild`
-- the published `NovaModuleTools` manifest also declares `Pester 5.7.1`, so installed end-user workflows can still resolve that dependency automatically
+- make sure a supported `Pester` version from `5.7.1` through `5.10.0` is available before running `Invoke-NovaTest` or `Test-NovaBuild`
+- Nova resolves and imports a compatible installed `Pester 5.x` version for the managed test workflow and does not run tests with `Pester 6.x`
+- the published `NovaModuleTools` manifest declares `Pester` with `ModuleVersion = 5.7.1` and `MaximumVersion = 5.10.0`, so installed end-user workflows can still resolve that supported dependency range automatically
 
 ### Create a package artifact
 
@@ -640,7 +641,7 @@ Responsibilities currently covered by the release pipeline include:
 - publishing to PowerShell Gallery
 - preparing the next prerelease version on `develop`
 
-The workflow now uses `KeepAChangelog` for changelog release moves, creates annotated git tags named directly from the release version, and bootstraps the local PSResourceGet repository store before calling `Publish-NovaModule`. The shared CI installer also installs `Pester 5.7.1` explicitly before it installs prerelease gallery modules so test workflows do not rely on transitive manifest dependency resolution.
+The workflow now uses `KeepAChangelog` for changelog release moves, creates annotated git tags named directly from the release version, and bootstraps the local PSResourceGet repository store before calling `Publish-NovaModule`. The shared CI installer also installs `Pester 5.7.1` explicitly before it installs prerelease gallery modules so test workflows stay on Nova's supported `Pester 5.x` range and do not rely on transitive manifest dependency resolution.
 
 ### Where NovaModuleTools cmdlets fit
 

RELEASE_NOTE.md

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ This file summarizes the release notes for NovaModuleTools. **UNRELEASED** chang
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- `Invoke-NovaTest`, `Test-NovaBuild`, and `% nova test` now stay on Nova's supported `Pester 5.x` range and stop with a clear error instead of trying to run with an installed `Pester 6.x` version.
+
 ### Security
 
 ## [3.3.0] - 2026-06-16

docs/NovaModuleTools/en-US/Invoke-NovaTest.md

@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ PS> Invoke-NovaTest [[-TagFilter] <string[]>] [[-ExcludeTagFilter] <string[]>]
 
 `Invoke-NovaTest` reads the Pester configuration from `project.json`, discovers the repository unit-test files, and runs the managed Nova test workflow without rebuilding the project first.
 
+Nova resolves a supported installed `Pester` version from `5.7.1` through `5.10.0` for the managed test workflow and stops with a clear dependency error when only unsupported `Pester 6.x` versions are available.
+
 The unit-test workflow writes NUnit XML to `artifacts/UnitTestResults.xml`.
 
 When `Pester.CodeCoverage.Enabled` is `true`, Nova also writes JaCoCo coverage to `artifacts/coverage.xml` and fails the run when the measured percentage is lower than `Pester.CodeCoverage.CoveragePercentTarget`.

docs/NovaModuleTools/en-US/Test-NovaBuild.md

@@ -31,11 +31,13 @@ PS> Test-NovaBuild [[-TagFilter] <string[]>] [[-ExcludeTagFilter] <string[]>]
 
 `Test-NovaBuild` reads the Pester configuration from `project.json`, discovers the build-validation integration tests for the current project, and runs the managed Nova test workflow against the built-module validation surface.
 
+Nova resolves a supported installed `Pester` version from `5.7.1` through `5.10.0` for the managed test workflow and stops with a clear dependency error when only unsupported `Pester 6.x` versions are available.
+
 This build-validation flow writes NUnit XML to `artifacts/TestResults.xml`.
 
 Unlike `Invoke-NovaTest`, this command does not enforce source-coverage targets. Use `Invoke-NovaTest` for the unit-test and code-coverage workflow, and use `Test-NovaBuild` when you need build-validation integration coverage that reflects the built module path.
 
-If the current project does not contain any `*.Integration.Tests.ps1` files, `Test-NovaBuild` stops with a Nova-native error that explains the expected naming and reminds you to use `Invoke-NovaTest` for unit tests.
+If the current project does not contain any `*.Integration.Tests.ps1` files, `Test-NovaBuild` writes an actionable warning that explains the expected naming and reminds you to use `Invoke-NovaTest` for unit tests.
 
 `-OverrideWarning` lets the nested build-validation flow continue even if the `src/public` layout guard reports zero or multiple top-level functions in a public file.
 
