Sensible RSpec config for clean, and slightly faster, specs.

01_spec_helper.rb

ENV["RAILS_ENV"] ||= 'test'
require File.expand_path("../../config/environment", __FILE__)
require 'rspec/rails'
require 'rspec/autorun'
require 'capybara/rspec'
require 'webmock/rspec'
require 'factory_girl'
require 'factory_girl_rails'

Dir[Rails.root.join("spec/support/**/*.rb")].each {|f| require f}

RSpec.configure do |config|
  config.use_transactional_fixtures = false
  config.infer_base_class_for_anonymous_controllers = false

  config.include JsonSpec::Helpers
  config.include LoginHelper, type: :request
  config.include ActivitySpecHelper, type: :request
  config.include RoomSpecHelper, type: :request
  config.include AutocompleteSpecHelper, type: :request

  config.before :suite do
    DatabaseCleaner.clean_with :truncation
  end

  config.before type: :model do
    DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
    DatabaseCleaner.start
  end

  # Request specs cannot use a transaction because Capybara runs in a
  # separate thread with a different database connection.
  config.before type: :request do
    DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :truncation
    DatabaseCleaner.start
  end

  # Reset so other non-request specs don't have to deal with slow truncation.
  config.after type: :request  do
    DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
  end

  config.before do
    WebMock.disable_net_connect!(:allow_localhost => true)
    ActionMailer::Base.deliveries.clear
  end

  config.after do
    Timecop.return
    DatabaseCleaner.clean
  end
end

Capybara.javascript_driver = :webkit
Capybara.default_wait_time = 5
Capybara.ignore_hidden_elements = false

02_spec_helper.rb

ENV["RAILS_ENV"] ||= 'test'
require File.expand_path("../../config/environment", __FILE__)
require 'rspec/rails'
require 'rspec/autorun'
require 'capybara/rspec'
require 'webmock/rspec'
require 'factory_girl'
require 'factory_girl_rails'

Dir[Rails.root.join("spec/support/**/*.rb")].each {|f| require f}

RSpec.configure do |config|

  config.use_transactional_fixtures = false
  config.infer_base_class_for_anonymous_controllers = false

  config.include JsonSpec::Helpers
  config.include LoginHelper, type: :request
  config.include ActivitySpecHelper, type: :request
  config.include RoomSpecHelper, type: :request
  config.include AutocompleteSpecHelper, type: :request

  config.before :suite do
    DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
    DatabaseCleaner.clean_with(:truncation)
  end

  # Request specs cannot use a transaction because Capybara runs in a
  # separate thread with a different database connection.
  config.before type: :request do
    DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :truncation
  end

  # Reset so other non-request specs don't have to deal with slow truncation.
  config.after type: :request  do
    DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
  end

  config.before do
    DatabaseCleaner.start
    WebMock.disable_net_connect!(:allow_localhost => true)
    ActionMailer::Base.deliveries.clear
  end

  config.after do
    DatabaseCleaner.clean
  end

  Capybara.javascript_driver = :webkit
  Capybara.ignore_hidden_elements = false
end

03_turn_off_rspec_transactions.rb

config.use_transactional_fixtures = false

04_set_default_strategy.rb

config.before :suite do
  DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
  DatabaseCleaner.clean_with(:truncation)
end

05_set_request_spec_strategy.rb

config.before type: :request do
  DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :truncation
end

config.after type: :request  do
  DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
end

06_start_before_each_test.rb

config.before do
  DatabaseCleaner.start
  WebMock.disable_net_connect!(:allow_localhost => true)
  ActionMailer::Base.deliveries.clear
end

07_clean_after_each_test.rb

config.after do
  DatabaseCleaner.clean
end

I updated this Gist to also reset the strategy after each request spec.

# Reset so other non-request specs don't have to deal with slow truncation.
config.after type: :request  do
  DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
end

can I add the desired request headers here for example i want to add request.env['HTTP_ACCEPT'] = 'application/vnd.site+json; version=1'

Just came across this today and it helped me figure out my own setup. In case it helps you can check it out here: https://gist.github.com/mockdeep/9904695

The one major catch with these is that order matters, and after hooks run in reverse order, so I use prepend_before and append_after to avoid confusion.