How do I deal with localStorage in jest tests?

Question

I keep getting "localStorage is not defined" in Jest tests which makes sense but what are my options? Hitting brick walls.

Answer 1

Great solution from @chiedo

However, we use ES2015 syntax and I felt it was a little cleaner to write it this way.

class LocalStorageMock {
  constructor() {
    this.store = {};
  }

  clear() {
    this.store = {};
  }

  getItem(key) {
    return this.store[key] || null;
  }

  setItem(key, value) {
    this.store[key] = String(value);
  }

  removeItem(key) {
    delete this.store[key];
  }
}

global.localStorage = new LocalStorageMock;

Answer 2

Figured it out with help from this: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/jestjs/9EPhuNWVYTg

Setup a file with the following contents:

var localStorageMock = (function() {
  var store = {};
  return {
    getItem: function(key) {
      return store[key];
    },
    setItem: function(key, value) {
      store[key] = value.toString();
    },
    clear: function() {
      store = {};
    },
    removeItem: function(key) {
      delete store[key];
    }
  };
})();
Object.defineProperty(window, 'localStorage', { value: localStorageMock });

Then you add the following line to your package.json under your Jest configs

"setupTestFrameworkScriptFile":"PATH_TO_YOUR_FILE",

Answer 3

Answer:

Currently (Jul '22) localStorage can not be mocked or spied on by jest as you usually would, and as outlined in the create-react-app docs. This is due to changes made in jsdom. You can read about it in the jest and jsdom issue trackers.

As a workaround, you can spy on the prototype instead:

// does not work:
jest.spyOn(localStorage, "setItem");
localStorage.setItem = jest.fn();

// either of these lines will work, different syntax that does the same thing:
jest.spyOn(Storage.prototype, 'setItem');
Storage.prototype.setItem = jest.fn();

// assertions as usual:
expect(localStorage.setItem).toHaveBeenCalled();

A note on spying on the prototype:

Spying on an instance gives you the ability to observe and mock behaviour for a specific object.

Spying on the prototype, on the other hand, will observe/manipulate every instance of that class all at once. Unless you have a special usecase, this is probably not what you want.

While in many cases when dealing with localStorage, using the prototype is acceptable, @onlywei pointed out an important caveat:

This strategy will not allow you to differentiate between localStorage and sessionStorage, as both are instances of Storage and inherit from the Storage prototype.

For implementations that deal with both concepts, you want to consider your specific situation and implications.

Answer 4

If using create-react-app, there is a simpler and straightforward solution explained in the documentation.

Create src/setupTests.js and put this in it :

const localStorageMock = {
  getItem: jest.fn(),
  setItem: jest.fn(),
  clear: jest.fn()
};
global.localStorage = localStorageMock;

Tom Mertz contribution in a comment below :

You can then test that your localStorageMock's functions are used by doing something like

expect(localStorage.getItem).toBeCalledWith('token')
// or
expect(localStorage.getItem.mock.calls.length).toBe(1)

inside of your tests if you wanted to make sure it was called. Check out https://facebook.github.io/jest/docs/en/mock-functions.html

Answer 5

Unfortunately, the solutions that I've found here didn't work for me.

So I was looking at Jest GitHub issues and found this thread

The most upvoted solutions were these ones:

const spy = jest.spyOn(Storage.prototype, 'setItem');

// or

Storage.prototype.getItem = jest.fn(() => 'bla');

Answer 6

or you just take a mock package like this:

https://www.npmjs.com/package/jest-localstorage-mock

it handles not only the storage functionality but also allows you test if the store was actually called.

Answer 7

A better alternative which handles undefined values (it doesn't have toString()) and returns null if value doesn't exist. Tested this with react v15, redux and redux-auth-wrapper

class LocalStorageMock {
  constructor() {
    this.store = {}
  }

  clear() {
    this.store = {}
  }

  getItem(key) {
    return this.store[key] || null
  }

  setItem(key, value) {
    this.store[key] = value
  }

  removeItem(key) {
    delete this.store[key]
  }
}

global.localStorage = new LocalStorageMock

Answer 8

If you are looking for a mock and not a stub, here is the solution I use:

export const localStorageMock = {
   getItem: jest.fn().mockImplementation(key => localStorageItems[key]),
   setItem: jest.fn().mockImplementation((key, value) => {
       localStorageItems[key] = value;
   }),
   clear: jest.fn().mockImplementation(() => {
       localStorageItems = {};
   }),
   removeItem: jest.fn().mockImplementation((key) => {
       localStorageItems[key] = undefined;
   }),
};

export let localStorageItems = {}; // eslint-disable-line import/no-mutable-exports

