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Getting Started

Project structure

Intern is very flexible, and doesn’t enforce any particular directory structure. However, this is one we’ve found to be convenient:

project_root/
  intern.json    - Intern config
  build/         - Built code
  node_modules/  - Node.js dependencies (including Intern)
  src/           - Front-end source code
    app/         - Application code
    index.html   - Application entry point
  tests/         - Intern tests
    functional/  - Functional tests
    support/     - Test support code (utility functions, custom reporters, etc.)
    unit/        - Unit tests

The only assumptions made by Intern are that it will be run from the project root (the default if run using npm) and that an intern.json file will exist in the project root. Neither of these are hard requirements, but following them will make using Intern a bit easier.

Installing Intern

Intern is distributed as an npm package. To install, just run:

npm install intern

Writing tests

Tests can be placed anywhere in the project, but Intern tests are often put in a tests/ directory, which cleanly separates testing resources from actual code.

A very simple unit test suite might look like:

// tests/unit/MyClass.ts
import MyClass from '../../src/app/MyClass';

const { describe, it } = intern.getPlugin('interface.bdd');
const { expect } = intern.getPlugin('chai');

describe('MyClass', () => {
  it('should have a name property when instantiated', () => {
    const obj = new MyClass('foo');
    expect(obj).to.have.property('name', 'foo');
  });
});

A simple functional test suite might look like:

// tests/functional/app.ts
const { describe, it } = intern.getPlugin('interface.bdd');
const { expect } = intern.getPlugin('chai');

describe('app', () => {
  it('should show a welcome heading', async test => {
    const { remote } = test;
    // Load the page
    await remote.get('index.html');
    // Search for an h1 element with the text "Welcome"
    await remote.findByXpath('//h1[.="Welcome"]');
  });
});

For more information about writing tests, see Writing Tests.

Initial configuration

Intern can be configured in several ways, but the most common is via an intern.json file in the project root. A basic config for running unit and functional tests is:

{
  suites: 'tests/unit/**/*.js',
  functionalSuites: 'tests/functional/**/*.js',
  environments: ['node', 'chrome']
}

This simply tells Intern to run all js files under tests/unit/ as unit tests, and all js files under tests/functional/ as functional tests. Unit tests will be run in Node and Chrome, and functional tests will be run using Chrome.

Running intern

Run Intern by running the intern script:

npx intern

Intern will automatically look for an intern.json in the project root, load it, and run the configured tests.

You can also run Intern in the browser. Start Intern’s test server using npx intern serveOnly, or serve the project root using a static server such as nginx or node-static, then browse to (assuming the project is being served at localhost:9000/):

http://localhost:9000/node_modules/intern/

Intern will load the intern.json file in the project root and run the configured tests.

Tutorials and examples

To help users get started with Intern, we’ve created a basic tutorial project that walks through the steps required to install and configure Intern, and to run tests against a simple demo application. There are also a number of example integrations for popular libraries, including Angular, Backbone, and React.

⚠️ Note that as frameworks change, or as new frameworks become popular, the examples may become outdated. We’d love it if you’d submit your own examples to make Intern easier for new users!