Expect

When you're writing tests, you often need to check that values meet certain conditions. expect gives you access to a number of "matchers" that let you validate different things on the browser, an element or mock object.

Default Options

These default options below are connected to the waitforTimeout and waitforInterval options set in the config.

Only set the options below if you want to wait for specific timeouts for your assertions.

{
    wait: 2000, // ms to wait for expectation to succeed
    interval: 100, // interval between attempts
}

If you like to pick different timeouts and intervals, set these options like this:

// wdio.conf.js
import { setOptions } from 'expect-webdriverio'

export const config = {
    // ...
    before () {
        setOptions({ wait: 5000 })
    },
    // ...
}

Matcher Options

Every matcher can take several options that allows you to modify the assertion:

Command Options

Name	Type	Details
`wait`	number	time in ms to wait for expectation to succeed. Default: `3000`
`interval`	number	interval between attempts. Default: `100`
`beforeAssertion`	function	function to be called before assertion is made
`afterAssertion`	function	function to be called after assertion is made containing assertion results
`message`	string	user message to prepend before assertion error

String Options

This option can be applied in addition to the command options when strings are being asserted.

Name	Type	Details
`ignoreCase`	boolean	apply `toLowerCase` to both actual and expected values
`trim`	boolean	apply `trim` to actual value
`replace`	Replacer \| Replacer[]	replace parts of the actual value that match the string/RegExp. The replacer can be a string or a function.
`containing`	boolean	expect actual value to contain expected value, otherwise strict equal.
`asString`	boolean	might be helpful to force converting property value to string
`atStart`	boolean	expect actual value to start with the expected value
`atEnd`	boolean	expect actual value to end with the expected value
`atIndex`	number	expect actual value to have the expected value at the given index

Number Options

This option can be applied in addition to the command options when numbers are being asserted.

Name	Type	Details
`eq`	number	equals
`lte`	number	less then equals
`gte`	number	greater than or equals

Handling HTML Entities

An HTML entity is a piece of text (“string”) that begins with an ampersand (&) and ends with a semicolon (;). Entities are frequently used to display reserved characters (which would otherwise be interpreted as HTML code), and invisible characters (like non-breaking spaces, e.g.  ).

To find or interact with such element use unicode equivalent of the entity. e.g.:

<div data="Some&nbsp;Value">Some&nbsp;Text</div>

const myElem = await $('div[data="Some\u00a0Value"]')
await expect(myElem).toHaveAttribute('data', 'div[Some\u00a0Value')
await expect(myElem).toHaveText('Some\u00a0Text')

You can find all unicode references in the HTML spec.

Note: unicode is case-insensitive hence both \u00a0 and \u00A0 works. To find element in browser inspect, remove u from unicode e.g.: div[data="Some\00a0Value"]

Browser Matchers

toHaveUrl

Checks if browser is on a specific page.

Usage

await browser.url('https://webdriver.io/')
await expect(browser).toHaveUrl('https://webdriver.io')

toHaveUrlContaining

Checks if browser is on a page URL that contains a value.

Usage

await browser.url('https://webdriver.io/')
await expect(browser).toHaveUrlContaining('webdriver')

toHaveTitle

Checks if website has a specific title.

Usage

await browser.url('https://webdriver.io/')
await expect(browser).toHaveTitle('WebdriverIO · Next-gen browser and mobile automation test framework for Node.js')

toHaveTitleContaining

Checks if website has a specific title that contains a value.

Usage

await browser.url('https://webdriver.io/')
await expect(browser).toHaveTitleContaining('WebdriverIO')

toHaveClipboardText

Checks if the browser has a specific text stored in its clipboard.

Usage

import { Key } from 'webdriverio'

await browser.keys([Key.Ctrl, 'a'])
await browser.keys([Key.Ctrl, 'c'])
await expect(browser).toHaveClipboardText('some clipboard text')

toHaveClipboardTextContaining

Checks if the browser has a specific text stored in its clipboard that contains a given string.