I export the storage items for easy initialization. I.E. I can easily set it to an object

In the newer versions of Jest + JSDom it is not possible to set this, but the localstorage is already available and you can spy on it it like so:

const setItemSpy = jest.spyOn(Object.getPrototypeOf(window.localStorage), 'setItem');

Answer 9

For Jest, React & TypeScript users:

I created a mockLocalStorage.ts

export const mockLocalStorage = () => {
  const setItemMock = jest.fn();
  const getItemMock = jest.fn();

  beforeEach(() => {
    Storage.prototype.setItem = setItemMock;
    Storage.prototype.getItem = getItemMock;
  });

  afterEach(() => {
    setItemMock.mockRestore();
    getItemMock.mockRestore();
  });

  return { setItemMock, getItemMock };
};

My component:

export const Component = () => {
    const foo = localStorage.getItem('foo')
    localStorage.setItem('bar', 'true')
    return <h1>{foo}</h1>
}

then in my tests I use it like so:

import React from 'react';

import { mockLocalStorage } from '../../test-utils';
import { Component } from './Component';

const { getItemMock, setItemMock } = mockLocalStorage();

it('fetches something from localStorage', () => {
    getItemMock.mockReturnValue('bar');
    render(<Component />);
    expect(getItemMock).toHaveBeenCalled();
    expect(getByText(/bar/i)).toBeInTheDocument()
});

it('expects something to be set in localStorage' () => {
    const value = "true"
    const key = "bar"
    render(<Component />);
    expect(setItemMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(key, value);
}

Answer 10

I found this solution from github

var localStorageMock = (function() {
  var store = {};

  return {
    getItem: function(key) {
        return store[key] || null;
    },
    setItem: function(key, value) {
        store[key] = value.toString();
    },
    clear: function() {
        store = {};
    }
  }; 
})();

Object.defineProperty(window, 'localStorage', {
 value: localStorageMock
});

You can insert this code in your setupTests and it should work fine.

I tested it in a project with typesctipt.

Answer 11

A bit more elegant solution using TypeScript and Jest.

    interface Spies {
      [key: string]: jest.SpyInstance
    }
    
    describe('→ Local storage', () => {
    
      const spies: Spies = {}
    
      beforeEach(() => {
        ['setItem', 'getItem', 'clear'].forEach((fn: string) => {
          const mock = jest.fn(localStorage[fn])
          spies[fn] = jest.spyOn(Storage.prototype, fn).mockImplementation(mock)
        })
      })
    
      afterEach(() => {
        Object.keys(spies).forEach((key: string) => spies[key].mockRestore())
      })
    
      test('→ setItem ...', async () => {
          localStorage.setItem( 'foo', 'bar' )
          expect(localStorage.getItem('foo')).toEqual('bar')
          expect(spies.setItem).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
      })
    })

Answer 12

An update for 2022.

Jest@24+ has ability to mock local storage automatically. However, the dependency needed no longer ships with it by default.

npm i -D jest-environment-jsdom

You also need to change your Jest test mode:

// jest.config.cjs
module.exports = {
  ...
  testEnvironment: "jsdom",
  ...
};

Now localStorage will already be mocked for you.

Example:

// myStore.js
const saveLocally = (key, value) => {
  localStorage.setItem(key, value)
};

Test:

// myStore.spec.ts
import { saveLocally } from "./myStore.js"

it("saves key-value pair", () => {
  let key = "myKey";
  let value = "myValue";
  expect(localStorage.getItem(key)).toBe(null);
  saveLocally(key, value);
  expect(localStorage.getItem(key)).toBe(value);
};

Answer 13

You can use this approach, to avoid mocking.

