How to change mock implementation on a per single test basis [Jestjs]

Question

I'd like to change the implementation of a mocked dependency on a per single test basis by extending the default mock's behaviour and reverting it back to the original implementation when the next test executes.

More briefly this is what I'm trying to achieve:

1. mock dependency
2. change/extend mock implementation in a single test
3. revert back to original mock when next test executes

I'm currently using Jest v21.

Here is what a typical Jest test would look like:

__mocks__/myModule.js

const myMockedModule = jest.genMockFromModule('../myModule');

myMockedModule.a = jest.fn(() => true);
myMockedModule.b = jest.fn(() => true);

export default myMockedModule;

__tests__/myTest.js

import myMockedModule from '../myModule';

// Mock myModule
jest.mock('../myModule');

beforeEach(() => {
  jest.clearAllMocks();
});

describe('MyTest', () => {
  it('should test with default mock', () => {
    myMockedModule.a(); // === true
    myMockedModule.b(); // === true
  });

  it('should override myMockedModule.b mock result (and leave the other methods untouched)', () => {
    // Extend change mock
    myMockedModule.a(); // === true
    myMockedModule.b(); // === 'overridden'
    // Restore mock to original implementation with no side effects
  });

  it('should revert back to default myMockedModule mock', () => {
    myMockedModule.a(); // === true
    myMockedModule.b(); // === true
  });
});

Here is what I've tried so far:

---

1 - mockFn.mockImplementationOnce(fn)

pros

• Reverts back to original implementation after first call

cons

• It breaks if the test calls b multiple times
• It doesn't revert to original implementation until b is not called (leaking out in the next test)

code:

it('should override myModule.b mock result (and leave the other methods untouched)', () => {

  myMockedModule.b.mockImplementationOnce(() => 'overridden');

  myModule.a(); // === true
  myModule.b(); // === 'overridden'
});

---

2 - jest.doMock(moduleName, factory, options)

pros

• Explicitly re-mocks on every test

cons

• Cannot define default mock implementation for all tests
• Cannot extend default implementation forcing to re-declare each mocked method

code:

it('should override myModule.b mock result (and leave the other methods untouched)', () => {

  jest.doMock('../myModule', () => {
    return {
      a: jest.fn(() => true,
      b: jest.fn(() => 'overridden',
    }
  });

  myModule.a(); // === true
  myModule.b(); // === 'overridden'
});

---

3 - Manual mocking with setter methods (as explained here)

pros

• Full control over mocked results

cons

• Lot of boilerplate code
• Hard to maintain on long term

code:

__mocks__/myModule.js

const myMockedModule = jest.genMockFromModule('../myModule');

let a = true;
let b = true;

myMockedModule.a = jest.fn(() => a);
myMockedModule.b = jest.fn(() => b);

myMockedModule.__setA = (value) => { a = value };
myMockedModule.__setB = (value) => { b = value };
myMockedModule.__reset = () => {
  a = true;
  b = true;
};
export default myMockedModule;

__tests__/myTest.js

it('should override myModule.b mock result (and leave the other methods untouched)', () => {
  myModule.__setB('overridden');

  myModule.a(); // === true
  myModule.b(); // === 'overridden'

  myModule.__reset();
});

---

4 - jest.spyOn(object, methodName)

cons

• I can't revert back mockImplementation to the original mocked return value, therefore affecting the next tests

code:

beforeEach(() => {
  jest.clearAllMocks();
  jest.restoreAllMocks();
});

// Mock myModule
jest.mock('../myModule');

it('should override myModule.b mock result (and leave the other methods untouched)', () => {

  const spy = jest.spyOn(myMockedModule, 'b').mockImplementation(() => 'overridden');

  myMockedModule.a(); // === true
  myMockedModule.b(); // === 'overridden'

  // How to get back to original mocked value?
});

Answer 1

A nice pattern for writing test is to create a setup factory function that returns the data you need for testing the current module.