@@ -271,5 +273,5 @@ Returns the Pester result object from the managed build-validation run.
 
 ## RELATED LINKS
 
-[Invoke-NovaTest](Invoke-NovaTest.md)
-[Invoke-NovaBuild](Invoke-NovaBuild.md)
+- [Invoke-NovaTest](./Invoke-NovaTest.md)
+- [Invoke-NovaBuild](./Invoke-NovaBuild.md)

scripts/build/ci/Invoke-NovaModuleToolsCI.ps1

@@ -16,29 +16,58 @@ function Copy-NovaModuleToolsArtifactIfPresent {
     }
 }
 
+function ConvertTo-NovaSingleQuotedPowerShellLiteral {
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][string]$Value
+    )
+
+    return "'$($Value.Replace("'", "''") )'"
+}
+
+function Get-NovaModuleToolsValidationCommand {
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][string]$BuiltModulePath,
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][string]$CommandName,
+        [string[]]$ExcludeTag = @()
+    )
+
+    $commandLine = $CommandName
+    if (@($ExcludeTag).Count -gt 0) {
+        $excludeTagLiteral = @($ExcludeTag | ForEach-Object {ConvertTo-NovaSingleQuotedPowerShellLiteral -Value ([string]$_)}) -join ', '
+        $commandLine += " -ExcludeTagFilter @($excludeTagLiteral)"
+    }
+
+    return "Import-Module $( ConvertTo-NovaSingleQuotedPowerShellLiteral -Value $BuiltModulePath ) -Force -ErrorAction Stop; $commandLine"
+}
+
+function Invoke-NovaModuleToolsFreshValidationCommand {
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][string]$Command
+    )
+
+    & pwsh -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command $Command
+    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
+        throw "Validation command failed: $Command"
+    }
+}
+
 $repoRoot = (Resolve-Path -LiteralPath (Join-Path $PSScriptRoot '..' '..' '..')).Path
 Set-Location $repoRoot
 New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $OutputDirectory -Force | Out-Null
 
 Import-Module NovaModuleTools -ErrorAction Stop
 
-Invoke-NovaBuild
-
-$projectInfo = Get-NovaProjectInfo
-$builtModulePath = $projectInfo.OutputModuleDir
-Remove-Module $projectInfo.ProjectName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
-Import-Module $builtModulePath -Force
 $projectInfo = Get-NovaProjectInfo
+Invoke-NovaBuild
+$builtModulePath = Join-Path $projectInfo.OutputModuleDir "$( $projectInfo.ProjectName ).psd1"
 
 $novaModuleToolsTestFailed = $false
 try {
-    if (@($ExcludeTag).Count -gt 0) {
-        Invoke-NovaTest -ExcludeTagFilter $ExcludeTag
-        Test-NovaBuild -ExcludeTagFilter $ExcludeTag
-    } else {
-        Invoke-NovaTest
-        Test-NovaBuild
-    }
+    $unitTestCommand = Get-NovaModuleToolsValidationCommand -BuiltModulePath $builtModulePath -CommandName 'Invoke-NovaTest' -ExcludeTag $ExcludeTag
+    Invoke-NovaModuleToolsFreshValidationCommand -Command $unitTestCommand
+
+    $buildValidationCommand = Get-NovaModuleToolsValidationCommand -BuiltModulePath $builtModulePath -CommandName 'Test-NovaBuild' -ExcludeTag $ExcludeTag
+    Invoke-NovaModuleToolsFreshValidationCommand -Command $buildValidationCommand
 } catch {
     $novaModuleToolsTestFailed = $true
     Write-Warning "Nova test workflow failed: $( $_.Exception.Message )"