Storage.prototype.getItem = jest.fn(() => expectedPayload);

Answer 14

Object.defineProperty(window, "localStorage", {
  value: {
    getItem: jest.fn(),
    setItem: jest.fn(),
    removeItem: jest.fn(),
  },
});

or

jest.spyOn(Object.getPrototypeOf(localStorage), "getItem");
jest.spyOn(Object.getPrototypeOf(localStorage), "setItem");

Answer 15

2021, typescript

class LocalStorageMock {
  store: { [k: string]: string };
  length: number;

  constructor() {
    this.store = {};
    this.length = 0;
  }

  /**
   * @see https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Storage/key
   * @returns
   */
  key = (idx: number): string => {
    const values = Object.values(this.store);
    return values[idx];
  };

  clear() {
    this.store = {};
  }

  getItem(key: string) {
    return this.store[key] || null;
  }

  setItem(key: string, value: string) {
    this.store[key] = String(value);
  }

  removeItem(key: string) {
    delete this.store[key];
  }
}

export default LocalStorageMock;

you can then use it with

global.localStorage = new LocalStorageMock();

Answer 16

As @ck4 suggested documentation has clear explanation for using localStorage in jest. However the mock functions were failing to execute any of the localStorage methods.

Below is the detailed example of my react component which make uses of abstract methods for writing and reading data,

//file: storage.js
const key = 'ABC';
export function readFromStore (){
    return JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem(key));
}
export function saveToStore (value) {
    localStorage.setItem(key, JSON.stringify(value));
}

export default { readFromStore, saveToStore };

Error:

TypeError: _setupLocalStorage2.default.setItem is not a function

Fix:
Add below mock function for jest (path: .jest/mocks/setUpStore.js )

let mockStorage = {};

module.exports = window.localStorage = {
  setItem: (key, val) => Object.assign(mockStorage, {[key]: val}),
  getItem: (key) => mockStorage[key],
  clear: () => mockStorage = {}
};

Snippet is referenced from here

Answer 17

describe('getToken', () => {
    const Auth = new AuthService();
    const token = 'eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1c2VybmFtZSI6Ik1yIEpvc2VwaCIsImlkIjoiNWQwYjk1Mzg2NTVhOTQ0ZjA0NjE5ZTA5IiwiZW1haWwiOiJ0cmV2X2pvc0Bob3RtYWlsLmNvbSIsInByb2ZpbGVVc2VybmFtZSI6Ii9tcmpvc2VwaCIsInByb2ZpbGVJbWFnZSI6Ii9Eb3Nlbi10LUdpci1sb29rLWN1dGUtbnVrZWNhdDMxNnMtMzExNzAwNDYtMTI4MC04MDAuanBnIiwiaWF0IjoxNTYyMzE4NDA0LCJleHAiOjE1OTM4NzYwMDR9.YwU15SqHMh1nO51eSa0YsOK-YLlaCx6ijceOKhZfQZc';
    beforeEach(() => {
        global.localStorage = jest.fn().mockImplementation(() => {
            return {
                getItem: jest.fn().mockReturnValue(token)
            }
        });
    });
    it('should get the token from localStorage', () => {

        const result  = Auth.getToken();
        expect(result).toEqual(token);

    });
});

Create a mock and add it to the global object

Answer 18

To do the same in the Typescript, do the following:

Setup a file with the following contents:

let localStorageMock = (function() {
  let store = new Map()
  return {

    getItem(key: string):string {
      return store.get(key);
    },

    setItem: function(key: string, value: string) {
      store.set(key, value);
    },

    clear: function() {
      store = new Map();
    },

    removeItem: function(key: string) {
        store.delete(key)
    }
  };
})();
Object.defineProperty(window, 'localStorage', { value: localStorageMock });

Then you add the following line to your package.json under your Jest configs

"setupTestFrameworkScriptFile":"PATH_TO_YOUR_FILE",

Or you import this file in your test case where you want to mock the localstorage.

Answer 19

As mentioned in a comment by Niket Pathak, starting jest@24 / jsdom@11.12.0 and above, localStorage is mocked automatically.

Answer 20

At least as of now, localStorage can be spied on easily on your jest tests, for example:

const spyRemoveItem = jest.spyOn(window.localStorage, 'removeItem')

And that's it. You can use your spy as you are used to.

