igorescodro Write UI Tests
Overview
UI tests in Alkaa test Compose and UI behavior in isolation — not integration tests. Composables must be stateless to make testing straightforward: pass all state and callbacks as parameters, then assert on the semantic tree.
Tests live in: features/<feature>/src/commonTest/kotlin/com/escodro/<feature>/presentation/instrumented/
Structure
- Class setup — Extends
AlkaaTest(),@OptIn(ExperimentalTestApi::class)on class → seereferences/SETUP.md - Test body —
= runComposeUiTest { }for each test - Loading composables — Private extension function on
ComposeUiTest; always wrap withAlkaaThemePreview→ seereferences/SETUP.md - Fakes — Implement interface, register in Koin test module, clean in
@AfterTest→ seereferences/SETUP.md - Assertions — By text, content description, or test tag; never by component ID → see
references/SETUP.md
Naming
Snake_case, two accepted forms:
- Standard:
test_emptyViewIsShown() - State-driven:
when_view_is_opened_then_empty_view_is_shown()
No camelCase, no backtick names.
Rules
| Rule | Details |
|---|---|
| Always wrap | Wrap composable in AlkaaThemePreview |
| Resource strings | getString(Res.string.xyz) inside uiTest or runComposeUiTest — never hardcode |
| One scenario per test | Split different states into separate @Test functions |
useUnmergedTree = true |
When nodes are inside merged semantics |
@IgnoreOnDesktop |
For tests not applicable on desktop |
@AfterTest cleanup |
Call clean() on every fake |
| Given/When/Then | Always add the three comment blocks |
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Testing a stateful composable directly | Extract a stateless Content composable and test that |
| Using mocks for domain interfaces | Create a fake implementing the interface |
| Hardcoding UI strings | Use getString(...) inside uiTest or runComposeUiTest |
| Testing multiple scenarios in one test | Split into separate @Test functions |
Missing @AfterTest cleanup |
Add tearDown() calling clean() on every fake |
Forgetting AlkaaThemePreview wrapper |
Always wrap composable |
| Omitting Given/When/Then comments | Always add the three comment blocks |