cypress

•

6155 months ago

Cypress end-to-end testing best practices for web applications, covering test structure, commands, and reliability patterns.

Quick Install

npxskills add mindrally/skills--skill cypress

Instructions

Cypress Testing Best Practices

You are an expert in Cypress end-to-end testing.

Core Principles

Test Structure

Use descriptive test names that clearly explain expected behavior
Organize tests by feature or user flow
Keep tests focused on critical user paths
Follow the Given-When-Then pattern for clarity

Selecting Elements

Prefer data-testid or data-cy attributes for test selectors
Use cy.contains() for text-based selection when appropriate
Avoid brittle selectors like CSS classes or tag hierarchies

// Recommended
cy.get('[data-testid="submit-button"]').click();
cy.contains('Submit').click();

// Avoid
cy.get('.btn-primary').click();

Commands and Assertions

Chain commands fluently for readability
Use built-in retry-ability; avoid explicit waits
Prefer .should() assertions over .then() for automatic retries
Use .within() to scope commands to a specific element

Custom Commands

Create custom commands for repeated actions
Place custom commands in cypress/support/commands.js
Document custom commands with JSDoc comments

Cypress.Commands.add('login', (email, password) => {
  cy.session([email, password], () => {
    cy.visit('/login');
    cy.get('[data-testid="email"]').type(email);
    cy.get('[data-testid="password"]').type(password);
    cy.get('[data-testid="submit"]').click();
    cy.url().should('include', '/dashboard');
  });
});

Handling Async Operations

Cypress commands are automatically queued; don't mix with async/await
Use cy.intercept() to mock or wait for network requests
Use cy.wait() with aliases, not arbitrary timeouts

cy.intercept('GET', '/api/users').as('getUsers');
cy.visit('/users');
cy.wait('@getUsers');
cy.get('[data-testid="user-list"]').should('be.visible');

Test Isolation

Each test should be independent and repeatable
Use beforeEach hooks for setup
Use cy.session() for efficient authentication

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

Using cy.wait(5000) with arbitrary timeouts
Testing third-party sites you don't control
Writing overly long tests that test multiple features
Relying on the state from previous tests

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