What I learned this week
Testing a base controller with RSpec
TLDR
TLDRHow can I test a base controller (without actions) in RSpec?
RSpec.describe BaseController, type: :controller do
controller do
def index; end
end
# my tests
...
end
It’s very usual to have multiple base controllers classes in a Rails application. One for the API, one for the admin part…
Most of the time, these controllers have no actions. So how can we test them?
Here is our Webhooks base controller that many other controllers will inherit.
class WebhooksController < ApplicationController
before_action :verify_signature
private
def verify_signature
...
end
end
This controller includes only one before_action callback but no actions.
Adding the controller block at the top of the controller, can define actions and request the base controller for testing.
RSpec.describe WebhooksController, type: :controller do
controller do
def index; end
end
describe "Signature checks" do
context "when the signature is not found" do
it "returns an unauthorized response" do
get :index
expect(response).to have_http_status(:unauthorized)
end
end
end
end