SuperWSTest

Provides a supertest-compatible API for testing WebSockets.

If supertest is installed, this package also exposes supertest's API for convenience when testing servers which provide both HTTP and WebSocket URLs.

Install dependency

npm install --save-dev superwstest

You can also optionally install supertest for access to .get, .post, etc.:

npm install --save-dev superwstest supertest

Usage

Example server implementation

import http from 'http';
import WebSocket from 'ws';

const server = http.createServer();
const wss = new WebSocket.Server({ server });

wss.on('connection', (ws) => {
  ws.on('message', (message) => { ws.send(`echo ${message}`); });
  ws.send('hello');
});

export default server;

Tests for example server

import request from 'superwstest';
import server from './myServer';

describe('My Server', () => {
  beforeEach((done) => {
    server.listen(0, 'localhost', done);
  });

  afterEach((done) => {
    server.close(done);
  });

  it('communicates via websockets', async () => {
    await request(server)
      .ws('/path/ws')
      .expectText('hello')
      .sendText('foo')
      .expectText('echo foo')
      .sendText('abc')
      .expectText('echo abc')
      .close()
      .expectClosed();
  });
});

As long as you add server.close in an afterEach, all connections will be closed automatically, so you do not need to close connections in every test.

Testing non-WebSocket endpoints

If you have installed supertest, all the HTTP checks are also available by proxy:

import request from 'superwstest';
import server from './myServer';

describe('My Server', () => {
  beforeEach((done) => server.listen(0, 'localhost', done));
  afterEach((done) => server.close(done));

  it('communicates via HTTP', async () => {
    await request(server)
      .get('/path')
      .expect(200);
  });
});

Testing a remote webserver

You can also test against a remote webserver by specifying the URL of the server:

import request from 'superwstest';

describe('My Remote Server', () => {
  afterEach(() => {
    request.closeAll(); // recommended when using remote servers
  });

  it('communicates via websockets', async () => {
    await request('https://example.com')
      .ws('/path/ws')
      .expectText('hello')
      .close();
  });
});

The server URL given should be http(s) rather than ws(s); this will provide compatibility with native supertest requests such as post, get, etc. and will be converted automatically as needed.

Note that adding request.closeAll() to an afterEach will ensure connections are closed in all situations (including test timeouts, etc.). This is not needed when testing against a local server because the server will close connections when closed.

If you need to scope the request instance (to avoid closeAll interfering with other tests running in parallel in the same process), you can use .scoped() (note that this is not typically required when using Jest since parallel execution is performed using separate processes):

import baseRequest from 'superwstest';

describe('thing', () => {
  const request = baseRequest.scoped();
  afterEach(() => request.closeAll());
  /* ... */
});

API

• request(server[, options])
• request(...).ws(path[, protocols][, options])
  • .set(header, value)
  • .unset(header)
  • .expectText([expected[, options]])
  • .expectJson([expected[, options]])
  • .expectBinary([expected[, options]])
  • .sendText(text)
  • .sendJson(json)
  • .sendBinary(data)
  • .send(data[, options])
  • .close([code[, reason]]
  • .expectClosed([expectedCode[, expectedReason]])
  • .expectConnectionError([expectedStatusCode])
  • .expectUpgrade(test)
  • .wait(milliseconds)
  • .exec(fn)

request(server[, options])

The beginning of a superwstest (or supertest) test chain. Typically this is immediately followed by .ws(...) or .get(...) etc.

options can contain additional configuration:

• shutdownDelay: wait up to the given number of milliseconds for connections to close by themselves before forcing a shutdown when close is called on the server. By default this is 0 (i.e. all connections are closed immediately). Has no effect when testing remote servers.

  request(server, { shutdownDelay: 500 }).ws(path)

• defaultExpectOptions: a set of options which are passed to all expect* calls in the current chain (e.g. allows setting a timeout for all expectations in the chain):

  request(server, { defaultExpectOptions: { timeout: 5000 } })
    .ws(path)
    .expectText('hello') // implicit { timeout: 5000 }
    .expectText('hi', { timeout: 9000 }) // overrides default

request(server).ws(path[, protocols][, options])

Returns a Promise (eventually returning the WebSocket) with additional fluent API methods attached (described below).

Internally, this uses ws, and the protocols and options given are passed directly to the WebSocket constructor. For example, one way to set a cookie:

request(myServer)
  .ws('/path/ws', { headers: { cookie: 'foo=bar' } })

(you can also use .set('Cookie', 'foo=bar') to set cookies)

.set(header, value)

Sets the header-value pair on the initial WebSocket connection. This can also be called with an object to set multiple headers at once.

request(server).ws('...')
  .set('Cookie', 'foo=bar')
  .set({ 'Authorization': 'bearer foo', 'X-Foo': 'bar' })

This function cannot be called after the connection has been established (i.e. after calling send or expect*).