src/private/quality/GetNovaTestWorkflowContext.ps1

@@ -12,26 +12,205 @@ function Get-NovaTestWorkflowOperation {
 }
 
 function Assert-NovaPesterAvailable {
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    param(
+        [AllowNull()][pscustomobject]$ProjectInfo
+    )
+
+    $moduleSpecification = Get-NovaSupportedPesterModuleSpecification -ProjectInfo $ProjectInfo
+    Import-NovaSupportedPesterModule -ModuleSpecification $moduleSpecification
+    return $moduleSpecification
+}
+
+function Get-NovaSupportedPesterModuleSpecification {
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    param(
+        [AllowNull()][pscustomobject]$ProjectInfo
+    )
+
+    $moduleRequirement = Get-NovaPesterModuleRequirement -ProjectInfo $ProjectInfo
+    $availableModule = @(Get-LoadedNovaPesterModule -ModuleRequirement $moduleRequirement)
+    if ($availableModule.Count -eq 0) {
+        $availableModule = @(Get-AvailableNovaPesterModule -ModuleRequirement $moduleRequirement)
+    }
+
+    if ($availableModule.Count -eq 0) {
+        Stop-NovaOperation -Message (Get-NovaPesterDependencyMessage -ModuleRequirement $moduleRequirement) -ErrorId 'Nova.Dependency.PesterDependencyMissing' -Category ResourceUnavailable -TargetObject 'Pester'
+    }
+
+    $selectedVersion = [version]$availableModule[0].Version
+    return [pscustomobject]@{
+        Name = 'Pester'
+        MinimumVersion = $moduleRequirement.MinimumVersion
+        MaximumVersion = $moduleRequirement.MaximumVersion
+        SelectedVersion = $selectedVersion
+        FullyQualifiedName = @{
+            ModuleName = 'Pester'
+            RequiredVersion = [string]$selectedVersion
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+function Get-NovaSupportedPesterRange {
     [CmdletBinding()]
     param()
 
-    if (-not (Get-Module -Name Pester -ListAvailable)) {
-        Stop-NovaOperation -Message 'The module Pester must be installed to run Nova tests. Install Pester 5.7.1 and try again.' -ErrorId 'Nova.Dependency.PesterDependencyMissing' -Category ResourceUnavailable -TargetObject 'Pester'
+    return [pscustomobject]@{
+        Name = 'Pester'
+        MinimumVersion = [version]'5.7.1'
+        MaximumVersion = [version]'5.10.0'
     }
 }
 