Answer 21

This worked for me and just one code line

const setItem = jest.spyOn(Object.getPrototypeOf(localStorage), 'setItem');

Answer 22

Riffed off some other answers here to solve it for a project with Typescript. I created a LocalStorageMock like this:

export class LocalStorageMock {

    private store = {}

    clear() {
        this.store = {}
    }

    getItem(key: string) {
        return this.store[key] || null
    }

    setItem(key: string, value: string) {
        this.store[key] = value
    }

    removeItem(key: string) {
        delete this.store[key]
    }
}

Then I created a LocalStorageWrapper class that I use for all access to local storage in the app instead of directly accessing the global local storage variable. Made it easy to set the mock in the wrapper for tests.

Answer 23

The following solution is compatible for testing with stricter TypeScript, ESLint, TSLint, and Prettier config: { "proseWrap": "always", "semi": false, "singleQuote": true, "trailingComma": "es5" }:

class LocalStorageMock {
  public store: {
    [key: string]: string
  }
  constructor() {
    this.store = {}
  }

  public clear() {
    this.store = {}
  }

  public getItem(key: string) {
    return this.store[key] || undefined
  }

  public setItem(key: string, value: string) {
    this.store[key] = value.toString()
  }

  public removeItem(key: string) {
    delete this.store[key]
  }
}
/* tslint:disable-next-line:no-any */
;(global as any).localStorage = new LocalStorageMock()

HT/ https://stackoverflow.com/a/51583401/101290 for how to update global.localStorage

Answer 24

There is no need to mock localStorage - just use the jsdom environment so that your tests run in browser-like conditions.

In your jest.config.js,

module.exports = {
    // ...
    testEnvironment: "jsdom"
}
    

Answer 25

none of the answers above worked for me. So after some digging this is what I got to work. Credit goes to a few sources and other answers as well.

• https://www.codeblocq.com/2021/01/Jest-Mock-Local-Storage/
• https://github.com/facebook/jest/issues/6798#issuecomment-440988627
• https://gist.github.com/mayank23/7b994385eb030f1efb7075c4f1f6ac4c
• https://github.com/facebook/jest/issues/6798#issuecomment-514266034

My full gist: https://gist.github.com/ar-to/01fa07f2c03e7c1b2cfe6b8c612d4c6b

/**
 * Build Local Storage object
 * @see https://www.codeblocq.com/2021/01/Jest-Mock-Local-Storage/ for source
 * @see https://stackoverflow.com/a/32911774/9270352 for source
 * @returns
 */
export const fakeLocalStorage = () => {
  let store: { [key: string]: string } = {}

  return {
    getItem: function (key: string) {
      return store[key] || null
    },
    setItem: function (key: string, value: string) {
      store[key] = value.toString()
    },
    removeItem: function (key: string) {
      delete store[key]
    },
    clear: function () {
      store = {}
    },
  }
}

/**
 * Mock window properties for testing
 * @see https://gist.github.com/mayank23/7b994385eb030f1efb7075c4f1f6ac4c for source
 * @see https://github.com/facebook/jest/issues/6798#issuecomment-514266034 for sample implementation
 * @see https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window#properties for window properties
 * @param { string } property window property string but set to any due to some warnings
 * @param { Object } value for property
 *
 * @example
 *
 *  const testLS = {
 *    id: 5,
 *    name: 'My Test',
 *  }
 * mockWindowProperty('localStorage', fakeLocalStorage())
 * window.localStorage.setItem('currentPage', JSON.stringify(testLS))
 *
 */
const mockWindowProperty = (property: string | any, value: any) => {
  const { [property]: originalProperty } = window
  delete window[property]
  beforeAll(() => {
    Object.defineProperty(window, property, {
      configurable: true,
      writable: true,
      value,
    })
  })
  afterAll(() => {
    window[property] = originalProperty
  })
}

export default mockWindowProperty

Answer 26

In my case, I needed to set the localStorage value before I check it.

