Vitest Browser Mode Guide

howToTestFE · 2025-12-25T00:02:29.000Z

Discussion: Vitest Browser Mode Guide

Posted9 days agoActive3d ago

howToTestFE

54 points

7 comments

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Discussion (7 comments)

Showing 8 comments

throw2312321

4d ago

1 reply

Using this, can I test canvas?

I have a React component that renders to a canvas (see "DeckGL"). The component renders data that it gets from the backend. So I'd need to mock API requests, then screenshot contents of the canvas.

ruined

3d ago

yes, i've used vitest browser mode to test canvas operations. if you're using snapshots it may have trouble matching your local snapshots in CI.

if you're performing GL operations you'll need to pass options to your browser driver to enable GL.

c_s_guy

4d ago

1 reply

> Fast execution... despite running in a real browser, which at first might seem like it would be slow - it is actually really fast.

What makes it fast?

8n4vidtmkvmk

3d ago

I'd also like a definition for "fast". Because my unit tests run in 100ms. Is it that fast? Or "fast" for a browser test

knallfrosch

3d ago

1 reply

Has anyone debugged Vitest Browser tests? Seems broken.

syspec

3d ago

Yes! Completely agree! So hard to debug. Nearly impossible to set breakpoints (they disappear in refresh).

syspec

4d ago

I used to do this with Karma test runner. The best part was how it didn't try to capture everything, so debugging with breakpoints was really easy.

I like Vitest browser mode, but it's a pain to just "detach" for a specific frame and run that test in isolation, with my actual breakpoints.

gwynforthewyn

4d ago

More options in the ecosystem seems better, but I was surprised to see this in the linked vitest docs:

> However, to run tests in CI you need to install either playwright or webdriverio. We also recommend switching to either one of them for testing locally instead of using the default preview provider since it relies on simulating events instead of using Chrome DevTools Protocol.

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ID: 46380697Type: storyLast synced: 12/30/2025, 10:50:29 AM

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