Expect
When you're writing tests, you often need to check that values meet certain conditions. expect
gives you access to a number of "matchers" that let you validate different things.
For additional Jest matchers maintained by the Jest Community check out jest-extended
.
The TypeScript examples from this page will only work as documented if you explicitly import Jest APIs:
import {expect, jest, test} from '@jest/globals';
Consult the Getting Started guide for details on how to setup Jest with TypeScript.
Reference
- Expect
- Modifiers
- Matchers
.toBe(value)
.toHaveBeenCalled()
.toHaveBeenCalledTimes(number)
.toHaveBeenCalledWith(arg1, arg2, ...)
.toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(arg1, arg2, ...)
.toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(nthCall, arg1, arg2, ....)
.toHaveReturned()
.toHaveReturnedTimes(number)
.toHaveReturnedWith(value)
.toHaveLastReturnedWith(value)
.toHaveNthReturnedWith(nthCall, value)
.toHaveLength(number)
.toHaveProperty(keyPath, value?)
.toBeCloseTo(number, numDigits?)
.toBeDefined()
.toBeFalsy()
.toBeGreaterThan(number | bigint)
.toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(number | bigint)
.toBeLessThan(number | bigint)
.toBeLessThanOrEqual(number | bigint)
.toBeInstanceOf(Class)
.toBeNull()
.toBeTruthy()
.toBeUndefined()
.toBeNaN()
.toContain(item)
.toContainEqual(item)
.toEqual(value)
.toMatch(regexp | string)
.toMatchObject(object)
.toMatchSnapshot(propertyMatchers?, hint?)
.toMatchInlineSnapshot(propertyMatchers?, inlineSnapshot)
.toStrictEqual(value)
.toThrow(error?)
.toThrowErrorMatchingSnapshot(hint?)
.toThrowErrorMatchingInlineSnapshot(inlineSnapshot)
- Asymmetric Matchers
expect.anything()
expect.any(constructor)
expect.arrayContaining(array)
expect.not.arrayContaining(array)
expect.closeTo(number, numDigits?)
expect.objectContaining(object)
expect.not.objectContaining(object)
expect.stringContaining(string)
expect.not.stringContaining(string)
expect.stringMatching(string | regexp)
expect.not.stringMatching(string | regexp)
- Assertion Count
- Extend Utilities
Expect
expect(value)
The expect
function is used every time you want to test a value. You will rarely call expect
by itself. Instead, you will use expect
along with a "matcher" function to assert something about a value.
It's easier to understand this with an example. Let's say you have a method bestLaCroixFlavor()
which is supposed to return the string 'grapefruit'
. Here's how you would test that:
test('the best flavor is grapefruit', () => {
expect(bestLaCroixFlavor()).toBe('grapefruit');
});
In this case, toBe
is the matcher function. There are a lot of different matcher functions, documented below, to help you test different things.
The argument to expect
should be the value that your code produces, and any argument to the matcher should be the correct value. If you mix them up, your tests will still work, but the error messages on failing tests will look strange.
Modifiers
.not
If you know how to test something, .not
lets you test its opposite. For example, this code tests that the best La Croix flavor is not coconut:
test('the best flavor is not coconut', () => {
expect(bestLaCroixFlavor()).not.toBe('coconut');
});
.resolves
Use resolves
to unwrap the value of a fulfilled promise so any other matcher can be chained. If the promise is rejected the assertion fails.
For example, this code tests that the promise resolves and that the resulting value is 'lemon'
:
test('resolves to lemon', () => {
// make sure to add a return statement
return expect(Promise.resolve('lemon')).resolves.toBe('lemon');
});
Since you are still testing promises, the test is still asynchronous. Hence, you will need to tell Jest to wait by returning the unwrapped assertion.
Alternatively, you can use async/await
in combination with .resolves
:
test('resolves to lemon', async () => {
await expect(Promise.resolve('lemon')).resolves.toBe('lemon');
await expect(Promise.resolve('lemon')).resolves.not.toBe('octopus');
});
.rejects
Use .rejects
to unwrap the reason of a rejected promise so any other matcher can be chained. If the promise is fulfilled the assertion fails.
