Vitest Mocking

Test Double Types

Decision Guide

Use spy when: Verifying a function was called correctly while keeping real behavior

const fetchSpy = vi.spyOn(globalThis, "fetch");
await doSomething();
expect(fetchSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith("https://api.example.com");

Use mock when: Replacing external dependencies (network, database, third-party modules)

vi.mock("./api-client");
vi.mocked(apiClient.fetch).mockResolvedValue({ data: "test" });

Use stubGlobal when: Replacing browser/Node globals

vi.stubGlobal("fetch", vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(mockResponse));

Essential Patterns

Mock Module (hoisted)

import { someFunc } from "./module";
vi.mock("./module"); // hoisted to top

it("test", () => {
  vi.mocked(someFunc).mockReturnValue("mocked");
});

Mock with Implementation

vi.mock("./module", () => ({
  someFunc: vi.fn().mockReturnValue("mocked"),
}));

Spy with Fake Return

const spy = vi.spyOn(obj, "method").mockReturnValue("fake");

Mock Global Fetch

globalThis.fetch = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
  ok: true,
  json: async () => ({ data: "test" }),
} as Response);

Fake Timers

beforeAll(() => vi.useFakeTimers());
afterAll(() => vi.useRealTimers());

it("test", async () => {
  // advance time
  await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(5000);
});

Clean Up

beforeEach(() => vi.clearAllMocks()); // reset call counts
afterEach(() => vi.restoreAllMocks()); // restore originals

Reference

For complete examples including default imports, named imports, classes, partial mocks, snapshot testing, composables, and verification patterns, see references/cheat-sheet.md.