So what I did is

const data = { .......}

const setLocalStorageValue = (name: string, value: any) => {
  localStorage.setItem(name, JSON.stringify(value))
}



 describe('Check X class', () => {
  setLocalStorageValue('Xname', data)
  const xClass= new XClass()

  console.log(xClass.initiate()) ; // it will work 

  
})

Answer 27

2022 December: Nx 14 with Angular 14 Jest. We have an test-setup.ts file in every app and libs folder. We setting local storage mock globaly.

import 'jest-preset-angular/setup-jest';

Storage.prototype.getItem = jest.fn();
Storage.prototype.setItem = jest.fn();
Storage.prototype.removeItem = jest.fn();

Then localStorage.service.spec.ts file looking like this:

import { LocalStorageService } from './localstorage.service';

describe('LocalStorageService', () => {
    let localStorageService: LocalStorageService;

    beforeEach(() => {
        localStorageService = new LocalStorageService();
    });

    it('should set "identityKey" in localStorage', async () => {
        localStorageService.saveData('identityKey', '99');
        expect(window.localStorage.setItem).toHaveBeenCalled();
 expect(window.localStorage.setItem).toHaveBeenCalledWith('identityKey', '99');
        expect(window.localStorage.setItem).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
});

it('should get "identityKey" from localStorage', async () => {
    localStorageService.getData('identityKey');
    expect(window.localStorage.getItem).toHaveBeenCalled();
    expect(window.localStorage.getItem).toHaveBeenCalledWith('identityKey');
    expect(window.localStorage.getItem).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
});

it('should remove "identityKey" from localStorage', async () => {
    localStorageService.removeData('identityKey');
    expect(window.localStorage.removeItem).toHaveBeenCalled();
expect(window.localStorage.removeItem).toHaveBeenCalledWith('identityKey');
            expect(window.localStorage.removeItem).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
        });
    });

P.S. Sorry for bad indentation, this SatckOverflow window s*cks.

Answer 28

First: I created a file named localStorage.ts(localStorage.js)

class LocalStorageMock {
  store: Store;
  length: number;

  constructor() {
    this.store = {};
    this.length = 0;
  }

  key(n: number): any {
    if (typeof n === 'undefined') {
      throw new Error(
        "Uncaught TypeError: Failed to execute 'key' on 'Storage': 1 argument required, but only 0 present."
      );
    }

    if (n >= Object.keys(this.store).length) {
      return null;
    }

    return Object.keys(this.store)[n];
  }

  getItem(key: string): Store | null {
    if (!Object.keys(this.store).includes(key)) {
      return null;
    }

    return this.store[key];
  }

  setItem(key: string, value: any): undefined {
    if (typeof key === 'undefined' && typeof value === 'undefined') {
      throw new Error(
        "Uncaught TypeError: Failed to execute 'setItem' on 'Storage': 2 arguments required, but only 0 present."
      );
    }

    if (typeof value === 'undefined') {
      throw new Error(
        "Uncaught TypeError: Failed to execute 'setItem' on 'Storage': 2 arguments required, but only 1 present."
      );
    }

    if (!key) return undefined;

    this.store[key] = value.toString() || '';
    this.length = Object.keys(this.store).length;

    return undefined;
  }

  removeItem(key: string): undefined {
    if (typeof key === 'undefined') {
      throw new Error(
        "Uncaught TypeError: Failed to execute 'removeItem' on 'Storage': 1 argument required, but only 0 present."
      );
    }

    delete this.store[key];
    this.length = Object.keys(this.store).length;
    return undefined;
  }

  clear(): undefined {
    this.store = {};
    this.length = 0;

    return undefined;
  }
}

export const getLocalStorageMock = (): any => {
  return new LocalStorageMock();
};

global.localStorage = new LocalStorageMock();

Then create a test file named session.test.ts(session.test.js)

import { getLocalStorageMock } from '../localstorage';
describe('session storage', () => {
  let localStorage;
  beforeEach(() => {
    localStorage = getLocalStorageMock();
  });

  describe('getItem', () => {
    it('should return null if the item is undefined', () => {
      expect(localStorage.getItem('item')).toBeNull();
    });
    it("should return '' instead of null", () => {
      localStorage.setItem('item', '');
      expect(localStorage.getItem('item')).toBe('');
    });
    it('should return navid', () => {
      localStorage.setItem('item', 'navid');
      expect(localStorage.getItem('item')).toBe('navid');
    });

  });
});

Answer 29

As of 2023 and jest 29, you just have to add the jest-environment-jsdom package via

npm install --save-dev jest-environment-jsdom

and activate it in package.json via

"jest": { "testEnvironment": "jsdom"}

Now you can use window.localStorage.setItem() and window.localStorage.getItem() etc.

Answer 30

This worked for me,

delete global.localStorage;
global.localStorage = {
getItem: () => 
 }