Usage

import { Key } from 'webdriverio'

await browser.keys([Key.Ctrl, 'a'])
await browser.keys([Key.Ctrl, 'c'])
await expect(browser).toHaveClipboardTextContaining('clipboard')

Element Matchers

toBeDisplayed

Calls isDisplayed on given element.

Usage

const elem = await $('#someElem')
await expect(elem).toBeDisplayed()

toExist

Calls isExisting on given element.

Usage

const elem = await $('#someElem')
await expect(elem).toExist()

toBePresent

Same as toExist.

Usage

const elem = await $('#someElem')
await expect(elem).toBePresent()

toBeExisting

Same as toExist.

Usage

const elem = await $('#someElem')
await expect(elem).toBeExisting()

toBeFocused

Checks if element has focus. This assertion only works in a web context.

Usage

const elem = await $('#someElem')
await expect(elem).toBeFocused()

toHaveAttribute

Checks if an element has a certain attribute with a specific value.

Usage

const myInput = await $('input')
await expect(myInput).toHaveAttribute('class', 'form-control')

toHaveAttr

Same as toHaveAttribute.

Usage

const myInput = await $('input')
await expect(myInput).toHaveAttr('class', 'form-control')

toHaveAttributeContaining

Checks if an element has a certain attribute that contains a value.

Usage

const myInput = await $('input')
await expect(myInput).toHaveAttributeContaining('class', 'form')

toHaveAttrContaining

Same as toHaveAttributeContaining.

Usage

const myInput = await $('input')
await expect(myInput).toHaveAttrContaining('class', 'form')

toHaveElementClass

Checks if an element has a certain class name.

Usage

const myInput = await $('input')
await expect(myInput).toHaveElementClass('form-control', { message: 'Not a form control!', })

toHaveElementClassContaining

Checks if an element has a certain class name that contains provided value.

Usage

const myInput = await $('input')
await expect(myInput).toHaveElementClassContaining('form')

toHaveElementProperty

Checks if an element has a certain property.

Usage

const elem = await $('#elem')
await expect(elem).toHaveElementProperty('height', 23)
await expect(elem).not.toHaveElementProperty('height', 0)

toHaveValue

Checks if an input element has a certain value.

Usage

const myInput = await $('input')
await expect(myInput).toHaveValue('user', { ignoreCase: true })

toHaveValueContaining

Checks if an input element contains a certain value.

Usage

const myInput = await $('input')
await expect(myInput).toHaveValueContaining('us')

toBeClickable

Checks if an element can be clicked by calling isClickable on the element.

Usage

const elem = await $('#elem')
await expect(elem).toBeClickable()

toBeDisabled

Checks if an element is disabled by calling isEnabled on the element.

Usage

const elem = await $('#elem')
await expect(elem).toBeDisabled()
// same as
await expect(elem).not.toBeEnabled()

toBeEnabled

Checks if an element is enabled by calling isEnabled on the element.

Usage

const elem = await $('#elem')
await expect(elem).toBeEnabled()
// same as
await expect(elem).not.toBeDisabled()

toBeSelected

Checks if an element is enabled by calling isSelected on the element.

Usage

const elem = await $('#elem')
await expect(elem).toBeSelected()

toBeChecked

Same as toBeSelected.

Usage

const elem = await $('#elem')
await expect(elem).toBeChecked()

toHaveComputedLabel

Checks if element has a specific computed WAI-ARIA label. Can also be called with an array as parameter in the case where the element can have different labels.

Usage

await browser.url('https://webdriver.io/')
const elem = await $('a[href="https://github.com/webdriverio/webdriverio"]')
await expect(elem).toHaveComputedLabel('GitHub repository')
await expect(elem).toHaveComputedLabel(['GitHub repository', 'Private repository'])

toHaveComputedLabelContaining

Checks if element contains a specific computed WAI-ARIA label. Can also be called with an array as parameter in the case where the element can have different labels.

Usage

await browser.url('https://webdriver.io/')
const elem = await $('a[href="https://github.com/webdriverio/webdriverio"]')
await expect(elem).toHaveComputedLabelContaining('GitHub')
await expect(elem).toHaveComputedLabelContaining(['GitHub', 'Private'])

toHaveComputedRole

Checks if element has a specific computed WAI-ARIA role. Can also be called with an array as parameter in the case where the element can have different labels.

