cypress-localstorage-commands

What is cypress-localstorage-commands?

The cypress-localstorage-commands package provides custom commands for Cypress to interact with the browser's localStorage. It allows you to set, get, and clear localStorage items, which can be useful for testing purposes.

What are cypress-localstorage-commands's main functionalities?

Set LocalStorage Item

This command sets a localStorage item with the specified key and value. It is useful for pre-populating localStorage with data before running tests.

cy.setLocalStorage('key', 'value');

Get LocalStorage Item

This command retrieves the value of a localStorage item by its key. It can be used to verify that the correct data is stored in localStorage during tests.

cy.getLocalStorage('key').then(value => { console.log(value); });

Clear LocalStorage

This command clears all items from localStorage. It is useful for ensuring a clean state before running tests.

cy.clearLocalStorage();

Remove LocalStorage Item

This command removes a specific item from localStorage by its key. It can be used to test the behavior of your application when certain localStorage items are missing.

cy.removeLocalStorage('key');

Other packages similar to cypress-localstorage-commands

cypress-plugin-snapshots

This package provides snapshot testing capabilities for Cypress. While it focuses on visual and DOM snapshots rather than localStorage, it offers a way to ensure that your application's UI remains consistent over time.

README

Cypress localStorage commands

Extends Cypress' cy commands with localStorage methods. Allows preserving localStorage between tests and disabling localStorage.

The problems

• You want to preserve localStorage between Cypress tests.
• You want to disable localStorage to check error handling.

This solution

This solution allows you to use all browser localStorage methods through Cypress commands, and preserve it between tests. It also allows to simulate that localStorage is disabled in the browser.

Installation

This module is distributed via npm which is bundled with node and should be installed as one of your project's devDependencies:

npm i --save-dev cypress-localstorage-commands

Usage

cypress-localstorage-commands extends Cypress' cy command.

Add this line to your project's cypress/support/commands.js:

import "cypress-localstorage-commands"

You can now use all next commands:

Commands

cy.saveLocalStorage()

Saves current localStorage values into an internal "snapshot".

cy.restoreLocalStorage()

Restores localStorage to previously "snapshot" saved values.

cy.clearLocalStorageSnapshot()

Clears localStorage "snapshot" values, so previously saved values are cleaned.

cy.getLocalStorage(item)

Gets localStorage item. Equivalent to localStorage.getItem in browser.

• item (String): Item to get from localStorage.

cy.setLocalStorage(item, value)

Sets localStorage item. Equivalent to localStorage.setItem in browser.

• item (String): Item to set value.
• value (String): Value to be set.

cy.removeLocalStorage(item)

Removes localStorage item. Equivalent to localStorage.removeItem in browser.

• item (String): Item to be removed.

cy.disableLocalStorage(options)

Disables localStorage. It produces localStorage methods to throw errors.

• options (Object): Options to use when disabling localStorage.
  • withError (Error): If provided, invocations to localStorage methods will throw this error.

Preserving local storage between tests

Use cy.saveLocalStorage() to save a snapshot of current localStorage at the end of one test, and use the cy.restoreLocalStorage() command to restore it at the beginning of another one. The usage of beforeEach and afterEach is recommended for this purpose.

Examples

Cookies button example

Next example shows how this package can be used to test a "cookies button" (which theorically sets a flag into localStorage and can be clicked only once)

describe("Accept cookies button", () => {
  const COOKIES_BUTTON = "#accept-cookies";

  before(() => {
    cy.clearLocalStorageSnapshot();
  });

  beforeEach(() => {
    cy.restoreLocalStorage();
    cy.visit("/");
  });

  afterEach(() => {
    cy.saveLocalStorage();
  });

  it("should be visible", () => {
    cy.get(COOKIES_BUTTON).should("be.visible");
  });

  it("should not be visible after clicked", () => {
    cy.get(COOKIES_BUTTON).click();
    cy.get(COOKIES_BUTTON).should("not.be.visible");
  });

  it("should not be visible after reloading", () => {
    cy.get(COOKIES_BUTTON).should("not.be.visible");
  });
});

