E2E Tests

CharleOS uses Cypress for end-to-end testing of critical user flows. This page covers how to write and run E2E tests.

Test Users

E2E tests use dedicated test accounts that are isolated from real user data:

Email	Access Level	Work Type	Use For
`test-admin@charle.co.uk`	Admin	CSM	Admin features, settings, full access
`test-manager@charle.co.uk`	Manager	PM	Management features, scheduling
`test-staff@charle.co.uk`	Staff	Development	IC features, task assignment

Important: Always run npm run db:seed:e2e before running E2E tests to ensure test users exist.

Custom Commands

// Login as specific user
cy.login("test-admin@charle.co.uk");

// Convenience commands for role-based login
cy.loginAsAdmin();   // test-admin@charle.co.uk
cy.loginAsManager(); // test-manager@charle.co.uk
cy.loginAsStaff();   // test-staff@charle.co.uk

What to E2E Test

Focus on critical user journeys and integration points:

Authentication

Core Workflows

Create task, approve quote, assign subtask

Client Portal

Client sign-in, view tasks, submit tickets

Permissions

Admin vs manager vs staff access

Test Structure

File Organization

cypress/
├── e2e/
│   ├── auth.cy.ts          # Authentication flows
│   ├── clients.cy.ts       # Client management
│   ├── tasks.cy.ts         # Task viewing/access
│   └── permissions.cy.ts   # Role-based access
├── support/
│   ├── e2e.ts              # Custom commands
│   └── commands.ts         # Additional commands
└── fixtures/               # Test data

Basic Test Example

// cypress/e2e/auth.cy.ts
describe("Authentication", () => {
  it("redirects unauthenticated users to sign-in", () => {
    cy.visit("/clients");
    cy.url().should("include", "sign-in");
  });

  describe("Authenticated - Admin", () => {
    beforeEach(() => {
      cy.loginAsAdmin();
    });

    it("can access dashboard", () => {
      cy.visit("/");
      cy.url().should("not.include", "sign-in");
    });

    it("can access admin settings", () => {
      cy.visit("/admin/settings");
      cy.url().should("include", "/admin/settings");
    });
  });
});

Cypress Features

// Navigate to page
cy.visit("/tasks");

// Wait for URL
cy.url().should("include", "/tasks");

// Go back/forward
cy.go("back");
cy.go("forward");

Locators

// By text
cy.contains("Create Task");
cy.contains("button", "Submit");

// By selector
cy.get('[data-testid="task-card"]');
cy.get(".task-card");
cy.get("#task-123");

// By attribute
cy.get('input[name="title"]');
cy.get('button[type="submit"]');

Interactions

// Click
cy.get("button").click();
cy.contains("Submit").click();

// Type
cy.get('input[name="title"]').type("New Task");
cy.get('input[name="title"]').clear().type("Updated Task");

// Select
cy.get('select[name="priority"]').select("high");

// Check/uncheck
cy.get('input[type="checkbox"]').check();
cy.get('input[type="checkbox"]').uncheck();

Assertions

// Visibility
cy.get(".success-message").should("be.visible");
cy.get(".error-message").should("not.exist");

// Text content
cy.get("h1").should("have.text", "Dashboard");
cy.get(".status").should("contain", "Complete");

// URL
cy.url().should("include", "/tasks");
cy.url().should("match", /\/tasks\/task-/);

// Count
cy.get(".task-card").should("have.length", 3);

// Attribute
cy.get("button").should("be.disabled");
cy.get("input").should("have.value", "Initial value");

Common Test Patterns

Authentication Flow

// cypress/e2e/auth.cy.ts
describe("Authentication", () => {
  it("redirects unauthenticated users to sign-in", () => {
    cy.visit("/clients");
    cy.url().should("include", "sign-in");
  });

  describe("Admin Access", () => {
    beforeEach(() => {
      cy.loginAsAdmin();
    });

    it("can access all pages", () => {
      cy.visit("/admin/settings");
      cy.url().should("include", "/admin/settings");
    });
  });

  describe("Staff Access", () => {
    beforeEach(() => {
      cy.loginAsStaff();
    });

    it("cannot access admin pages", () => {
      cy.visit("/admin/settings");
      // Should redirect away from admin
      cy.url().should("not.include", "/admin");
    });
  });
});

Task Viewing

// cypress/e2e/tasks.cy.ts
describe("Tasks", () => {
  beforeEach(() => {
    cy.loginAsAdmin();
  });

  it("can access tasks page", () => {
    cy.visit("/tasks");
    cy.url().should("include", "/tasks");
    cy.url().should("not.include", "sign-in");
  });

  it("displays task list", () => {
    cy.visit("/tasks");
    // Verify page content loaded, not just that body exists
    cy.contains("Tasks", { timeout: 15000 }).should("be.visible");
  });
});

