You're writing an awesome custom hook and you want to test it, but as soon as you call it you see the following error:
Invariant Violation: Hooks can only be called inside the body of a function component.
You don't really want to write a component solely for testing this hook and have to work out how you were going to trigger all the various ways the hook can be updated, especially given the complexities of how you've wired the whole thing together.
The react-hooks-testing-library is built on top of the wonderful react-testing-library to create a simple test harness for React hooks that handles running them within the body of a function component, as well as providing various useful utility functions for updating the inputs and retrieving the outputs of your amazing custom hook.
Using this library, you do not have to concern yourself with how to construct, render or interact with the react component in order to test your hook. You can just use the hook directly and assert the results.
- You're writing a library with one or more custom hooks that are not directly tied a component
 - You have a complex hook that is difficult to test through component interactions
 
- Your hook is defined along side a component and is only used there
 - Your hook is easy to test by just testing the components using it
 
// useCounter.js import { useState } from 'react' function useCounter(initialCount = 0) { const [count, setCount] = useState(initialCount) const incrementBy = useCallback((n) => setCount(count + n), [count]) const decrementBy = useCallback((n) => setCount(count - n), [count]) return { count, incrementBy, decrementBy } } export default useCounter// useCounter.test.js import { renderHook, cleanup, act } from 'react-hooks-testing-library' import useCounter from './useCounter' afterEach(cleanup) test('should create counter', () => { const { result } = renderHook(() => useCounter()) expect(result.current.count).toBe(0) }) test('should increment counter', () => { const { result } = renderHook(() => useCounter()) act(() => result.current.incrementBy(1)) expect(result.current.count).toBe(1) act(() => result.current.incrementBy(2)) expect(result.current.count).toBe(3) }) test('should decrement counter', () => { const { result } = renderHook(() => useCounter()) act(() => result.current.decrementBy(1)) expect(result.current.count).toBe(-1) act(() => result.current.decrementBy(2)) expect(result.current.count).toBe(-3) })npm install --save-dev react-hooks-testing-libraryRenders a test component that will call the provided callback, including any hooks it calls, every time it renders.
Note:
testHookhas been renamed torenderHook.testHookwill continue work in the current version with a deprecation warning, but will be removed in a future version.You should update any usages of
testHookto userenderHookinstead.
callback(function()) - function to call each render. This function should call one or more hooks for testing.options(object) - accepts the same options asreact-testing-library'srenderfunction, as well as:initialProps(object) - the initial values to pass to thecallbackfunction
result(object)current(any) - the return value of thecallbackfunctionerror(Error) - the error that was thrown if thecallbackfunction threw an error during rendering
waitForNextUpdate(function) - returns aPromisethat resolves the next time the hook renders, commonly when state is updated as the result of a asynchronous action.rerender(function([newProps])) - function to rerender the test component including any hooks called in thecallbackfunction. IfnewPropsare passed, the will replace theinitialPropspassed the thecallbackfunction for future renders.unmount(function()) - function to unmount the test component, commonly used to trigger cleanup effects foruseEffecthooks.
Unmounts any React trees that were mounted with renderHook.
This is the same cleanup function that is exported by react-testing-library.
Optionally, it is possible to import cleanup in a global test file. Using that way, it isn't necessary to run afterEach(cleanup) on every test script.
// in package.json "jest": { // ... // use this if Jest version < 24 "setupTestFrameworkScriptFile": "<rootDir>/src/setupTests.js", // or if Jest version >= 24 "setupFilesAfterEnv": ["<rootDir>/src/setupTests.js"], } // src/setupTests.js import 'react-hooks-testing-library/cleanup-after-each';This is the same act function that is exported by react-testing-library.
Thanks goes to these wonderful people (emoji key):
Michael Peyper π» π¨ π π€ π π¦  | otofu-square π»  | Patrick P. Henley π€ π  | Matheus Marques π»  | Dhruv Patel π π  | 
This project follows the all-contributors specification. Contributions of any kind welcome!
Looking to contribute? Look for the Good First Issue label.
Please file an issue for bugs, missing documentation, or unexpected behavior.
Please file an issue to suggest new features. Vote on feature requests by adding a π. This helps maintainers prioritize what to work on.
For questions related to using the library, you can raise issue here, or visit a support community:
MIT