Migrate Codeceptjs 4

Migrate CodeceptJS 3.x → 4.x

CodeceptJS 4 is ESM-only and TypeScript-first. There is no compatibility shim for CommonJS — every helper, page object, custom step, and config file must be ESM. This skill drives a project through the upgrade end-to-end.

The authoritative reference is node_modules/codeceptjs/docs/migration-4.md (after npm install codeceptjs@4). Read it once; this skill orchestrates the work and surfaces the parts agents miss.

When to trigger

Detect before acting. Look for any of:

• package.json lists "codeceptjs": "^3" / "3.x", or has no "type": "module".
• Tests, page objects, helpers, or config use require() / module.exports against CodeceptJS.
• Config still references removed helpers (Nightmare, Protractor, TestCafe, AI, SoftExpectHelper, Mochawesome) or removed plugins (autoLogin, tryTo, retryTo, eachElement, commentStep, fakerTransform, enhancedRetryFailedStep, allure, htmlReporter, wdio, selenoid, screenshotOnFail, pauseOnFail, stepByStepReport).
• 3.x APIs: ai.request, Joi schemas in seeResponseMatchesJsonSchema, restart: 'browser', I.retry(), I.limitTime(), Playwright customLocators, I.softExpect* / I.flushSoftAssertions.
• --reporter mochawesome in scripts/CI, or mochawesome in package.json / mocha.reporterOptions.

If none of these hint at 3.x, the project is likely on 4.x already — hand back to codeceptjs-fundamentals.

Workflow

Phases run in order. Commit at each boundary so any regression is bisectable.

1. Bump Node and CodeceptJS

• Confirm Node ≥ 16 (recommended 20+); update engines.node and CI runners.
• npm install codeceptjs@4.
• TypeScript projects: npm install --save-dev tsx. Replaces ts-node/esm, which now warns.

2. Convert the project to ESM

• Add "type": "module" to package.json. Without this, every .js file parses as CommonJS and ESM imports throw at load time.
• Convert config, page objects, custom helpers, custom steps, programmatic usage:
  • const Helper = require('@codeceptjs/helper') → import Helper from '@codeceptjs/helper'
  • module.exports = X → export default X (or named exports)
  • const { codecept, container, event } = require('codeceptjs') → import codeceptjs, { container, event } from 'codeceptjs'
• Container.create() and Config.load() are now async — await them.
• Files that genuinely need CJS (rare; usually third-party shims): rename to .cjs.

3. Remove or replace deleted helpers and plugins

Mochawesome decision

The bundled Mochawesome helper is removed in 4.x (the helper class, the mochawesome dependency, and the worker report-dir wiring). The mochawesome reporter itself still works — it is a stock Mocha reporter and never needed CodeceptJS to bundle it.

This is a user choice — do not pick for them. When you detect Mochawesome (the helper in helpers:, --reporter mochawesome, or mochawesome in package.json/mocha.reporterOptions), stop and ask which path they want:

1. Switch to @testomatio/reporter (recommended). Richer HTML report (steps, screenshots, videos, traces), worker-safe, no helper or internal coupling. npm install --save-dev @testomatio/reporter, enable the testomatio plugin, run with TESTOMATIO_DISABLE_UPLOAD=1. For JUnit XML add the junitReporter plugin. This is the path to recommend.
2. Keep Mochawesome — report only. Remove the Mochawesome helper from helpers:, keep npm i -D mochawesome and --reporter mochawesome --reporter-options reportDir=output. Loses the auto-embedded failure screenshots the helper provided.
3. Keep Mochawesome — with embedded screenshots. Remove the helper from helpers: and re-create it as a project-local custom helper that wraps mochawesome/addContext (a faithful port is in the migration guide, section "Keeping Mochawesome"). Flag the two caveats: it imports non-semver-stable codeceptjs/lib/* internals (pin the version), and the screenshot-plugin filename sync is no longer automatic (set uniqueScreenshotNames identically on the helper and the screenshot plugin).

