testing

name	testing
description	Write and maintain Vitest unit tests and WDIO/Cucumber end-to-end tests in the Zowe Explorer monorepo. Use when adding, updating, debugging, or reviewing tests, when working with `*.unit.test.ts` files, `__tests__/__unit__/` or `__tests__/__e2e__/` directories, `.feature` files, step definitions, page objects, mock factories (`mockCreators/`), `MockedProperty`, `jest-mock-vscode`, `vitest.config`, `wdio.conf`, or running `pnpm test` / `pnpm test:e2e` in `packages/zowe-explorer/`, `packages/zowe-explorer-api/`, or `packages/zowe-explorer-ftp-extension/`.
metadata	{"version":"1.0"}

Zowe Explorer Testing

Guidance for writing and maintaining tests in the Zowe Explorer monorepo. This skill focuses on Zowe-Explorer-specific conventions, helpers, and gotchas.

Gotchas

Read these before writing or modifying tests.

• The vscode mock is mostly hand-rolled, not jest-mock-vscode wholesale. __tests__/__mocks__/vscode.ts defines MarkdownString, ProgressLocation, Uri, Range, WorkspaceEdit, etc., by hand. Only a small subset (FileSystemError, Selection, Position, ThemeIcon, CodeLensProvider) is destructured from require("jest-mock-vscode").createVSCodeMock(vi). If a needed VS Code class/value isn't exported, extend __mocks__/vscode.ts (either via manual definition or pulling more from createVSCodeMock(vi)) before using it.
• vi.mock("fs") activates a fixed manual mock with surprising defaults.
  • existsSync(path) returns true for non-empty paths.
  • FakeStats.isFile() returns true only for .txt files.
  • access, writeFileSync, etc. are silent no-ops.
  • Same applies to fs-extra, isbinaryfile, and Session.
• Avoid raw Object.defineProperty(vscode.X, ...). Properties redefined this way persist across it() blocks and files within the same Vitest worker: the single worst pattern in the test suite. Always use MockedProperty (which auto-restores via Symbol.dispose). When modifying legacy code that uses it, restore the original descriptor in afterEach. Never add new tests that mutate vscode.window, vscode.workspace, vscode.commands, etc. with bare Object.defineProperty.

Test Types

• Unit tests (Vitest): Default. Use for Actions, tree nodes, FS providers, utils, etc.
• End-to-end tests (WDIO + Cucumber): Use when behavior must be verified through the real VS Code UI against a real mainframe. No mocks/stubs.

Unit tests (Vitest)

Layout & Naming

• packages/<pkg>/__tests__/__unit__/
• File naming: <SourceFile>.unit.test.ts.
• One top-level describe per source class/module; nested describes per method or logical group.

Run Tests

cd packages/zowe-explorer && pnpm exec vitest <file-name-fragment>

Mock Factories

Reuse helpers in packages/zowe-explorer/__tests__/__mocks__/mockCreators/:

• shared.ts: createIProfile, createISession, createInstanceOfProfile, createValidIProfile
• datasets.ts: createDatasetSessionNode, createDatasetTree, createDatasetFavoritesNode
• uss.ts: createUSSSessionNode, createUSSTree, createUSSNode
• jobs.ts: createIJobObject, createJobSessionNode
• api.ts: createMvsApi, createUssApi, createJesApi

If a fixture is missing, add it to the matching file instead of creating a one-off.

MockedProperty over Object.defineProperty

When you need to stub a property that Vitest can't easily mock (statics, getters, readonly fields), use the MockedProperty helper from __mocks__/mockUtils.ts. It restores the original value automatically.

import { MockedProperty } from "../../__mocks__/mockUtils";

const profilesCacheMock = new MockedProperty(Constants, "PROFILES_CACHE", {
  value: { ssoLogin: vi.fn(), promptCredentials: vi.fn() } as any,
  configurable: true,
});

Spying & Resetting

• Prefer vi.spyOn(...) over vi.mock(...) for single methods—it leaves the rest of the module intact.
• Reserve module-level vi.mock("...") for modules that must be fully replaced.
• Call vi.restoreAllMocks() in beforeEach to prevent spy leaks across tests.
• For one-off return values, prefer mockReturnValueOnce / mockResolvedValueOnce.

Anti-patterns

• No snapshot tests for UI objects.
• Avoid any casts. Use API types.
• No reaching into src/ for private functions.
• No hardcoded sleeps (setTimeout).
• No raw fs/path. Mock at the provider boundary.

End-to-end tests (WDIO + Cucumber)

Located in packages/zowe-explorer/__tests__/__e2e__/.

Layout & Naming

• features/<area>/<Name>.feature - Gherkin scenarios
• step_definitions/<area>/<Name>.steps.ts - Step implementations
• __pageobjects__/ - Reusable page objects (e.g., ProfileNode, QuickPick). Add new page objects rather than ad-hoc selectors.
• __common__/ - Shared WDIO config and helpers.

Required environment

E2E tests require a valid Zowe team config and a .env file defining all ZE_TEST_* variables:

Variable	Purpose
ZE_TEST_PROFILE_NAME	Profile name as it appears in the tree
ZE_TEST_DS_FILTER	Data set filter pattern
ZE_TEST_DS_PATTERN	Data set pattern used by table view tests
ZE_TEST_PDS	Existing PDS name
ZE_TEST_PDS_MEMBER	Existing PDS member name
ZE_TEST_PS	Existing sequential dataset name
ZE_TEST_USS_FILTER	USS filter path
ZE_TEST_USS_DIR	USS directory under the filter
ZE_TEST_USS_FILE	USS file under the directory

Missing variables typically surface as cryptic step failures.

Run

cd packages/zowe-explorer && pnpm test:e2e

E2E is not part of pnpm test. Only run it locally when configured.

Authoring Conventions

• No mocks, no stubs, ever. If you need them, write a unit test instead.
• Wait, don't sleep. Use browser.waitUntil(...) or waitForClickable().
• Prefer page objects for any selector you'd otherwise repeat.
• Use Examples: (Scenario Outline) to cover variants (Data Sets / USS / Jobs) without duplicating scenarios.
• Keep steps reusable across features.
• Clean up after yourself. Teardown steps should remove remote artifacts (datasets, jobs).

Debugging a failing e2e

• Re-run single feature: pnpm test:e2e -- --spec __tests__/__e2e__/features/<area>/<Name>.feature
• Check wdio screenshots/logs (configured in __common__/base.wdio.conf.ts).
• Verify env vars for "element not found" failures.

Pre-submit Checklist

• New/modified tests pass.
• Coverage maintained or improved.
• Lint (pnpm lint) and format (pnpm pretty) pass.