For example, this code tests that the promise rejects with reason 'octopus'
:
test('rejects to octopus', () => {
// make sure to add a return statement
return expect(Promise.reject(new Error('octopus'))).rejects.toThrow(
'octopus',
);
});
Since you are still testing promises, the test is still asynchronous. Hence, you will need to tell Jest to wait by returning the unwrapped assertion.
Alternatively, you can use async/await
in combination with .rejects
.
test('rejects to octopus', async () => {
await expect(Promise.reject(new Error('octopus'))).rejects.toThrow('octopus');
});
Matchers
.toBe(value)
Use .toBe
to compare primitive values or to check referential identity of object instances. It calls Object.is
to compare values, which is even better for testing than ===
strict equality operator.
For example, this code will validate some properties of the can
object:
const can = {
name: 'pamplemousse',
ounces: 12,
};
describe('the can', () => {
test('has 12 ounces', () => {
expect(can.ounces).toBe(12);
});
test('has a sophisticated name', () => {
expect(can.name).toBe('pamplemousse');
});
});
Don't use .toBe
with floating-point numbers. For example, due to rounding, in JavaScript 0.2 + 0.1
is not strictly equal to 0.3
. If you have floating point numbers, try .toBeCloseTo
instead.
Although the .toBe
matcher checks referential identity, it reports a deep comparison of values if the assertion fails. If differences between properties do not help you to understand why a test fails, especially if the report is large, then you might move the comparison into the expect
function. For example, to assert whether or not elements are the same instance:
- rewrite
expect(received).toBe(expected)
asexpect(Object.is(received, expected)).toBe(true)
- rewrite
expect(received).not.toBe(expected)
asexpect(Object.is(received, expected)).toBe(false)
.toHaveBeenCalled()
Also under the alias: .toBeCalled()
Use .toHaveBeenCalled
to ensure that a mock function was called.
For example, let's say you have a drinkAll(drink, flavour)
function that takes a drink
function and applies it to all available beverages. You might want to check that drink
gets called. You can do that with this test suite:
function drinkAll(callback, flavour) {
if (flavour !== 'octopus') {
callback(flavour);
}
}
describe('drinkAll', () => {
test('drinks something lemon-flavoured', () => {
const drink = jest.fn();
drinkAll(drink, 'lemon');
expect(drink).toHaveBeenCalled();
});
test('does not drink something octopus-flavoured', () => {
const drink = jest.fn();
drinkAll(drink, 'octopus');
expect(drink).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
});
});
.toHaveBeenCalledTimes(number)
Also under the alias: .toBeCalledTimes(number)
Use .toHaveBeenCalledTimes
to ensure that a mock function got called exact number of times.
For example, let's say you have a drinkEach(drink, Array<flavor>)
function that takes a drink
function and applies it to array of passed beverages. You might want to check that drink function was called exact number of times. You can do that with this test suite:
test('drinkEach drinks each drink', () => {
const drink = jest.fn();
drinkEach(drink, ['lemon', 'octopus']);
expect(drink).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
});
.toHaveBeenCalledWith(arg1, arg2, ...)
Also under the alias: .toBeCalledWith()
Use .toHaveBeenCalledWith
to ensure that a mock function was called with specific arguments. The arguments are checked with the same algorithm that .toEqual
uses.
For example, let's say that you can register a beverage with a register
function, and applyToAll(f)
should apply the function f
to all registered beverages. To make sure this works, you could write:
test('registration applies correctly to orange La Croix', () => {
const beverage = new LaCroix('orange');
register(beverage);
const f = jest.fn();
applyToAll(f);
expect(f).toHaveBeenCalledWith(beverage);
});
.toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(arg1, arg2, ...)
Also under the alias: .lastCalledWith(arg1, arg2, ...)
If you have a mock function, you can use .toHaveBeenLastCalledWith
to test what arguments it was last called with. For example, let's say you have a applyToAllFlavors(f)
function that applies f
to a bunch of flavors, and you want to ensure that when you call it, the last flavor it operates on is 'mango'
. You can write:
test('applying to all flavors does mango last', () => {
const drink = jest.fn();
applyToAllFlavors(drink);
expect(drink).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith('mango');
});
.toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(nthCall, arg1, arg2, ....)