Usage

await browser.url('https://webdriver.io/')
const elem = await $('[aria-label="Skip to main content"]')
await expect(elem).toHaveComputedRole('region')
await expect(elem).toHaveComputedRole(['region', 'section'])

toHaveComputedRoleContaining

Checks if element contains a specific computed WAI-ARIA role. Can also be called with an array as parameter in the case where the element can have different roles.

Usage

await browser.url('https://webdriver.io/')
const elem = await $('[aria-label="Skip to main content"]')
await expect(elem).toHaveComputedRoleContaining('reg')
await expect(elem).toHaveComputedRoleContaining(['reg', 'sec'])

toHaveHref

Checks if link element has a specific link target.

Usage

const link = await $('a')
await expect(link).toHaveHref('https://webdriver.io')

toHaveLink

Same as toHaveHref.

Usage

const link = await $('a')
await expect(link).toHaveLink('https://webdriver.io')

toHaveHrefContaining

Checks if link element contains a specific link target.

Usage

const link = await $('a')
await expect(link).toHaveHrefContaining('webdriver.io')

toHaveLinkContaining

Same as toHaveHrefContaining.

Usage

const link = await $('a')
await expect(link).toHaveLinkContaining('webdriver.io')

toHaveId

Checks if element has a specific id attribute.

Usage

const elem = await $('#elem')
await expect(elem).toHaveId('elem')

toHaveText

Checks if element has a specific text. Can also be called with an array as parameter in the case where the element can have different texts.

Usage

await browser.url('https://webdriver.io/')
const elem = await $('.container')
await expect(elem).toHaveText('Next-gen browser and mobile automation test framework for Node.js')
await expect(elem).toHaveText(['Next-gen browser and mobile automation test framework for Node.js', 'Get Started'])

toHaveTextContaining

Checks if element contains a specific text. Can also be called with an array as parameter in the case where the element can have different texts.

Usage

await browser.url('https://webdriver.io/')
const elem = await $('.container')
await expect(elem).toHaveTextContaining('browser and mobile automation test framework')
await expect(elem).toHaveTextContaining(['browser and mobile automation test framework', 'Started'])

toHaveHTML

Checks if element has a specific text. Can also be called with an array as parameter in the case where the element can have different texts.

Usage

await browser.url('https://webdriver.io/')
const elem = await $('.hero__subtitle')
await expect(elem).toHaveHTML('<p class="hero__subtitle">Next-gen browser and mobile automation test framework for Node.js</p>')
await expect(elem).toHaveHTML('Next-gen browser and mobile automation test framework for Node.js', { includeSelectorTag: false })
await expect(elem).toHaveHTML(['Next-gen browser and mobile automation test framework for Node.js', 'Get Started'], { includeSelectorTag: false })

toHaveHTMLContaining

Checks if element contains a specific text. Can also be called with an array as parameter in the case where the element can have different texts.

Usage

await browser.url('https://webdriver.io/')
const elem = await $('.hero__subtitle')
await expect(elem).toHaveHTMLContaining('Next-gen browser')
await expect(elem).toHaveHTMLContaining('Next-gen browser', { includeSelectorTag: false })
await expect(elem).toHaveHTMLContaining(['Next-gen browser', 'Get Started'], { includeSelectorTag: false })

toBeDisplayedInViewport

Checks if an element is within the viewport by calling isDisplayedInViewport on the element.

Usage

const elem = await $('#elem')
await expect(elem).toBeDisplayedInViewport()

toHaveChildren

Checks amount of the fetched element's children by calling element.$('./*') command.

Usage

const list = await $('ul')
await expect(list).toHaveChildren() // the list has at least one item
// same as
await expect(list).toHaveChildren({ gte: 1 })

await expect(list).toHaveChildren(3) // the list has 3 items
// same as 
await expect(list).toHaveChildren({ eq: 3 })

toHaveWidth

Checks if element has a specific width.

