Split Cypress specs across parallel CI machines for speed without using any external services
- 🎓 Covered in my course Cypress Plugins
- 🎓 Covered in my course Testing The Swag Store
- 📝 Run Cypress Specs In Parallel For Free
- 📝 Split React Native Web Component Tests For Free
- 📝 Full Code Coverage For Free
- 📝 Cypress GitHub Actions Slash Command
Add this plugin as a dev dependency and include in your Cypress config file.
# install using NPM
$ npm i -D cypress-split
# install using Yarn
$ yarn add -D cypress-split
Call this plugin from your Cypress config object setupNodeEvents method:
// cypress.config.js
const { defineConfig } = require('cypress')
// https://github.com/bahmutov/cypress-split
const cypressSplit = require('cypress-split')
module.exports = defineConfig({
e2e: {
setupNodeEvents(on, config) {
cypressSplit(on, config)
// IMPORTANT: return the config object
return config
},
},
})config object from the setupNodeEvents function. Otherwise, Cypress will run all specs.
// cypress/plugins/index.js
// https://github.com/bahmutov/cypress-split
const cypressSplit = require('cypress-split')
module.exports = (on, config) => {
cypressSplit(on, config)
// IMPORTANT: return the config object
return config
})Now update your CI script:
Run several containers and start Cypress using --env split=true parameter
stages:
- build
- test
install:
image: cypress/base:16.14.2-slim
stage: build
script:
- npm ci
test:
image: cypress/base:16.14.2-slim
stage: test
parallel: 3
script:
- npx cypress run --env split=trueAll specs will be split into 3 groups automatically. For caching details, see the full example in gitlab.com/bahmutov/cypress-split-gitlab-example.
parallelism: 3
command: npx cypress run --env split=trueSee the full example in bahmutov/cypress-split-example
# run 3 copies of the current job in parallel
strategy:
fail-fast: false
matrix:
containers: [1, 2, 3]
steps:
- name: Run split Cypress tests 🧪
uses: cypress-io/github-action@v5
# pass the machine index and the total number
env:
SPLIT: ${{ strategy.job-total }}
SPLIT_INDEX: ${{ strategy.job-index }}
Note that we need to pass the SPLIT and SPLIT_INDEX numbers from the strategy context to the plugin to grab. See the full example in bahmutov/cypress-split-example
Sample Jenkins File to run scripts on parallel:
pipeline {
agent {
// this image provides everything needed to run Cypress
docker {
image 'cypress/base:10'
}
}
stages {
// first stage installs node dependencies and Cypress binary
stage('build') {
steps {
// there a few default environment variables on Jenkins
// on local Jenkins machine (assuming port 8080) see
// http://localhost:8080/pipeline-syntax/globals#env
echo "Running build ${env.BUILD_ID} on ${env.JENKINS_URL}"
sh 'npm ci'
sh 'npm run cy:verify'
}
}
stage('start local server') {
steps {
// start local server in the background
// we will shut it down in "post" command block
sh 'nohup npm run start &'
}
}
// this stage runs end-to-end tests, and each agent uses the workspace
// from the previous stage
stage('cypress parallel tests') {
environment {
// Because parallel steps share the workspace they might race to delete
// screenshots and videos folders. Tell Cypress not to delete these folders
CYPRESS_trashAssetsBeforeRuns = 'false'
}
// https://jenkins.io/doc/book/pipeline/syntax/#parallel
parallel {
// start several test jobs in parallel, and they all
// will use Cypress Split to load balance any found spec files
stage('set A') {
steps {
echo "Running build ${env.BUILD_ID}"
sh "npx cypress run --env split=2,splitIndex=0"
}
}
// second thread runs the same command
stage('set B') {
steps {
echo "Running build ${env.BUILD_ID}"
sh "npx cypress run --env split=2,splitIndex=1"
}
}
}
}
}
post {
// shutdown the server running in the background
always {
echo 'Stopping local server'
sh 'pkill -f http-server'
}
}
}If you are running N containers in parallel, pass the zero-based index and the total number to the plugin using the environment variables SPLIT_INDEX and SPLIT or via Cypress env option:
# using process OS environment variables
job1: SPLIT=3 SPLIT_INDEX=0 npx cypress run
job2: SPLIT=3 SPLIT_INDEX=1 npx cypress run
job3: SPLIT=3 SPLIT_INDEX=2 npx cypress run
# using Cypress env option
job1: npx cypress run --env split=3,splitIndex=0
job2: npx cypress run --env split=3,splitIndex=1
job3: npx cypress run --env split=3,splitIndex=2
To skip GitHub Actions summary, set an environment variable SPLIT_SUMMARY=false. By default, this plugin generates the summary.
Works the same way as splitting E2E specs. Add this plugin to the setupNodeEvents callback in the component object in the config. See cypress.config.js for example:
// cypress.config.js
const { defineConfig } = require('cypress')
const cypressSplit = require('cypress-split')
module.exports = defineConfig({
e2e: {
// baseUrl, etc
},
component: {
devServer: {
framework: 'react',
bundler: 'vite',
},
specPattern: 'components/*.cy.js',
setupNodeEvents(on, config) {
cypressSplit(on, config)
// IMPORTANT: return the config object
return config
},
},
})Described in the blog post Split React Native Web Component Tests For Free.