Also under the alias: .nthCalledWith(nthCall, arg1, arg2, ...)
If you have a mock function, you can use .toHaveBeenNthCalledWith
to test what arguments it was nth called with. For example, let's say you have a drinkEach(drink, Array<flavor>)
function that applies f
to a bunch of flavors, and you want to ensure that when you call it, the first flavor it operates on is 'lemon'
and the second one is 'octopus'
. You can write:
test('drinkEach drinks each drink', () => {
const drink = jest.fn();
drinkEach(drink, ['lemon', 'octopus']);
expect(drink).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, 'lemon');
expect(drink).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, 'octopus');
});
The nth argument must be positive integer starting from 1.
.toHaveReturned()
Also under the alias: .toReturn()
If you have a mock function, you can use .toHaveReturned
to test that the mock function successfully returned (i.e., did not throw an error) at least one time. For example, let's say you have a mock drink
that returns true
. You can write:
test('drinks returns', () => {
const drink = jest.fn(() => true);
drink();
expect(drink).toHaveReturned();
});
.toHaveReturnedTimes(number)
Also under the alias: .toReturnTimes(number)
Use .toHaveReturnedTimes
to ensure that a mock function returned successfully (i.e., did not throw an error) an exact number of times. Any calls to the mock function that throw an error are not counted toward the number of times the function returned.
For example, let's say you have a mock drink
that returns true
. You can write:
test('drink returns twice', () => {
const drink = jest.fn(() => true);
drink();
drink();
expect(drink).toHaveReturnedTimes(2);
});
.toHaveReturnedWith(value)
Also under the alias: .toReturnWith(value)
Use .toHaveReturnedWith
to ensure that a mock function returned a specific value.
For example, let's say you have a mock drink
that returns the name of the beverage that was consumed. You can write:
test('drink returns La Croix', () => {
const beverage = {name: 'La Croix'};
const drink = jest.fn(beverage => beverage.name);
drink(beverage);
expect(drink).toHaveReturnedWith('La Croix');
});
.toHaveLastReturnedWith(value)
Also under the alias: .lastReturnedWith(value)
Use .toHaveLastReturnedWith
to test the specific value that a mock function last returned. If the last call to the mock function threw an error, then this matcher will fail no matter what value you provided as the expected return value.
For example, let's say you have a mock drink
that returns the name of the beverage that was consumed. You can write:
test('drink returns La Croix (Orange) last', () => {
const beverage1 = {name: 'La Croix (Lemon)'};
const beverage2 = {name: 'La Croix (Orange)'};
const drink = jest.fn(beverage => beverage.name);
drink(beverage1);
drink(beverage2);
expect(drink).toHaveLastReturnedWith('La Croix (Orange)');
});
.toHaveNthReturnedWith(nthCall, value)
Also under the alias: .nthReturnedWith(nthCall, value)
Use .toHaveNthReturnedWith
to test the specific value that a mock function returned for the nth call. If the nth call to the mock function threw an error, then this matcher will fail no matter what value you provided as the expected return value.
For example, let's say you have a mock drink
that returns the name of the beverage that was consumed. You can write:
test('drink returns expected nth calls', () => {
const beverage1 = {name: 'La Croix (Lemon)'};
const beverage2 = {name: 'La Croix (Orange)'};
const drink = jest.fn(beverage => beverage.name);
drink(beverage1);
drink(beverage2);
expect(drink).toHaveNthReturnedWith(1, 'La Croix (Lemon)');
expect(drink).toHaveNthReturnedWith(2, 'La Croix (Orange)');
});
The nth argument must be positive integer starting from 1.
.toHaveLength(number)
Use .toHaveLength
to check that an object has a .length
property and it is set to a certain numeric value.
This is especially useful for checking arrays or strings size.
expect([1, 2, 3]).toHaveLength(3);
expect('abc').toHaveLength(3);
expect('').not.toHaveLength(5);
.toHaveProperty(keyPath, value?)
Use .toHaveProperty
to check if property at provided reference keyPath
exists for an object. For checking deeply nested properties in an object you may use dot notation or an array containing the keyPath for deep references.
You can provide an optional value
argument to compare the received property value (recursively for all properties of object instances, also known as deep equality, like the toEqual
matcher).
