The ecosystem for end-to-end (e2e) testing JavaScript applications has evolved a ton since I began working as a full-time engineer years ago. Granted, I do not write many tests today, I am growing a lot of appreciation for tools like Cypress that grasp the full browser experience in a test environment.
Last week I invited Gleb Bahmutov, VP of Engineering at Cypress, to chat and teach me how to leverage Cypress with GitHub Actions to quickly get a test environment up and running.
GitHub Action for running Cypress end-to-end & component tests
cypress-io/github-action
GitHub Action for running Cypress end-to-end and component tests. Includes npm, pnpm and Yarn installation, custom caching and lots of configuration options.
Placing use: cypress-io/github-action@v6 into a GitHub Action workflow gives you a simple way to run Cypress. The action takes the project's npm, pnpm or Yarn package manager lock file, installs dependencies and caches these dependencies for future use. It then proceeds to run Cypress end-to-end tests with the built-in Electron browser and provides a test summary after completion.
If you are testing against a running server like the Cypress Kitchen Sink showcase example on https://example.cypress.io/ no other parameters are necessary. In other cases where you need to fire up a development server, you can add the start parameter to the workflow. Browse through the examples to find other useful parameters.
What I learned in our conversation is that Cypress is not just an npm package. Through the CLI, you gain access to a base binary ready to run their testing system on all platforms (Linux, Windows, and Mac). When you start Cypress, it runs the binary to engage and work with your machine's default browser giving you the ability to see your test pass or fail in front of your eyes.
Towards the end of our conversation, we installed Cypress on my bdougie.live repo to get positive browser test results in my GitHub Action logs.
If you have not tried out browser testing in your project, I encourage you to do so today, you are only minutes away from having the confidence e2e tests, and you can also do it with Actions!
Watch Gleb walk me through getting it installed on my project. You can find the link below.
Brian Douglas