In all cases also: remove mochawesome report-dir handling from any custom worker scripts, and replace any reliance on I.addMochawesomeContext() (only option 3 keeps it).

Present options 1–3 explicitly and let the user decide before changing anything. Default the recommendation to option 1. The full reference (before/after configs + the custom-helper port) is in node_modules/codeceptjs/docs/migration-4.md → "Mochawesome → Testomat.io Reporter".

4. Update changed APIs

• AI config — delete the request function. Install Vercel AI SDK + provider (npm install ai @ai-sdk/openai) and set ai: { model: openai('gpt-5') }. Same shape for @ai-sdk/anthropic, @ai-sdk/google, etc.
• JSON schemas — I.seeResponseMatchesJsonSchema() now uses Zod, not Joi. Rewrite (Joi.object().keys({...}) → z.object({...}), Joi.string().required() → z.string(), etc.) and npm uninstall joi.
• Playwright — replace restart: 'browser' with 'session' (default), 'context', or 'keep'. Drop customLocators config; use the customLocator plugin or ARIA locators ({ role: 'button', name: 'Submit' }).
• I.retry() / I.limitTime() — removed (not just deprecated). Replace with the step options API: import step from 'codeceptjs/steps', then pass the config as the last argument of the step. I.retry(3).click('Submit') → I.click('Submit', step.retry(3)); I.limitTime(10).fillField('Email', x) → I.fillField('Email', x, step.timeout(10)). Also step.opts({ elementIndex: 2 }). Behavior is unchanged except the option no longer leaks onto the following step. recorder.retry() is unaffected (custom helpers only).
• within and session — no longer global. import { within, session } from 'codeceptjs' (or within from codeceptjs/effects). Both return Promises — await when you need the return value.
• Subpath imports — codeceptjs/effects, codeceptjs/els, codeceptjs/steps, codeceptjs/store, codeceptjs/assertions. See the migration guide for the full list.
• tryTo / hopeThat — return Promise<boolean> (the 3.x Promise<T | false> shape is gone).

5. Adopt noGlobals: true

3.x leaked Helper, actor, inject, share, secret, locate, dataTable, within, session, codecept_dir, output_dir as globals. 4.x defaults noGlobals: true in new configs and warns for projects without it. Add it to config and replace globals with explicit imports from codeceptjs / @codeceptjs/helper. Test-runner globals (Feature, Scenario, Before, After, BeforeSuite, AfterSuite, pause, inject, share) and BDD step-definition globals (Given, When, Then, And) stay — they're scope-injected by the runner.

6. Bump dependent packages

If your project depends directly on these, verify nothing breaks: chai (4 → 6, ESM-only), chai-as-promised (7 → 8), commander (11 → 14), @faker-js/faker (9 → 10), chokidar (4 → 5), @cucumber/gherkin (35 → 38), webdriverio (9.12 → 9.23). joi and testcafe are removed. See migration guide §7 for the full table.

7. Verify

Run, in order:

1. npx codeceptjs check -c <config> — surfaces config / helper / plugin / page object issues without spinning up a browser.
2. npx codeceptjs run --debug on a small smoke scenario. Confirm steps execute and the report is sane.
3. npx codeceptjs run-workers 2 — confirms the worker event dispatcher fires per-test events the same way it does in single-process mode (4.x change).
4. TypeScript users: confirm error stack traces point at .ts source lines (proves tsx is loaded, not ts-node/esm).
5. Grep the repo for tryTo(, retryTo(, eachElement(, commentStep(, softExpect, I.softExpect, Joi., restart: 'browser', I.retry(, I.limitTime(, and (unless the user chose to keep it) Mochawesome / --reporter mochawesome — none should remain. step.retry( / step.timeout( passed as a step argument is the expected replacement, not a leftover.
6. If the project used autoLogin: confirm the auth plugin restores sessions and roles.

Related skills

• codeceptjs-auth — replacement for the removed autoLogin plugin
• codeceptjs-fundamentals — run after migration to confirm wiring
• Full reference: node_modules/codeceptjs/docs/migration-4.md