Below is some sample code following your second example although allows the provision of default and override values in a reusable way.

const spyReturns = returnValue => jest.fn(() => returnValue);

describe("scenario", () => {
  const setup = (mockOverrides) => {
    const mockedFunctions =  {
      a: spyReturns(true),
      b: spyReturns(true),
      ...mockOverrides
    }
    return {
      mockedModule: jest.doMock('../myModule', () => mockedFunctions)
    }
  }

  it("should return true for module a", () => {
    const { mockedModule } = setup();
    expect(mockedModule.a()).toEqual(true)
  });

  it("should return override for module a", () => {
    const EXPECTED_VALUE = "override"
    const { mockedModule } = setup({ a: spyReturns(EXPECTED_VALUE)});
    expect(mockedModule.a()).toEqual(EXPECTED_VALUE)
  });
});

Answer 2

Use mockFn.mockImplementation(fn).

import { funcToMock } from './somewhere';
// import { (funcToMock as jest.Mock) } from './somewhere'; // If using TypeScript
jest.mock('./somewhere');

beforeEach(() => {
  funcToMock.mockImplementation(() => { /* default implementation */ });
});

test('case that needs a different implementation of funcToMock', () => {
  funcToMock.mockImplementation(() => { /* implementation specific to this test */ });
  // ...
});

Answer 3

Little late to the party, but if someone else is having issues with this.

We use TypeScript, ES6 and babel for react-native development.

We usually mock external NPM modules in the root __mocks__ directory.

I wanted to override a specific function of a module in the Auth class of aws-amplify for a specific test.

    import { Auth } from 'aws-amplify';
    import GetJwtToken from './GetJwtToken';
    ...
    it('When idToken should return "123"', async () => {
      const spy = jest.spyOn(Auth, 'currentSession').mockImplementation(() => ({
        getIdToken: () => ({
          getJwtToken: () => '123',
        }),
      }));

      const result = await GetJwtToken();
      expect(result).toBe('123');
      spy.mockRestore();
    });

Gist: https://gist.github.com/thomashagstrom/e5bffe6c3e3acec592201b6892226af2

Tutorial: https://medium.com/p/b4ac52a005d#19c5

Answer 4

When mocking a single method (when it's required to leave the rest of a class/module implementation intact) I discovered the following approach to be helpful to reset any implementation tweaks from individual tests.

I found this approach to be the concisest one, with no need to jest.mock something at the beginning of the file etc. You need just the code you see below to mock MyClass.methodName. Another advantage is that by default spyOn keeps the original method implementation but also saves all the stats (# of calls, arguments, results etc.) to test against, and keeping the default implementation is a must in some cases. So you have the flexibility to keep the default implementation or to change it with a simple addition of .mockImplementation as mentioned in the code below.

The code is in Typescript with comments highlighting the difference for JS (the difference is in one line, to be precise). Tested with Jest 26.6.

describe('test set', () => {
    let mockedFn: jest.SpyInstance<void>; // void is the return value of the mocked function, change as necessary
    // For plain JS use just: let mockedFn;

    beforeEach(() => {
        mockedFn = jest.spyOn(MyClass.prototype, 'methodName');
        // Use the following instead if you need not to just spy but also to replace the default method implementation:
        // mockedFn = jest.spyOn(MyClass.prototype, 'methodName').mockImplementation(() => {/*custom implementation*/});
    });

    afterEach(() => {
        // Reset to the original method implementation (non-mocked) and clear all the mock data
        mockedFn.mockRestore();
    });

    it('does first thing', () => {
        /* Test with the default mock implementation */
    });

    it('does second thing', () => {
        mockedFn.mockImplementation(() => {/*custom implementation just for this test*/});
        /* Test utilising this custom mock implementation. It is reset after the test. */
    });

    it('does third thing', () => {
        /* Another test with the default mock implementation */
    });
});