Setup System tests to work with RSpec, Devise and Rails 6

setup_system_tests_with_rspec_devise_rails6.md

Setting this up took quite a bit of time and research for me, so just thought of sharing the learnings along the way that led to a working setup.

• Initial error that I was getting with running System tests in Rails 6

  System test integration requires Rails >= 5.1 and has a hard dependency on a webserver and `capybara`, please add capybara to your Gemfile and configure a webserver (e.g. `Capybara.server = :webrick`) before attempting to use system tests.

  • since the error above says specify Capybara in the Gemfile, a part of my Gemfile looked like below:

    group :development, :test do
      gem 'capybara', '~> 3.13'
      gem 'factory_bot_rails'
      gem 'pry-byebug'
      gem 'rspec-rails'
      gem 'shoulda-matchers'
      gem 'webdrivers'
    end

• What didn't work for me:

  • From an official wiki guide of testing sign in of a user with Devise for request type specs:
    • Context: Although the title says it's the guide for request type specs but since content of the wiki also said This is the equivalent of declaring include Devise::Test::IntegrationHelpers in an system/feature spec or Rails system/controller test. , I was trying this out with system specs & it didn't work for me
      • Why this guide didn't work fully for me?
        • It specifies the usage of tests of type request with this line of code: config.include Devise::Test::IntegrationHelpers, type: :request but that throws an error for me which says undefined method sign_in(please read below for more context on what the sign_in method is for) when running the required system spec. My exact setup: Rails 6.0.3.rc1, Ruby: 2.6.0, RSpec 3.9, Capybara 3.32.1

• Solution: Steps that properly setup System tests for me in Rails 6 using RSpec & Devise :

  • For the sign_in (if you are using user sign in using Devise) method you need to implement the below steps to get up and running with system tests in Rails 6
    • other general code required to make things for system tests with Rails 6

      • Step 1: Specify gem 'webdrivers' in your Gemfile(already included as shown above) Why?

        • It's required for System tests to work with Rails 6
        • More details here

      • Step 2: Specify the required driver for Capybara. Why?

        • This is required for System tests to work with Rails 6

        • required code to be placed in the RSpec.configure do |config| block of your rails_helper.rb file:

            config.before(:each, type: :system) do
              driven_by :selenium_chrome_headless
            end

        • Please note: this is just one of the drivers that can be used here, there's a possibility that this would also work with other Capybara drivers also

      • Step 3: Specify the below helpers in the RSpec.configure do |config| block of your rails_helper.rb to make sure that the sign_in method is used to login the user into your app before testing the specific feature of your app which requires a signed in user

        config.include Devise::Test::IntegrationHelpers, type: :system
        config.include Warden::Test::Helpers

• Reference credits:

  • https://everydayrails.com/2019/04/09/chromedriver-helper-webdrivers.html
  • https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44269257/rails-5-1-configuring-built-in-system-tests-with-rspec
  • https://medium.com/table-xi/a-quick-guide-to-rails-system-tests-in-rspec-b6e9e8a8b5f6
  • https://medium.com/@maguri/rails-5-system-tests-with-rspec-config-244fb9051606
  • https://github.com/heartcombo/devise/wiki/How-To:-Test-with-Capybara
  • https://medium.com/@yutafujii_59175/a-simple-login-test-with-rspec-devise-factorybot-in-rails-29aeb2ebc4ab

Thanks for this. Was helpful.

This is great info! You should send in a revision to the Devise Wiki article you linked. A lot of their articles need an update.

How to configure session_store if chrome is running in docker. Sign_in method not logging in user?