cypress

Name: cypress
Author: mindrally

Cypress end-to-end testing best practices for web applications, covering test structure, commands, and reliability patterns.

INSTALLATION

npx skills add https://github.com/mindrally/skills --skill cypress

Run in your project or agent environment. Adjust flags if your CLI version differs.

SKILL.md

Cypress Testing Best Practices

You are an expert in Cypress end-to-end testing.

Core Principles

Test Structure

Use descriptive test names that clearly explain expected behavior

Organize tests by feature or user flow

Keep tests focused on critical user paths

Follow the Given-When-Then pattern for clarity

Selecting Elements

Prefer data-testid or data-cy attributes for test selectors

Use cy.contains() for text-based selection when appropriate

Avoid brittle selectors like CSS classes or tag hierarchies

// Recommended

cy.get('[data-testid="submit-button"]').click();

cy.contains('Submit').click();

// Avoid

cy.get('.btn-primary').click();

Commands and Assertions

Chain commands fluently for readability

Use built-in retry-ability; avoid explicit waits

Prefer .should() assertions over .then() for automatic retries

Use .within() to scope commands to a specific element

Custom Commands

Create custom commands for repeated actions

Place custom commands in cypress/support/commands.js

Document custom commands with JSDoc comments

Cypress.Commands.add('login', (email, password) => {

  cy.session([email, password], () => {

    cy.visit('/login');

    cy.get('[data-testid="email"]').type(email);

    cy.get('[data-testid="password"]').type(password);

    cy.get('[data-testid="submit"]').click();

    cy.url().should('include', '/dashboard');

  });

});

Handling Async Operations

Cypress commands are automatically queued; don't mix with async/await

Use cy.intercept() to mock or wait for network requests

Use cy.wait() with aliases, not arbitrary timeouts

cy.intercept('GET', '/api/users').as('getUsers');

cy.visit('/users');

cy.wait('@getUsers');

cy.get('[data-testid="user-list"]').should('be.visible');

Test Isolation

Each test should be independent and repeatable

Use beforeEach hooks for setup

Use cy.session() for efficient authentication

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

Using cy.wait(5000) with arbitrary timeouts

Testing third-party sites you don't control

Writing overly long tests that test multiple features

Relying on the state from previous tests