+function Get-NovaPesterModuleRequirement {
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    param(
+        [AllowNull()][pscustomobject]$ProjectInfo
+    )
+
+    $supportedRequirement = Get-NovaSupportedPesterRange
+    $manifestSettings = Get-NovaPesterSettingValue -InputObject $ProjectInfo -Name 'Manifest'
+    $requiredModules = @(Get-NovaPesterSettingValue -InputObject $manifestSettings -Name 'RequiredModules')
+    $pesterModule = $requiredModules |
+            Where-Object {(Get-NovaPesterSettingValue -InputObject $_ -Name 'ModuleName') -eq 'Pester'} |
+            Select-Object -First 1
+
+    if ($null -ne $pesterModule) {
+        $manifestRequirement = [pscustomobject]@{
+            Name = 'Pester'
+            MinimumVersion = [version](Get-NovaPesterVersionText -InputObject $pesterModule -Name 'ModuleVersion' -DefaultValue '5.7.1')
+            MaximumVersion = [version](Get-NovaPesterVersionText -InputObject $pesterModule -Name 'MaximumVersion' -DefaultValue '5.10.0')
+        }
+        Assert-NovaPesterModuleRequirementSupported -ModuleRequirement $manifestRequirement -SupportedRequirement $supportedRequirement
+    }
+
+    return $supportedRequirement
+}
+
+function Assert-NovaPesterModuleRequirementSupported {
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][pscustomobject]$ModuleRequirement,
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][pscustomobject]$SupportedRequirement
+    )
+
+    if ($ModuleRequirement.MinimumVersion -eq $SupportedRequirement.MinimumVersion -and $ModuleRequirement.MaximumVersion -eq $SupportedRequirement.MaximumVersion) {
+        return
+    }
+
+    $supportedVersionText = Get-NovaPesterVersionRangeText -ModuleRequirement $SupportedRequirement
+    $declaredVersionText = Get-NovaPesterVersionRangeText -ModuleRequirement $ModuleRequirement
+    Stop-NovaOperation -Message "Nova tests support Pester only from $supportedVersionText. project.json declares Pester from $declaredVersionText. Update project.json to match Nova's supported range and try again." -ErrorId 'Nova.Dependency.UnsupportedPesterVersionRequirement' -Category InvalidData -TargetObject 'project.json'
+}
+
+function Get-NovaPesterVersionText {
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    param(
+        [AllowNull()][object]$InputObject,
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][string]$Name,
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][string]$DefaultValue
+    )
+
+    $value = [string](Get-NovaPesterSettingValue -InputObject $InputObject -Name $Name)
+    if ( [string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($value)) {
+        return $DefaultValue
+    }
+
+    return $value
+}
+
+function Get-NovaPesterVersionRangeText {
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][pscustomobject]$ModuleRequirement
+    )
+
+    return "$( $ModuleRequirement.MinimumVersion ) through $( $ModuleRequirement.MaximumVersion )"
+}
+
+function Get-AvailableNovaPesterModule {
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][pscustomobject]$ModuleRequirement
+    )
+
+    return @(
+    Get-Module -Name Pester -ListAvailable |
+            Where-Object {Test-NovaPesterModuleVersionSupported -Version $_.Version -ModuleRequirement $ModuleRequirement} |
+            Sort-Object Version -Descending
+    )
+}
+
+function Get-LoadedNovaPesterModule {
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][pscustomobject]$ModuleRequirement
+    )
+
+    return @(
+    Get-Module -Name Pester |
+            Where-Object {Test-NovaPesterModuleVersionSupported -Version $_.Version -ModuleRequirement $ModuleRequirement} |
+            Sort-Object Version -Descending
+    )
+}
+
+function Test-NovaPesterModuleVersionSupported {
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    param(
+        [AllowNull()][object]$Version,
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][pscustomobject]$ModuleRequirement
+    )
+
+    if ($null -eq $Version) {
+        return $false
+    }
+
+    $resolvedVersion = [version]$Version
+    return $resolvedVersion -ge $ModuleRequirement.MinimumVersion -and $resolvedVersion -le $ModuleRequirement.MaximumVersion
+}
+
+function Get-NovaPesterDependencyMessage {
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][pscustomobject]$ModuleRequirement
+    )
+
+    $supportedVersionText = Get-NovaPesterVersionRangeText -ModuleRequirement $ModuleRequirement
+    $installedVersion = @(
+    Get-Module -Name Pester -ListAvailable |
+            Sort-Object Version -Descending |
+            ForEach-Object {[string]$_.Version} |
+            Select-Object -Unique
+    )
+    if ($installedVersion.Count -eq 0) {
+        return "The module Pester must be installed to run Nova tests. Install a supported Pester version from $supportedVersionText and try again."
+    }
+
+    return "Nova tests require Pester from $supportedVersionText. Installed versions: $( $installedVersion -join ', ' ). Install a supported Pester 5.x version and try again."
+}
+
+function Import-NovaSupportedPesterModule {
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)][pscustomobject]$ModuleSpecification
+    )
+
+    Import-Module -FullyQualifiedName $ModuleSpecification.FullyQualifiedName -Force -ErrorAction Stop | Out-Null
+}
+
 function Get-NovaTestWorkflowContext {
     [CmdletBinding()]
     param(
         [Parameter(Mandatory)][hashtable]$TestOption,
         [Parameter(Mandatory)][hashtable]$BoundParameters
     )
 
-    Test-ProjectSchema | Out-Null
-    Assert-NovaPesterAvailable
     $projectInfo = Get-NovaProjectInfo
+    Test-ProjectSchema | Out-Null
+    $pesterModuleSpecification = Assert-NovaPesterAvailable -ProjectInfo $projectInfo
     $workflowProfile = Get-NovaTestWorkflowProfile -TestOption $TestOption
     $pesterConfig = New-PesterConfiguration -Hashtable $projectInfo.Pester
+    Add-Member -InputObject $pesterConfig -MemberType NoteProperty -Name PesterModuleSpecification -Value $pesterModuleSpecification -Force
     $coverageConfiguration = Get-NovaPesterCoverageConfigurationState -ProjectInfo $projectInfo -CoverageEnabled:$workflowProfile.CoverageEnabled
     $pesterConfig.CodeCoverage.Enabled = $coverageConfiguration.Enabled
     $pesterConfig.CodeCoverage.Path = $coverageConfiguration.Path
@@ -62,6 +241,7 @@ function Get-NovaTestWorkflowContext {
         CommandName = $workflowProfile.CommandName
         OverrideWarningRequested = $BoundParameters.ContainsKey('OverrideWarning') -and [bool]$BoundParameters.OverrideWarning
         ProjectInfo = $projectInfo
+        PesterModuleSpecification = $pesterModuleSpecification
         PesterSettings = Get-NovaTestWorkflowPesterConfiguration -ProjectPesterSettings $projectInfo.Pester -CoverageEnabled:$workflowProfile.CoverageEnabled
         PesterConfig = $pesterConfig
         TestResultPath = $testResultPath