vitest

name	vitest
description	Use for Vitest tests: mocking, coverage, fixtures, filtering, and setup. Not for non-Vitest testing frameworks.

Vitest

Vitest 3.x testing workflow — Jest-compatible API with Vite-native transforms.

Workflow

1. Setup — vitest.config.ts or inline in vite.config.ts with test key
2. Write tests — describe/it/expect (Jest-compatible), use .test.ts or .spec.ts
3. Mock — vi.mock() for modules, vi.fn() for functions, vi.spyOn() for methods
4. Run — vitest (watch), vitest run (CI), vitest run --reporter=verbose
5. Coverage — vitest run --coverage (V8 provider default)

Config Example

import { defineConfig } from 'vitest/config'

export default defineConfig({
  test: {
    globals: true,
    environment: 'jsdom',
    setupFiles: ['./tests/setup.ts'],
    coverage: { provider: 'v8', include: ['src/**'] },
  },
})

If you already have a vite.config.ts, merge the test key in there instead of a separate file — Vitest reads either.

Mocking Example

import { describe, it, expect, vi, afterEach } from 'vitest'
import { fetchUser } from './api'

vi.mock('./api', () => ({
  fetchUser: vi.fn(),
}))

describe('UserProfile', () => {
  afterEach(() => {
    vi.restoreAllMocks()
  })

  it('displays user name', async () => {
    vi.mocked(fetchUser).mockResolvedValue({ name: 'Alice' })
    const result = await fetchUser('1')
    expect(result.name).toBe('Alice')
  })

  it('throws on network failure', async () => {
    vi.mocked(fetchUser).mockRejectedValue(new Error('Network error'))
    await expect(fetchUser('1')).rejects.toThrow('Network error')
  })
})

Common Patterns

Timers — freeze time for interval/timeout logic:

vi.useFakeTimers()
myDebounce(() => {}, 300)
vi.advanceTimersByTime(300)
expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
vi.useRealTimers()

Spy on a method without replacing the module:

const spy = vi.spyOn(console, 'warn').mockImplementation(() => {})
doSomething()
expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalledWith('expected warning')

Snapshots — useful for generated output or complex objects:

expect(result).toMatchSnapshot()              // stored in __snapshots__
expect(result).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`"foo"`) // inline, auto-updated

Custom fixtures — share setup across tests without beforeEach duplication:

const test = base.extend<{ db: Database }>({
  db: async ({}, use) => {
    const db = await Database.connect(':memory:')
    await use(db)
    await db.close()
  },
})

test('query returns rows', async ({ db }) => {
  const rows = await db.query('SELECT 1')
  expect(rows).toHaveLength(1)
})

Filtering tests at the command line:

vitest run -t "displays user"   # match by test name
vitest run src/api              # match by file path
vitest run --project web        # match by project name (monorepos)

Or in code: it.only(...), describe.skip(...).

Pitfalls

• Forgetting vi.restoreAllMocks() (or setting restoreMocks: true in config) — stale mocks leak between tests and cause false positives
• Using globals: true without adding /// <reference types="vitest/globals" /> or "types": ["vitest/globals"] in tsconfig.json — TypeScript won't know about describe/it/expect
• Module mock hoisting — vi.mock() is hoisted to the top of the file at compile time, so it can't reference variables defined in the same file. Use vi.hoisted() for dynamic values:

  const mockFn = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn())
  vi.mock('./module', () => ({ fn: mockFn }))
  

• jsdom missing modern Web APIs (e.g., ResizeObserver, IntersectionObserver) — switch to happy-dom for broader coverage, or manually polyfill in setupFiles
• Running vitest in CI without vitest run — watch mode hangs the process