pytest --help does not run when using pytest_configure() in conftest.py

Question

update the question and subject as I discovered more. Without conftest.py "pytest --help" returns help content. With the conftest.py "pytest --help" returns this

INTERNALERROR> Traceback (most recent call last):
INTERNALERROR>   File "/Users/user/git/py3env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/_pytest/main.py", line 174, in wrap_session
INTERNALERROR>     config._do_configure()
INTERNALERROR>   File "/Users/user/git/py3env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/_pytest/config/__init__.py", line 588, in _do_configure
INTERNALERROR>     self.hook.pytest_configure.call_historic(kwargs=dict(config=self))
INTERNALERROR>   File "/Users/user/git/py3env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pluggy/hooks.py", line 280, in call_historic
INTERNALERROR>     res = self._hookexec(self, self._nonwrappers + self._wrappers, kwargs)
INTERNALERROR>   File "/Users/user/git/py3env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pluggy/manager.py", line 67, in _hookexec
INTERNALERROR>     return self._inner_hookexec(hook, methods, kwargs)
INTERNALERROR>   File "/Users/user/git/py3env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pluggy/manager.py", line 61, in <lambda>
INTERNALERROR>     firstresult=hook.spec_opts.get('firstresult'),
INTERNALERROR>   File "/Users/user/git/py3env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pluggy/callers.py", line 201, in _multicall
INTERNALERROR>     return outcome.get_result()
INTERNALERROR>   File "/Users/user/git/py3env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pluggy/callers.py", line 76, in get_result
INTERNALERROR>     raise ex[1].with_traceback(ex[2])
INTERNALERROR>   File "/Users/user/git/py3env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pluggy/callers.py", line 180, in _multicall
INTERNALERROR>     res = hook_impl.function(*args)
INTERNALERROR>   File "/Users/user/git/py3env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/_pytest/fixtures.py", line 980, in result
INTERNALERROR>     return function(*args, **kwargs)
INTERNALERROR> TypeError: pytest_configure() missing 1 required positional argument: 'config'

my conftest.py

def pytest_addoption(parser):
    parser.addoption("--user", action="store", default="admin", help="user name")
    parser.addoption("--password", action="store", default="password", help="user password")

@pytest.fixture(scope='module')
def pytest_configure(config):
      import env
      if config.getoption('--user'):
          env.user_name = config.getoption('--user')

The conftest.py hasn't been updated for two months but I have a new laptop. Mac High Sierra.

Python 3.6.6 . or 3.7.0
pytest version 3.7.1, or 3.7.0

Answer 1

Hooks are no fixtures, they are plain functions that pytest will find using their exact signatures. So, to fix your issue, just remove pytest.fixture decorator from the hook and you're good to go:

def pytest_configure(config):
    import env
    if config.getoption('--user'):
        env.user_name = config.getoption('--user')