.unset(header)

Removes the header from the initial WebSocket connection.

request(server).ws('...')
  .unset('Cookie')

This function cannot be called after the connection has been established (i.e. after calling send or expect*).

.expectText([expected[, options]])

Waits for the next message to arrive then checks that it matches the given text (exact match), regular expression, or function. If no parameter is given, this only checks that the message is text (not binary).

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectText('hello')   // exact text
  .expectText(/^hel*o$/) // RegExp matching
  .expectText((actual) => actual.includes('lo')) // function
  .expectText()          // just check message is text

When using a function, the check will be considered a failure if it returns false. Any other value (including undefined and null) is considered a pass. This means you can use (e.g.) Jest expectations (returning no value):

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectText((actual) => {
    expect(actual).toContain('foo');
  })

A second parameter can be given with additional options:

• timeout: wait up to the given number of milliseconds for a message to arrive before failing the test (defaults to infinity).

  request(server).ws('...')
    .expectText('hello', { timeout: 1000 })
    .expectText(undefined, { timeout: 1000 })

  Note that for the most reliable tests, it is recommended to stick with the default (infinite) timeout. This option is provided as an escape hatch when writing long flow tests where the test timeout is unreasonably large for detecting an early failure.

These options can also be configured for the whole chain in the request call.

.expectJson([expected[, options]])

Waits for the next message to arrive, deserialises it using JSON.parse, then checks that it matches the given data (deep equality) or function. If no parameter is given, this only checks that the message is valid JSON.

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectJson({ foo: 'bar', zig: ['zag'] })       // exact match
  .expectJson((actual) => (actual.foo === 'bar')) // function
  .expectJson() // just check message is valid JSON

When using a function, the check will be considered a failure if it returns false. Any other value (including undefined and null) is considered a pass. This means you can use (e.g.) Jest expectations (returning no value):

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectJson((actual) => {
    expect(actual.bar).toBeGreaterThan(2);
  })

A second parameter can be given with additional options:

• timeout: wait up to the given number of milliseconds for a message to arrive before failing the test (defaults to infinity).

  request(server).ws('...')
    .expectJson({ foo: 'bar' }, { timeout: 1000 })
    .expectJson(undefined, { timeout: 1000 })

  Note that for the most reliable tests, it is recommended to stick with the default (infinite) timeout. This option is provided as an escape hatch when writing long flow tests where the test timeout is unreasonably large for detecting an early failure.

These options can also be configured for the whole chain in the request call.

.expectBinary([expected[, options]])

Waits for the next message to arrive then checks that it matches the given array / buffer (exact match) or function. If no parameter is given, this only checks that the message is binary (not text).

When providing a function, the data will always be a Uint8Array.

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectBinary([10, 20, 30])
  .expectBinary(new Uint8Array([10, 20, 30]))
  .expectBinary((actual) => (actual[0] === 10)) // function
  .expectBinary() // just check message is binary

When using a function, the check will be considered a failure if it returns false. Any other value (including undefined and null) is considered a pass. This means you can use (e.g.) Jest expectations (returning no value):

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectBinary((actual) => {
    expect(actual[0]).toBeGreaterThan(2);
  })

A second parameter can be given with additional options:

• timeout: wait up to the given number of milliseconds for a message to arrive before failing the test (defaults to infinity).

  request(server).ws('...')
    .expectBinary([10, 20, 30], { timeout: 1000 })
    .expectBinary(undefined, { timeout: 1000 })

  Note that for the most reliable tests, it is recommended to stick with the default (infinite) timeout. This option is provided as an escape hatch when writing long flow tests where the test timeout is unreasonably large for detecting an early failure.

These options can also be configured for the whole chain in the request call.

.sendText(text)

Sends the given text. Non-strings are converted using String before sending.

request(server).ws('...')
  .sendText('yo')

.sendJson(json)

Sends the given JSON as text using JSON.stringify.

request(server).ws('...')
  .sendJson({ foo: 'bar' })

.sendBinary(data)

Sends the given data as a binary message.

request(server).ws('...')
  .sendBinary([10, 20, 30])
  .sendBinary(new Uint8Array([10, 20, 30]))

.send(data[, options])

Sends a raw message (accepts any types accepted by WebSocket.send, and options is passed through unchanged).

request(server).ws('...')
  .send(new Uint8Array([5, 20, 100])) // binary message

  // multipart message
  .send('this is a fragm', { fin: false })
  .send('ented message', { fin: true })

.close([code[, reason]])

Closes the socket. Arguments are passed directly to WebSocket.close.

request(server).ws('...')
  .close() // close with default code and reason

request(server).ws('...')
  .close(1001) // custom code

request(server).ws('...')
  .close(1001, 'getting a cup of tea') // custom code and reason

.expectClosed([expectedCode[, expectedReason]])

Waits for the socket to be closed. Optionally checks if it was closed with the expected code and reason.