Usage

await browser.url('http://github.com')
const logo = await $('.octicon-mark-github')
await expect(logo).toHaveWidth(32)

toHaveHeight

Checks if element has a specific height.

Usage

await browser.url('http://github.com')
const logo = await $('.octicon-mark-github')
await expect(logo).toHaveHeight(32)

toHaveSize

Checks if element has a specific size.

Usage

await browser.url('http://github.com')
const logo = await $('.octicon-mark-github')
await expect(logo).toHaveSize({ width: 32, height: 32 })

toBeElementsArrayOfSize

Checks amount of fetched elements using $$ command.

Usage

const listItems = await $$('ul>li')
await expect(listItems).toBeElementsArrayOfSize(5) // 5 items in the list

await expect(listItems).toBeElementsArrayOfSize({ lte: 10 })
// same as
assert.ok(listItems.length <= 10)

Network Matchers

toBeRequested

Checks that mock was called

Usage

const mock = browser.mock('**/api/todo*')
await expect(mock).toBeRequested()

toBeRequestedTimes

Checks that mock was called for the expected amount of times

Usage

const mock = browser.mock('**/api/todo*')
await expect(mock).toBeRequestedTimes(2) // await expect(mock).toBeRequestedTimes({ eq: 2 })

await expect(mock).toBeRequestedTimes({ gte: 5, lte: 10 }) // request called at least 5 times but less than 11

toBeRequestedWith

Checks that mock was called according to the expected options.

Most of the options supports expect/jasmine partial matchers like expect.objectContaining

Usage

const mock = browser.mock('**/api/todo*', { method: 'POST' })

await expect(mock).toBeRequestedWith({
    url: 'http://localhost:8080/api/todo',          // [optional] string | function | custom matcher
    method: 'POST',                                 // [optional] string | array
    statusCode: 200,                                // [optional] number | array
    requestHeaders: { Authorization: 'foo' },       // [optional] object | function | custom matcher
    responseHeaders: { Authorization: 'bar' },      // [optional] object | function | custom matcher
    postData: { title: 'foo', description: 'bar' }, // [optional] object | function | custom matcher
    response: { success: true },                    // [optional] object | function | custom matcher
})

await expect(mock).toBeRequestedWith({
    url: expect.stringMatching(/.*\/api\/.*/i),
    method: ['POST', 'PUT'], // either POST or PUT
    statusCode: [401, 403],  // either 401 or 403
    requestHeaders: headers => headers.Authorization.startsWith('Bearer '),
    postData: expect.objectContaining({ released: true, title: expect.stringContaining('foobar') }),
    response: r => Array.isArray(r) && r.data.items.length === 20
})

Using regular expressions

You can also directly use regular expressions for all matchers that do text comparison.

Usage

await browser.url('https://webdriver.io/')
const elem = await $('.container')
await expect(elem).toHaveText(/node\.js/i)
await expect(elem).toHaveText([/node\.js/i, 'Get Started'])
await expect(elem).toHaveTextContaining([/node\.js/i, 'Started'])
await expect(browser).toHaveTitle(/webdriverio/i)
await expect(browser).toHaveUrl(/webdriver\.io/)
await expect(elem).toHaveElementClass(/Container/i)

Default Matchers

In addition to the expect-webdriverio matchers you can use builtin Jest's expect assertions or expect/expectAsync for Jasmine.

Asymmetric Matchers

WebdriverIO supports usage of asymmetric matchers wherever you compare text values, e.g.:

await expect(browser).toHaveTitle(expect.stringContaining('some title'))
// is the same as:
await expect(browser).toHaveTitleContaining('some title')

await expect(browser).toHaveTitle(expect.not.stringContaining('some title'))
// is the same as:
await expect(browser).not.toHaveTitleContaining('some title')

TypeScript

If you are using the WDIO Testrunner everything will be automatically setup. Just follow the setup guide from the docs. However if you run WebdriverIO with a different testrunner or in a simple Node.js script you will need to add expect-webdriverio to types in the tsconfig.json.

