Vitest Best Practices
Quick Reference
import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, vi } from 'vitest'
describe('feature name', () => {
beforeEach(() => {
vi.clearAllMocks()
})
it('should do something specific', () => {
expect(actual).toBe(expected)
})
it.todo('planned test')
it.skip('temporarily disabled')
it.only('run only this during dev')
})
Common Assertions
// Equality
expect(value).toBe(42) // Strict (===)
expect(obj).toEqual({ a: 1 }) // Deep equality
expect(obj).toStrictEqual({ a: 1 }) // Strict deep (checks types)
// Truthiness
expect(value).toBeTruthy()
expect(value).toBeFalsy()
expect(value).toBeNull()
expect(value).toBeUndefined()
// Numbers
expect(0.1 + 0.2).toBeCloseTo(0.3)
expect(value).toBeGreaterThan(5)
// Strings/Arrays
expect(str).toMatch(/pattern/)
expect(str).toContain('substring')
expect(array).toContain(item)
expect(array).toHaveLength(3)
// Objects
expect(obj).toHaveProperty('key')
expect(obj).toHaveProperty('nested.key', 'value')
expect(obj).toMatchObject({ subset: 'of properties' })
// Exceptions
expect(() => fn()).toThrow()
expect(() => fn()).toThrow('error message')
expect(() => fn()).toThrow(/pattern/)
Async Testing
// Async/await (preferred)
it('fetches data', async () => {
const data = await fetchData()
expect(data).toEqual({ id: 1 })
})
// Promise matchers - ALWAYS await these
await expect(fetchData()).resolves.toEqual({ id: 1 })
await expect(fetchData()).rejects.toThrow('Error')
// Wrong - creates false positive
expect(promise).resolves.toBe(value) // Missing await!
Quick Mock Reference
const mockFn = vi.fn()
mockFn.mockReturnValue(42)
mockFn.mockResolvedValue({ data: 'value' })
expect(mockFn).toHaveBeenCalled()
expect(mockFn).toHaveBeenCalledWith('arg1', 'arg2')
expect(mockFn).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
Additional Documentation
- Mocking: See references/mocking.md for module mocking, spying, cleanup
- Configuration: See references/config.md for vitest.config, setup files, coverage
- Patterns: See references/patterns.md for timers, snapshots, anti-patterns
Test Methods Quick Reference
| Method | Purpose |
|--------|---------|
| it() / test() | Define test |
| describe() | Group tests |
| beforeEach() / afterEach() | Per-test hooks |
| beforeAll() / afterAll() | Per-suite hooks |
| .skip | Skip test/suite |
| .only | Run only this |
| .todo | Placeholder |
| .concurrent | Parallel execution |
| .each([...]) | Parameterized tests |