---
title: "The baseline | Booster docs"
description: "The test run that separates a bad hop from a suite that was already red."
url: https://booster.apps.wayne.edu/docs/guides/baseline.html
llms: https://booster.apps.wayne.edu/llms.txt
generator: Squire agent-ready
---

# The baseline[#](https://booster.apps.wayne.edu/docs/guides/baseline.html#the-baseline)

This page explains the baseline `run` takes before the first hop. Next: [A smoke test for WSU apps](https://booster.apps.wayne.edu/docs/guides/smoke-test.html).

Before the first hop, `run` runs the app's own tests (or the built-in `php -l` syntax check when the app has no tests) on the PHP the app is on now, in the same `booster-target:<php>` image the gate uses. The point is to tell "Booster broke it" from "it was already broken": a red baseline means the suite was red before any change, so a later red gate is not proof of a bad hop. The baseline is recorded in the report (`passed`, `failed` or `skipped`, with the exit code and the last 20 lines of output).

- A red baseline stops the run before the first hop, with a non-zero exit. `--allow-failing-baseline` lets it go on; each later gate failure is then labeled "the baseline was already failing" in the text and JSON output.
- `--skip-gate` and `--dry-run` skip the baseline (reported as `skipped`), so a dry run never starts Docker.
- A Mix app's `public/mix-manifest.json` is a build artifact, not committed source: a fresh clone has no manifest, so the suite can be red before any hop. Build the assets before the baseline (the app's usual `npm ci && npm run build`), or pass `--allow-failing-baseline` knowing why.
- When the app has no tests of its own, the baseline and every gate run a built-in check instead: every PHP file outside `vendor/` and `node_modules/` must still parse on the target PHP (`php -l`). That proves the code loads on the new PHP, not that it works: click through the app before you ship. Pass `--test-command` to run something else, or add a smoke test ([A smoke test for WSU apps](https://booster.apps.wayne.edu/docs/guides/smoke-test.html)) to get the real gate back.