Note the usage of beforeEach and afterEach for preserving localStorage between all tests. Also cy.clearLocalStorageSnapshot is used in the before statement to avoid possible conflicts with other test files preserving localStorage.

localStorage assertions

Based on the previous example, assertions could be added to check values of localStorage:

describe("localStorage cookies-accepted item", () => {
  beforeEach(() => {
    cy.restoreLocalStorage();
    cy.visit("/");
  });

  afterEach(() => {
    cy.saveLocalStorage();
  });

  it("should be null first time page is visited", () => {
    cy.getLocalStorage("cookies-accepted").should("equal", null);
  });

  it("should be true after clicking cookies button", () => {
    cy.get("#accept-cookies").click();
    cy.getLocalStorage("cookies-accepted").should("equal", "true");
  });

  it("should be true after reloading", () => {
    cy.getLocalStorage("cookies-accepted").then(cookiesAccepted => {
      expect(cookiesAccepted).to.equal("true");
    });
  });
});

Disabling localStorage

Use cy.disableLocalStorage() to simulate that localStorage is disabled, producing that any invocation to localStorage.setItem, localStorage.getItem, localStorage.removeItem or localStorage.clear will throw an error. As MDN docs recommend, "developers should make sure to always catch possible exceptions from setItem()". This command allows to test that possible exceptions are handled correctly.

Note that:

• Only pages loaded after calling this command will have localStorage disabled, so always use cy.reload or cy.visit after executing it.
• The localStorage only remains disabled for all pages loaded during the current test. If you want to disable it for multiple tests, execute it in all of them, or in a beforeEach statement.
• If any of the other plugin commands (except clearLocalStorageSnapshot) is executed while localStorage is disabled, it will do nothing but producing a Cypress log as: "localStorage.setItem is disabled"

Examples

Disabling localStorage in a single test

Based on previous "Accept cookies button" example, next tests could be added:

//...
const LOCALSTORAGE_DISABLED_WARNING = "#localstorage-disabled-warning";
const LOCALSTORAGE_ERROR = "#localstorage-error";

//... should not be visible after clicked

it("should still be visible when reloading if localStorage is disabled", () => {
  cy.disableLocalStorage();
  cy.reload();
  cy.get(COOKIES_BUTTON).should("be.visible");
});

it("should display warning if localStorage is disabled", () => {
  cy.disableLocalStorage();
  cy.reload();
  cy.get(LOCALSTORAGE_DISABLED_WARNING).should("be.visible");
});

it("should display localStorage error message", () => {
  cy.disableLocalStorage();
  cy.reload();
  cy.get(LOCALSTORAGE_ERROR).should("have.text", "Error");
});

// ...should not be visible after reloading

Disabling localStorage in multiple tests

describe("when localStorage is disabled", () => {
  beforeEach(() => {
    cy.disableLocalStorage({
      withError: new Error("Disabled by cypress-localstorage-commands"),
    });
    cy.visit("/");
  });

  it("should display localStorage warning", () => {
    cy.get("#localstorage-disabled-warning").should("be.visible");
  });

  it("should display localStorage error message", () => {
    cy.get("#localstorage-error").should("have.text", "Disabled by cypress-localstorage-commands");
  });

  it("should display accept-cookies button disabled", () => {
    cy.get("#accept-cookies").should("be.disabled");
  });
});

Usage with TypeScript

For those writing TypesScript tests in Cypress, this package includes TypeScript declarations.

Add "cypress-localstorage-commands" to the types property of the tsconfig.json file:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "types": ["cypress", "cypress-localstorage-commands"]
  }
}

Or reference the package in the files using it:

/// <reference types="cypress-localstorage-commands" />

Contributing

Contributors are welcome. Please read the contributing guidelines and code of conduct.

License

MIT, see LICENSE for details.

Changelog

[1.4.4] - 2021-04-29

Added

• chore(deps): Support Node v16.x in engines. Run tests also in node 16.0.0

Changed

• chore(deps): Update devDependencies