Testing

This section covers testing practices and patterns for Panda CMS development.

Overview

Panda CMS uses RSpec for testing with the following structure:

• Unit Tests: Model and service object tests
• System Tests: Full browser automation tests using Cuprite (Chrome headless)
• Component Tests: ViewComponent testing
• Integration Tests: Controller and API tests

Test Structure

• Uses fixtures instead of factories for consistent test data
• Fixtures located in spec/fixtures/ with YAML format
• System tests use special helper methods to prevent browser resets in CI
• EditorJS tests are excluded by default (use INCLUDE_EDITORJS=true to include)

Key Testing Guides

• Validation Testing - Essential patterns for form validation tests
• System Test Helpers - Debugging JavaScript issues in tests

Running Tests

# Run all tests
bundle exec rspec

# Run tests with focus/exclusions  
bundle exec rspec --tag ~skip

# Run specific test types
bundle exec rspec spec/models/
bundle exec rspec spec/system/
bundle exec rspec spec/lib/

# Include EditorJS tests (excluded by default)
INCLUDE_EDITORJS=true bundle exec rspec

Test Environment

Tests run in the spec/dummy Rails application which provides a complete Rails environment for testing the engine.

The dummy app includes:

• Database setup and migrations
• Asset compilation for system tests
• Authentication configuration
• Sample fixtures and test data