Error when trying to run rspec: `require': cannot load such file -- rails_helper (LoadError)

Question

I am trying to run rspec for Ruby on Rails. I am running Rails 4.1.1. I have installed the gem, have established a spec folder with some tests. I have created a directory through $ rails g rspec:install

I tried to create a testing database through $ rake db:test:prepare but it throws this error message:

WARNING: db:test:prepare is deprecated. The Rails test helper now maintains your test 
schema automatically, see the release notes for details.

So I ended up looking at this stack overflow post, and of the two options, the one that worked was:

rake db:schema:load RAILS_ENV=test

So, now I need to run rspec.

When I run $ rspec spec from the command line I get this error:

/Users/myname/.rbenv/versions/2.1.1/lib/ruby/2.1.0/rubygems/core_ext/
kernel_require.rb:55:in `require': cannot load such file -- rails_helper (LoadError)

How do I resolve this so that I can start running tests?

What's the output of `gem list --local rspec`? rspec-rails made an incompatible change a few versions back that's probably biting you because you're not using `bundle exec` or binstubs. Older versions use, generate, and require spec_helper only; newer versions use, generate, and require a spec_helper and a rails_helper. If you mix versions (which is likely what happened here), things will break. — colinm, Sep 12 '14 at 03:44
It is: $ gem list --local rspec *** LOCAL GEMS *** rspec-core (2.13.1) rspec-expectations (2.13.0) rspec-mocks (2.13.1) rspec-rails (2.13.1) Can you tell what the problem is from this list? Any recommendations on next steps? — HPJAJ, Sep 12 '14 at 03:48
Make sure you're in the right directory when you run the specs. — DaveWoodall.com, Dec 07 '21 at 20:04

Dipak Gupta · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-30T14:01:24.980

92

There is some problem with rspec V3. But in your case you are using V2.

change

require 'rails_helper'

to

require 'spec_helper'

Other description find here https://teamtreehouse.com/forum/problem-with-rspec

For V3 :

If someone using rspec V3 then similar error occurs when generator not run. So before trying anything run generator.

rails generate rspec:install

If you are getting a huge list of warning on your console. Then you need to remove --warnings from .rspec file.

edited Sep 30 '15 at 14:01

answered Sep 12 '14 at 08:37

Dipak Gupta

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https://stackoverflow.com/a/27934369/2968762 ??? – Abhi Aug 12 '22 at 16:42
Didn't get you. – Dipak Gupta Oct 17 '22 at 12:11

score 68 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

68

I actually just had this error on rails 4 with rspec 3, but in my case I forgot to run the generator:

rails generate rspec:install

Also I had to remove warnings from .rspec, as stated by one of rpsec developers

edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

Community

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answered Sep 12 '14 at 19:31

fotanus

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Surprisingly, this is what worked for me. I figured this wouldn't apply since I've already run the generator. This Q/A also helped me: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17507416/rspec-doesnt-see-my-model-class-uninitialized-constant-error – Jason Swett Jan 21 '15 at 21:18

score 14 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 03 '17 at 02:33

14

For me, the problem was due to a different "rspec-support" version loaded and activated. I solved by prepending a "bundle exec":

bundle exec rspec

answered Jul 03 '17 at 02:33

Daniel Loureiro

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score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 21 '19 at 13:09

6

Always remember to run the rspec or the bundle exec rspec from the root of your project. Something like:

bundle exec rspec spec/features/file_test_spec.rb

answered Apr 21 '19 at 13:09

Leandro Castro

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this worked for me, rails 5 – Fazal Karim May 26 '22 at 15:32

Hans Araya · Answer 5 · 2017-03-31T09:33:24.120

5

For newer versions (3.5), if you need to run the generator, rails generate rspec:install doesn't work for me. I used:

rspec --init

Creates .rspec and spec/spec_helper.rb.

EDIT: Just in case, I found out that I installed rspec gem for ruby, not the one for Rails, so rspec:install wasn't available. Should use https://github.com/rspec/rspec-rails.

edited Mar 31 '17 at 09:33

answered Mar 31 '17 at 08:41

Hans Araya

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score 4 · Answer 6 · answered May 04 '15 at 20:54

4

Sometimes you need to run rspec command from Project's parent directory

answered May 04 '15 at 20:54

toki

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Dhivya Dandapani · Answer 7 · 2020-11-30T08:04:15.110

4

Please install the following gem:

gem install 'rspec-rails'

And then run: rails generate rspec:install

This will generate the spec folder and rails_helper.rb and spec_helper.rb. Your error should be taken care once this is done.

edited Nov 30 '20 at 08:04

answered Jul 27 '20 at 10:16

Dhivya Dandapani

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score 3 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 23 '15 at 02:53

3

None of these suggestions worked for me on Rails 4.2.0 with rspec-rails 3.2.3.

Instead, I placed the following two lines at the top of my spec file:

require 'rails_helper'
require 'spec_helper'

Now I can execute rspec spec/features/my_spec.rb.

answered Aug 23 '15 at 02:53

mycargus

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score 3 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 27 '16 at 22:58

3

I had the same error but there was no reference to rails_helper anywhere and we weren't even using rails.

However, I eventually found that my ~/.rspec was requiring rails_helper (presumably from creating rails app in the past) which was causing the issue ...

$ cat ~/.rspec
--color
--format documentation
--require spec_helper
--require rails_helper

The fix is as simple as removing that line. Hope this helps someone else grappling with the same issue!

answered Jun 27 '16 at 22:58

daveharris

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getting `.../2.4.0/gems/rspec-core-3.7.1/lib/rspec/core/configuration.rb:1455:in `require': cannot load such file -- rails_helper (LoadError)` in Rails 5 – user9869932 Jun 10 '18 at 02:15

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Apr 01 '15 at 19:34

2

One possibility that worked for me is to make sure you're requiring spec_helper. RubyMine can default require rspec and this can sometimes lead to this error.

answered Apr 01 '15 at 19:34

Anthony Dreessen

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stevenspiel · Answer 11 · 2018-12-03T19:17:33.280

2

You may also have your file named incorrectly. Make sure it ends in _spec.rb. I had misspelled my file to end in _soec.rb and was scratching my head for a while...

edited Dec 03 '18 at 19:17

answered Dec 03 '18 at 17:09

stevenspiel

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score 1 · Answer 12 · answered Dec 26 '15 at 05:26

1

I got the error you described when running a controller test. However, when I ran a model test, I got the true error. it ended up saying that the error was occuring because my database wasn't migrated. I fixed the error by running this command...

rake db:test:prepare

answered Dec 26 '15 at 05:26

thedanotto

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This is a great answer too. If you've ran your test suite without problems before and this error comes up, try this instead of modifying your testing configuration. For rails > 4.0 use: `rails db:test:prepare` instead of `rake`. Both will work but using the `rails ` keyword is the preferred way now. – pinzonjulian Mar 09 '20 at 23:51

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Dec 29 '18 at 05:17

0

For someone. If you got that error when you trynna test a specific file. you might can like this

$ bundle exec rspec ./spec/features/user_login_spec.rb
$ bundle exec rspec ./spec/models/user_login_spec.rb

answered Dec 29 '18 at 05:17

Ryosuke Hujisawa

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Error when trying to run rspec: `require': cannot load such file -- rails_helper (LoadError)

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