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectClosed()

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectClosed(1001) // expected code

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectClosed(1001, 'bye') // expected code and reason

.expectConnectionError([expectedStatusCode])

Expect the initial connection handshake to fail. Optionally checks for a specific HTTP status code.

note: if you use this, it must be the only invocation in the chain

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectConnectionError(); // any error

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectConnectionError(404); // specific error code

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectConnectionError('Server sent an invalid subprotocol'); // specific error message

.expectUpgrade(test)

Run a check against the Upgrade response. Useful for making arbitrary assertions about parts of the Upgrade response, such as headers.

The check will be considered a failure if it returns false. Any other value (including undefined and null) is considered a pass. This means you can use (e.g.) Jest expectations (returning no value).

The parameter will be a http.IncomingMessage.

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectUpgrade((res) => (res.headers['set-cookie'] === 'foo=bar'));

request(server).ws('...')
  .expectUpgrade((res) => {
    expect(res.headers).toHaveProperty('set-cookie', 'foo=bar');
  })

.wait(milliseconds)

Adds a delay of a number of milliseconds using setTimeout. This is available as an escape hatch, but try to avoid using it, as it may cause intermittent failures in tests due to timing variations.

request(server).ws('...')
  .wait(500)

.exec(fn)

Invokes the given function. If the function returns a promise, this waits for the promise to resolve (but ignores the result). The function will be given the WebSocket as a parameter. This is available as an escape hatch if the standard functions do not meet your needs.

request(server).ws('...')
  .exec((ws) => console.log('hello debugger!'))

note: this differs from Promise.then because you can continue to chain web socket actions and expectations.

See the FAQ for examples of how exec can be used to perform side operations during a connection.

FAQ

My server is closing the connection immediately with code 1002

Your server is probably trying to indicate that you need to specify a particular sub-protocol when connecting:

request(myServer)
  .ws('/path/ws', 'my-protocol-here')

You will need to check the documentation for the server library you are using to find out which subprotocol is needed. If multiple sub-protocols are needed, you can provide an array of strings.

Why do I see "supertest dependency not found" errors?

Older versions of this library bundled supertest by default because they used some functionality from it. The latest version does not require any functionality from supertest but remains API-compatible with it, and for this reason supertest has become optional and not included by default (reducing dependencies when testing WebSocket-only servers).

To restore the ability to use .get, .post, etc. simply run:

npm install --save-dev supertest

The presence of this package will detected automatically and the supertest API will be available via superwstest as before.

Why isn't request(app) supported?

This project aims to be API-compatible with supertest wherever possible, but does not support the ability to pass an express app directly into request() (instead, the server must be started in advance and the server object passed in). The recommended approach is:

let server;

beforeEach((done) => {
  server = app.listen(0, 'localhost', done);
});

afterEach((done) => {
  server.close(done);
});

There are several reasons for not supporting this feature:

• supertest's implementation has a bug where it does not wait for the server to start before making requests. This can lead to flakey tests. For this reason it seems beneficial to discourage this approach in general (for both WebSocket and non-WebSocket tests).
• It is not possible for this library to reliably know when a test has ended, so it is not obvious when the auto-started server should be closed. supertest never closes these auto-started servers (leading to a large number of servers being spawned during a test run), but even this approach is not viable for WebSocket testing (typical web requests are short-lived, but websockets are long-lived and any dangling connections will prevent the test process from terminating).

How can I perform another asynchronous task while a connection is open?

Often when testing websockets, you will want to perform another action and check for a reaction on the websocket. This can be achieved using exec:

await request(server).ws('here')
  .sendText('hello')
  .expectText('session open')
  .exec(async () => {
    await myOtherOperation();
  })
  .expectText('something happened')
  .close();

The recommended approach is to pull these out as helper functions, for example:

const makeThing = (name) => () => request(server)
  .post('blah')
  .expect(200);

await request(server).ws('here')
  .sendText('hello')
  .expectText('session open')

  .exec(makeThing('my first thing'))
  .expectText('made "my first thing"')

  .exec(makeThing('my second thing'))
  .expectText('made "my second thing"')

  .close();

If you need 2 websocket connections to interact with each other, you can use Promise.all:

await Promise.all([
  request(server).ws('here')
    .expectText('Welcome to the chat room')
    .sendText('Hi all! I am foo')
    .expectText('Hi foo, I am bar')
    .close(),
  request(server).ws('here')
    .expectText('Welcome to the chat room')
    .expectText('Hi all! I am foo')
    .sendText('Hi foo, I am bar')
    .close(),
]);