Renderer Process Unit Tests

When to use this skill

Use this skill when I say some like this:

• Create unit tests for renderer process
• Fix unit tests for renderer process
• Create unit tests for [name of component or hook and so on]
• I see failed unit tests. Fix that!

Technologies

• Test Runner: Vitest
• Testing Library: React Testing Library
• Environment: jsdom (simulates a browser environment in Node.js)

Configuration

Create or update vitest.config.ts (or add to vite.config.ts) to set the environment to jsdom.

// vitest.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from "vitest/config";
import react from "@vitejs/plugin-react";
import path from "path";

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [react()],
  test: {
    environment: "jsdom",
    globals: true,
    setupFiles: "./src/renderer/test/setup.ts", // Optional: for global setups like jest-dom
    alias: {
      "@windows": path.resolve(__dirname, "src/renderer/windows"),
      "@utils": path.resolve(__dirname, "src/renderer/utils"),
      "@hooks": path.resolve(__dirname, "src/renderer/hooks"),
      "@layouts": path.resolve(__dirname, "src/renderer/layouts"),
      "@conceptions": path.resolve(__dirname, "src/renderer/conceptions"),
      "@components": path.resolve(__dirname, "src/renderer/components"),
      "@composites": path.resolve(__dirname, "src/renderer/composites"),
      "@shared": path.resolve(__dirname, "src/renderer/shared"),
    },
  },
});

If you use setupFiles, create src/renderer/test/setup.ts:

import "@testing-library/jest-dom";

Guidelines

1. Mock window.electron: The renderer communicates with the main process via window.electron. This object is not available in the test environment and must be mocked.
2. Test Components: Use @testing-library/react to render components and assert on their output.
3. Test Hooks: Use renderHook from @testing-library/react to test custom hooks.
4. Skip E2E: You do not need to write or execute Playwright or other end-to-end suites for renderer changes; focus solely on unit coverage.
5. Positive and Negative Scenarios: For key UI flows and hooks, write at least one positive test (expected user behavior, valid state, successful IPC) and at least one negative test (error UI states, validation failures, failed IPC, empty/edge data).
6. Avoid Implementation Details: Test how the user interacts with the component, not the internal state.
7. The data-testid Rule: Always use the data-testid word to find elements. This is for elements where you want to check the value or text. if the component does not have this prop data-testid then find this component and add this prop, then just use for example screen.getByTestId('test-id') in the unit test

• Example:

  // In the component: <div data-testid="user-greeting">Hello, ${userName}</div>
  // In the test: expect(screen.getByTestId('user-greeting')).toHaveTextContent('Hello, John');

8. Run and Fix New Tests: After creating a new unit test, run that test immediately (for example with npm run test:unit:renderer) and inspect the results; if the test fails, fix the test or the implementation until it passes.

Writing Tests

1. Mocking window.electron

You can mock it globally in your setup file or per test.

// In a test file
import { vi } from "vitest";

global.window.electron = {
  ipcRenderer: {
    invoke: vi.fn(),
    on: vi.fn(),
    send: vi.fn(),
    removeListener: vi.fn(),
  },
  // ... other properties
} as any;

2. Testing a Component (Example)

Suppose you have a component src/renderer/components/UserInfo.tsx.

// src/renderer/components/UserInfo.test.tsx
import { render, screen, waitFor } from "@testing-library/react";
import { describe, it, expect, vi } from "vitest";
import { UserInfo } from "./UserInfo";
import userEvent from "@testing-library/user-event";

// Mock a custom hook that fetches data
vi.mock("../../hooks/useUser", () => ({
  useUser: () => ({
    user: { name: "John Doe" },
    loading: false,
  }),
}));

describe("UserInfo", () => {
  it("renders user name", () => {
    render(<UserInfo />);
    expect(screen.getByText("John Doe")).toBeInTheDocument();
  });
});

3. Testing Hooks (Example)

Suppose you have a hook src/renderer/hooks/useLogin.ts.

import { renderHook, act } from "@testing-library/react";
import { describe, it, expect, vi } from "vitest";
import { useLogin } from "./useLogin";

describe("useLogin", () => {
  it("should call login IPC on submit", async () => {
    const mockInvoke = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ success: true });
    global.window.electron.ipcRenderer.invoke = mockInvoke;

    const { result } = renderHook(() => useLogin());

    await act(async () => {
      await result.current.login("user", "pass");
    });

    expect(mockInvoke).toHaveBeenCalledWith("auth:login", {
      username: "user",
      password: "pass",
    });
  });
});

Running Tests

Run all unit tests:

npm run test:unit:renderer