The following example contains a houseForSale
object with nested properties. We are using toHaveProperty
to check for the existence and values of various properties in the object.
// Object containing house features to be tested
const houseForSale = {
bath: true,
bedrooms: 4,
kitchen: {
amenities: ['oven', 'stove', 'washer'],
area: 20,
wallColor: 'white',
'nice.oven': true,
},
livingroom: {
amenities: [
{
couch: [
['large', {dimensions: [20, 20]}],
['small', {dimensions: [10, 10]}],
],
},
],
},
'ceiling.height': 2,
};
test('this house has my desired features', () => {
// Example Referencing
expect(houseForSale).toHaveProperty('bath');
expect(houseForSale).toHaveProperty('bedrooms', 4);
expect(houseForSale).not.toHaveProperty('pool');
// Deep referencing using dot notation
expect(houseForSale).toHaveProperty('kitchen.area', 20);
expect(houseForSale).toHaveProperty('kitchen.amenities', [
'oven',
'stove',
'washer',
]);
expect(houseForSale).not.toHaveProperty('kitchen.open');
// Deep referencing using an array containing the keyPath
expect(houseForSale).toHaveProperty(['kitchen', 'area'], 20);
expect(houseForSale).toHaveProperty(
['kitchen', 'amenities'],
['oven', 'stove', 'washer'],
);
expect(houseForSale).toHaveProperty(['kitchen', 'amenities', 0], 'oven');
expect(houseForSale).toHaveProperty(
'livingroom.amenities[0].couch[0][1].dimensions[0]',
20,
);
expect(houseForSale).toHaveProperty(['kitchen', 'nice.oven']);
expect(houseForSale).not.toHaveProperty(['kitchen', 'open']);
// Referencing keys with dot in the key itself
expect(houseForSale).toHaveProperty(['ceiling.height'], 'tall');
});
.toBeCloseTo(number, numDigits?)
Use toBeCloseTo
to compare floating point numbers for approximate equality.
The optional numDigits
argument limits the number of digits to check after the decimal point. For the default value 2
, the test criterion is Math.abs(expected - received) < 0.005
(that is, 10 ** -2 / 2
).
Intuitive equality comparisons often fail, because arithmetic on decimal (base 10) values often have rounding errors in limited precision binary (base 2) representation. For example, this test fails:
test('adding works sanely with decimals', () => {
expect(0.2 + 0.1).toBe(0.3); // Fails!
});
It fails because in JavaScript, 0.2 + 0.1
is actually 0.30000000000000004
.
For example, this test passes with a precision of 5 digits:
test('adding works sanely with decimals', () => {
expect(0.2 + 0.1).toBeCloseTo(0.3, 5);
});
Because floating point errors are the problem that toBeCloseTo
solves, it does not support big integer values.
.toBeDefined()
Use .toBeDefined
to check that a variable is not undefined. For example, if you want to check that a function fetchNewFlavorIdea()
returns something, you can write:
test('there is a new flavor idea', () => {
expect(fetchNewFlavorIdea()).toBeDefined();
});
You could write expect(fetchNewFlavorIdea()).not.toBe(undefined)
, but it's better practice to avoid referring to undefined
directly in your code.
.toBeFalsy()
Use .toBeFalsy
when you don't care what a value is and you want to ensure a value is false in a boolean context. For example, let's say you have some application code that looks like:
drinkSomeLaCroix();
if (!getErrors()) {
drinkMoreLaCroix();
}
You may not care what getErrors
returns, specifically - it might return false
, null
, or 0
, and your code would still work. So if you want to test there are no errors after drinking some La Croix, you could write:
test('drinking La Croix does not lead to errors', () => {
drinkSomeLaCroix();
expect(getErrors()).toBeFalsy();
});
In JavaScript, there are six falsy values: false
, 0
, ''
, null
, undefined
, and NaN
. Everything else is truthy.
.toBeGreaterThan(number | bigint)
Use toBeGreaterThan
to compare received > expected
for number or big integer values. For example, test that ouncesPerCan()
returns a value of more than 10 ounces:
test('ounces per can is more than 10', () => {
expect(ouncesPerCan()).toBeGreaterThan(10);
});