“undefined method `env' for nil:NilClass” in 'setup_controller_for_warden' error when testing Devise using Rspec

Question

I\'m trying to create a spec for a sign out flow by using factorygirl to create a user and then use Devise\'s sign_in method to authenticate the user, then use

Answer 1

My Devise version is 4.2.0 so I just included

config.include Devise::Test::ControllerHelpers, type: :controller

in my rails helper file.

Alternatively you can use the same in your spec as

include Devise::Test::ControllerHelpers

Answer 2

I was having this problem when trying to sign_in a user in a before hook:

before(:context) do
  create(:skill, name: 'Google Maps API'.downcase)
  user = create(:user)
  sign_in user
end

Placing sign_in inside the before hook leads to:

Failure/Error: sign_in user

 NoMethodError:
   undefined method `env' for nil:NilClass

But placing it inside an example works fine:

shared_examples_for('an authenticated resource.') do
  describe 'An authenticated request' do
    it "responds with HTTP status OK" do
      user = create(:user)
      sign_in user
      make_request
      expect(response).to have_http_status(:ok)
    end
  end
end

But this can be improved, placing the sign_in into a before(:example) that will also work:

context 'allow search by keyword' do
  let!(:skill){ create(:skill, name: 'Google Maps API'.downcase) }
  let!(:user) { create(:user) }

  before(:example) { sign_in user }

  it 'finds matching records' do
    get :search, name: "Google Maps API", format: :json
    expect(assigns(:skills).size).to be(1)
  end
  it 'finds records that start with keyword'
  it 'finds records that end with keyword'
  it 'finds records that contains keyword'
end

Answer 3

Here's my solution:

class ActiveSupport::TestCase
  # all the normal stuff
end

class ActionController::TestCase
  include Devise::TestHelpers    
end

Answer 4

The correct syntax for Rails 5 / Devise (4.2.0) is

RSpec.configure do |config|
  config.include Devise::Test::ControllerHelpers, :type => :controller
end

• Devise::TestHelpers are deprecated so use Devise::Test::ControllerHelpers
• :type => :controller - to limit only for controllers and not models for example.

Answer 5

For the sake of being complete, with Rails 5 and RSpec I have run into similar issues when using the latest helpers, as they need to be set explicitly with the type when not used as a superclass.

So if you find yourself receiving there errors in your model tests there's a pretty good chance the type is not set.

Here's what I use in the spec_helper:

  config.include Devise::Test::ControllerHelpers, type: :controller
  config.include Devise::Test::ControllerHelpers, type: :view
  config.include Devise::Test::IntegrationHelpers, type: :feature

I know that the docs do mention this, but there are times when you may run across an older blog that gives you an older approach, or upgrading from an older setup, and next thing you know this happens.

Answer 6

Apparently there are issues with Devise::TestHelpers and integration testing, so perhaps that's the problem here.

https://github.com/plataformatec/devise (mentioned in README, Issues, etc.; also see related SO questions):

These helpers are not going to work for integration tests driven by Capybara or Webrat. They are meant to be used with functional tests only. Instead, fill in the form or explicitly set the user in session;