Permission Tests

// cypress/e2e/permissions.cy.ts
describe("Role-Based Access", () => {
  describe("Admin user", () => {
    beforeEach(() => {
      cy.loginAsAdmin();
    });

    it("can access admin settings", () => {
      cy.visit("/admin/settings");
      cy.url().should("include", "/admin/settings");
    });

    it("can access clients page", () => {
      cy.visit("/clients");
      cy.url().should("include", "/clients");
    });
  });

  describe("Staff user", () => {
    beforeEach(() => {
      cy.loginAsStaff();
    });

    it("cannot access admin settings", () => {
      cy.visit("/admin/settings");
      cy.url().should("not.include", "/admin/settings");
    });

    it("can access tasks page", () => {
      cy.visit("/tasks");
      cy.url().should("include", "/tasks");
    });
  });
});

Running E2E Tests

Basic Commands

# Seed test data first
npm run db:seed:e2e

# Run all E2E tests (headless)
npm run test:e2e

# Run with Cypress UI (interactive)
npm run test:e2e:open

# Run specific file
npx cypress run --spec "cypress/e2e/auth.cy.ts"

# Run with specific browser
npx cypress run --browser chrome

Watch Mode

# Open Cypress UI for interactive development
npm run test:e2e:open

Debugging

Screenshots and Videos

Cypress automatically captures screenshots on failure and videos of test runs:

cypress/
├── screenshots/    # Failure screenshots
└── videos/         # Test run videos

Debug Commands

// Pause test execution
cy.pause();

// Log to console
cy.log("Debug message");

// Debug with devtools
cy.debug();

Run in Headed Mode

# See the browser while tests run
npx cypress run --headed

Best Practices

Use Dedicated Test Users

Always use the dedicated test accounts:

// Good: Use test users
cy.loginAsAdmin();

// Bad: Use real user accounts
cy.login("luke@charle.co.uk");

Test Real User Flows

Focus on what users actually do:

// Good: Complete user flow
it("admin can access settings", () => {
  cy.loginAsAdmin();
  cy.visit("/admin/settings");
  cy.url().should("include", "/admin/settings");
});

// Bad: Testing implementation details
it("API returns 200", () => {
  // Too low-level
});

Use Reliable Selectors

Prefer data-testid attributes over CSS classes:

// Good: Resilient selectors
cy.get('[data-testid="task-card"]');
cy.contains("button", "Submit");

// Bad: Fragile selectors
cy.get('.btn-primary.create-btn');

Keep Tests Independent

Each test should work in isolation:

// Good: Test sets up its own state
beforeEach(() => {
  cy.loginAsAdmin();
});

// Bad: Tests depend on each other
it("creates task"); // Must run first
it("edits task");   // Depends on previous test

Use Content Assertions

Verify actual page content loaded, not just URL or body existence:

// Good: Checks actual page content
cy.visit("/tasks");
cy.contains("Tasks", { timeout: 15000 }).should("be.visible");

// Bad: Would pass with loading spinner or error page
cy.visit("/tasks");
cy.get("body").should("be.visible");

Content assertions ensure the page has fully loaded and rendered the expected content, catching issues that URL-only or body-visibility checks would miss.

CI Integration

E2E tests run automatically on pull requests to main:

# .github/workflows/e2e.yml
on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
    paths:
      - 'app/**'
      - 'components/**'
      - 'lib/**'
      - 'cypress/**'

jobs:
  e2e-tests:
    steps:
      - name: Seed E2E data
        run: npm run db:seed:e2e

      - name: Run Cypress
        uses: cypress-io/github-action@v6
        with:
          build: npm run build
          start: npm start

Testing Overview

Testing strategy

Unit Tests

Vitest unit tests

Cypress Docs

Official Cypress docs

Getting Started

Database

Authentication

Testing

Deployment

Test Users

Custom Commands

What to E2E Test

Authentication

Core Workflows

Client Portal

Permissions

Test Structure

File Organization

Basic Test Example

Cypress Features

Navigation

Locators

Interactions

Assertions

Common Test Patterns

Authentication Flow

Task Viewing

Permission Tests

Running E2E Tests

Basic Commands

Watch Mode

Debugging

Screenshots and Videos

Debug Commands

Run in Headed Mode

Best Practices

CI Integration

Testing Overview

Unit Tests

Cypress Docs

Getting Started

Database

Authentication

Testing

Deployment

​Test Users

​Custom Commands

​Login Commands

​What to E2E Test

Authentication

Core Workflows

Client Portal

Permissions

​Test Structure

​File Organization

​Basic Test Example

​Cypress Features

​Navigation

​Locators

​Interactions

​Assertions

​Common Test Patterns

​Authentication Flow

​Task Viewing

​Permission Tests

​Running E2E Tests

​Basic Commands

​Watch Mode

​Debugging

​Screenshots and Videos

​Debug Commands

​Run in Headed Mode

​Best Practices

​CI Integration

​Related Documentation

Testing Overview

Unit Tests

Cypress Docs

Test Users

Custom Commands

Login Commands

What to E2E Test

Test Structure

File Organization

Basic Test Example

Cypress Features

Navigation

Locators

Interactions

Assertions

Common Test Patterns

Authentication Flow

Task Viewing

Permission Tests

Running E2E Tests

Basic Commands

Watch Mode

Debugging

Screenshots and Videos

Debug Commands

Run in Headed Mode

Best Practices

CI Integration

Related Documentation