Cypress test writing conventions

This document describes the conventions for writing tests.

Must

• Use one of the following attributes for element selection when available: id, name, or data-qa.
• Create all locators that belong to one application page, and the methods that use them, inside the relevant page object.
• Represent each application page as a separate page object in cypress/support/page-objects.
• Specify test data in cypress/fixtures.
• Keep test assertions short and concise, and verify a single specific business case per assertion.

Must not

• Do not hardcode test data inside the test.
• Do not make element locators rely on the element’s position inside the DOM.
• Do not place complex actions that use more than one application page inside a page object file.
• Do not use hardcoded wait times in tests, to improve reliability and reduce flakiness.

Should

• Organize tests into logical suites based on feature areas or user workflows.
• Reset or clean up test data before each test suite, to maintain test independence.
• Create complex, reusable actions that use more than one application page as scenarios in cypress/support/scenarios.