"expect-webdriverio" for everyone except of Jasmine/Jest users.
"expect-webdriverio/jasmine" Jasmine
"expect-webdriverio/jest" Jest

JavaScript (VSCode)

It's required to create jsconfig.json in project root and refer to the type definitions to make autocompletion work in vanilla js.

{
  "include": [
    "**/*.js",
    "**/*.json",
    "node_modules/expect-webdriverio"
  ]
}

Adding your own matchers

Similar to how expect-webdriverio extends Jasmine/Jest matchers it's possible to add custom matchers.

Jasmine see custom matchers doc
Everyone else see Jest's expect.extend

Custom matchers should be added in wdio before hook

// wdio.conf.js
{
    async before () {
        const { addCustomMatchers } = await import('./myMatchers')
        addCustomMatchers()
    }
}

// myMatchers.js - Jest example
export function addCustomMatchers () {
    if (global.expect.expect !== undefined) { // Temporary workaround. See https://github.com/webdriverio/expect-webdriverio/issues/835
        global.expect = global.expect.expect;
    }

    expect.extend({
        myMatcher (actual, expected) {
            return { pass: actual === expected, message: () => 'some message' }
        }
    })
}

Default Options​

Matcher Options​

Command Options​

String Options​

Number Options​

Handling HTML Entities​

Browser Matchers​

toHaveUrl​

Usage​

toHaveUrlContaining​

Usage​

toHaveTitle​

Usage​

toHaveTitleContaining​

Usage​

toHaveClipboardText​

Usage​

toHaveClipboardTextContaining​

Usage​

Element Matchers​

toBeDisplayed​

Usage​

toExist​

Usage​

toBePresent​

Usage​

toBeExisting​

Usage​

toBeFocused​

Usage​

toHaveAttribute​

Usage​

toHaveAttr​

Usage​

toHaveAttributeContaining​

Usage​

toHaveAttrContaining​

Usage​

toHaveElementClass​

Usage​

toHaveElementClassContaining​

Usage​

toHaveElementProperty​

Usage​

toHaveValue​

Usage​

toHaveValueContaining​

Usage​

toBeClickable​

Usage​

toBeDisabled​

Usage​

toBeEnabled​

Usage​

toBeSelected​

Usage​

toBeChecked​

Usage​

toHaveComputedLabel​

Usage​

toHaveComputedLabelContaining​

Usage​

toHaveComputedRole​

Usage​

toHaveComputedRoleContaining​

Usage​

toHaveHref​

Usage​

toHaveLink​

Usage​

toHaveHrefContaining​

Usage​

toHaveLinkContaining​

Usage​

toHaveId​

Usage​

toHaveText​

Usage​

toHaveTextContaining​

Usage​

Default Options

Matcher Options

Command Options

String Options

Number Options

Handling HTML Entities

Browser Matchers

toHaveUrl

Usage

toHaveUrlContaining

Usage

toHaveTitle

Usage

toHaveTitleContaining

Usage

toHaveClipboardText

Usage

toHaveClipboardTextContaining

Usage

Element Matchers

toBeDisplayed

Usage

toExist

Usage

toBePresent

Usage

toBeExisting

Usage

toBeFocused

Usage

toHaveAttribute

Usage

toHaveAttr

Usage

toHaveAttributeContaining

Usage

toHaveAttrContaining

Usage

toHaveElementClass

Usage

toHaveElementClassContaining

Usage

toHaveElementProperty

Usage

toHaveValue

Usage

toHaveValueContaining

Usage

toBeClickable

Usage

toBeDisabled

Usage

toBeEnabled

Usage

toBeSelected

Usage

toBeChecked

Usage

toHaveComputedLabel

Usage

toHaveComputedLabelContaining

Usage

toHaveComputedRole

Usage

toHaveComputedRoleContaining

Usage

toHaveHref

Usage

toHaveLink

Usage

toHaveHrefContaining

Usage

toHaveLinkContaining

Usage

toHaveId

Usage

toHaveText

Usage

toHaveTextContaining

Usage