How to unit test a Node.js module that requires other modules and how to mock the global require function?

Question

This is a trivial example that illustrates the crux of my problem:

var innerLib = require(\'./path/to/innerLib\');

function underTest() {
    return innerLi         


        

Answer 1

Simple code to mock modules for the curious

Notice the parts where you manipulate the require.cache and note require.resolve method as this is the secret sauce.

class MockModules {  
  constructor() {
    this._resolvedPaths = {} 
  }
  add({ path, mock }) {
    const resolvedPath = require.resolve(path)
    this._resolvedPaths[resolvedPath] = true
    require.cache[resolvedPath] = {
      id: resolvedPath,
      file: resolvedPath,
      loaded: true,
      exports: mock
    }
  }
  clear(path) {
    const resolvedPath = require.resolve(path)
    delete this._resolvedPaths[resolvedPath]
    delete require.cache[resolvedPath]
  }
  clearAll() {
    Object.keys(this._resolvedPaths).forEach(resolvedPath =>
      delete require.cache[resolvedPath]
    )
    this._resolvedPaths = {}
  }
}

Use like:

describe('#someModuleUsingTheThing', () => {
  const mockModules = new MockModules()
  beforeAll(() => {
    mockModules.add({
      // use the same require path as you normally would
      path: '../theThing',
      // mock return an object with "theThingMethod"
      mock: {
        theThingMethod: () => true
      }
    })
  })
  afterAll(() => {
    mockModules.clearAll()
  })
  it('should do the thing', async () => {
    const someModuleUsingTheThing = require('./someModuleUsingTheThing')
    expect(someModuleUsingTheThing.theThingMethod()).to.equal(true)
  })
})

BUT... proxyquire is pretty awesome and you should use that. It keeps your require overrides localized to tests only and I highly recommend it.