Rails, stripe feature test error - param is missing or the value is empty: charge

Question

I am trying to write feature tests for my RoR app where users have to pay to submit a post. The user journey is;

User creates a post and selects the button 'proceed to payment'
User is then taken to a billing page where they can fill in 'card number' 'card verification' and 'card expiry', user then presses 'pay' button. The payment is processed by Stripe. It is not the pop-up widget, but a custom form.
If successful, the user is redirected to their live post

I have a post model and a charge model. Post has_one charge. Charge belongs_to post. The payments are one-off payments, not subscriptions.

My Post Controller (create action only):

def create
  @post = Post.new(post_params)
  @post.user = current_user
  @amount = 500
  if @post.save
    redirect_to new_post_charge_path(@post.id)
  else
    flash[:error] = "There was an error saving the post. Please try again."
    render :new
  end  
end

My Charge Controller (create action only):

def create
  @charge = Charge.new(charge_params)
  @post = Post.find(params[:post_id]);
  @charge.post = @post

    if @charge.save
      Stripe::Charge.create(
        :amount => 500,
        :currency => "gbp",
        :source => params[:charge][:token],
        :description => "Wikipost #{@post.id}, #{current_user.email}",
        :receipt_email => current_user.email
      )
      @post.stripe_card_token = @charge.stripe
      @post.live = true
      @post.save

      redirect_to @post, notice: 'Post published successfully'
    else
      redirect_to new_post_charge_path(@post.id)
    end

    rescue Stripe::CardError => e
      flash[:error] = e.message
      return redirect_to new_post_charge_path(@post.id)
  end

I am testing with rspec/capybara and am trying to write a feature test like below, but I keep getting the error 'param is missing or the value is empty: charge';

require 'rails_helper'

feature 'Publish post' do

  before do
    @user = create(:user)
  end

  scenario 'successfully as a registered user', :js => true do
    sign_in_as(@user)
    click_link 'New post'

    expect(current_path).to eq('/posts/new')
    fill_in 'post_title', with: 'My new post'
    fill_in 'textarea1', with: 'Ipsum lorem.....'

    click_button 'Proceed to Payment'

    expect(page).to have_content('Billing')

    within 'form#new_charge' do
      fill_card_details
      click_button 'Proceed to Payment'
    end

    expect(page).to have_content('My new post - published')
  end

What is the best way to fix the error or write a test for this user journey?

Thomas Walpole Thomas Walpole · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-20T01:56:04

It sounds like Stripe credentials aren't configured in the test environment. You may also want to look into using the fake_stripe gem so your tests don't have to roundtrip to stripes servers.

Additionally expect(current_path).to eq('/posts/new') should be written as

expect(page).to have_current_path('/posts/new')

which will allow the waiting behavior to be used when checking for the new path and will reduce test flakiness.

Rails, stripe feature test error - param is missing or the value is empty: charge

1 Answers