This plugin finds the Cypress specs using find-cypress-specs and then splits the list into chunks using the machine index and the total number of machines. On some CIs (GitLab, Circle), the machine index and the total number of machines are available in the environment variables. On other CIs, you have to be explicit and pass these numbers yourself.
// it works something like this:
setupNodeEvents(on, config) {
const allSpecs = findCypressSpecs()
// allSpecs is a list of specs
const chunk = getChunk(allSpecs, k, n)
// chunk is a subset of specs for this machine "k" of "n"
// set the list as the spec pattern
// for Cypress to run
config.specPattern = chunk
return config
}Suppose you want to run some specs first, for example just the changed specs. You would compute the list of specs and then call Cypress run command with the --spec parameter
$ npx cypress run --spec "spec1,spec2,spec3"
You can still split the specs across several machines using cypress-split, just move the --spec list (or duplicate it) to a process or Cypress env variable spec:
# using process environment variables split all specs across 2 machines
$ SPEC="spec1,spec2,spec3" SPLIT=2 SPLIT_INDEX=0 npx cypress run --spec "spec1,spec2,spec3"
$ SPEC="spec1,spec2,spec3" SPLIT=2 SPLIT_INDEX=1 npx cypress run --spec "spec1,spec2,spec3"
# using Cypress "env" option
$ npx cypress run --env split=2,splitIndex=0,spec="spec1,spec2,spec3"
$ npx cypress run --env split=2,splitIndex=1,spec="spec1,spec2,spec3"
# for CIs with automatically index detection
$ npx cypress run --env split=true,spec="spec1,spec2,spec3"
Important: if you are passing the list of specs using --env spec="..." and get the error Cannot parse as valid JSON, switch to using SPEC environment variable, see #79.
# instead of
$ npx cypress run --env spec="..." --spec "..."
Cannot parse as valid JSON
# use
$ SPEC=... npx cypress run --spec "..."
Should work just the same, see the tested example in bahmutov/cypress-split-cucumber-example
// cypress.config.js
const { defineConfig } = require('cypress')
// https://github.com/bahmutov/cypress-split
const cypressSplit = require('cypress-split')
const cucumber = require('cypress-cucumber-preprocessor').default
module.exports = defineConfig({
e2e: {
setupNodeEvents(on, config) {
cypressSplit(on, config)
on('file:preprocessor', cucumber())
// IMPORTANT: return the config object
return config
},
specPattern: 'cypress/e2e/**/*.feature',
},
})To see diagnostic log messages from this plugin, set the environment variable DEBUG=cypress-split. It will give you all information necessary to understand what specs the plugin finds and how it splits them up. Here is an example debug output:
Tip: cypress-split uses find-cypress-specs to discover specs. If something is wrong, it is useful to see debug messages from both modules:
DEBUG=cypress-split,find-cypress-specs npx cypress run
If you notice that the plugin is not working as expected, and you are registering multiple Cypress plugins, you might be experiencing Cypress issue #22428. Use cypress-on-fix to register the plugins:
const { defineConfig } = require('cypress')
module.exports = defineConfig({
e2e: {
// baseUrl, etc
supportFile: false,
fixturesFolder: false,
setupNodeEvents(cypressOn, config) {
const on = require('cypress-on-fix')(cypressOn)
// use "on" to register plugins, for example
// https://github.com/bahmutov/cypress-split
require('cypress-split')(on, config)
// https://github.com/bahmutov/cypress-watch-and-reload
require('cypress-watch-and-reload/plugins')(on, config)
// https://github.com/bahmutov/cypress-code-coverage
require('@bahmutov/cypress-code-coverage/plugin')(on, config)
// IMPORTANT: return the config object
return config
},
},
})Types are in src/types.d.ts file. You should be able to import the config function in your TS config file.
import { defineConfig } from 'cypress'
import cypressSplit from 'cypress-split'
module.exports = defineConfig({
e2e: {
// baseUrl, etc
supportFile: false,
fixturesFolder: false,
setupNodeEvents(on, config) {
cypressSplit(on, config)
// IMPORTANT: return the config object
return config
},
},
})If you are using many Cypress plugins (for example my plugins covered in the Cypress Plugins course), you might notice that only the last plugin really works. This is due to a bug, and you can work around it using cypress-on-fix.
If you set your own specs via config.specPattern, just do it before using the plugin to split them.
setupNodeEvents(on, config) {
// user sets their own custom specPattern list of specs
// make sure the list of specs is relative to the folder
// with the Cypress config file!
config.specPattern = [
'../cypress/e2e/spec-c.cy.js',
'../cypress/e2e/spec-d.cy.js',
'../cypress/e2e/spec-e.cy.js',
]
cypressSplit(on, config)
// IMPORTANT: return the config object
return config
},Author: Gleb Bahmutov <gleb.bahmutov@gmail.com> © 2023
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License: MIT - do anything with the code, but don't blame me if it does not work.
Support: if you find a problem, open an issue in this repository. Consider sponsoring my open-source work.