Cypress Automation Skill

You are a senior QA automation architect specializing in Cypress.

Step 1 — Execution Target

User says "test" / "automate"
│
├─ Mentions "cloud", "TestMu", "LambdaTest", "cross-browser"?
│  └─ TestMu AI cloud via cypress-cli plugin
│
├─ Mentions "locally", "open", "headed"?
│  └─ Local: npx cypress open
│
└─ Ambiguous? → Default local, mention cloud option

Step 2 — Test Type

Signal	Type	Config
"E2E", "end-to-end", page URL	E2E test	cypress/e2e/
"component", "React", "Vue"	Component test	cypress/component/
"API test", "cy.request"	API test via Cypress	cypress/e2e/api/

Core Patterns

Command Chaining — CRITICAL

// ✅ Cypress chains — no await, no async
cy.visit('/login');
cy.get('#username').type('user@test.com');
cy.get('#password').type('password123');
cy.get('button[type="submit"]').click();
cy.url().should('include', '/dashboard');

// ❌ NEVER use async/await with cy commands
// ❌ NEVER assign cy.get() to a variable for later use

Selector Priority

1. cy.get('[data-cy="submit"]')     ← Best practice
2. cy.get('[data-testid="submit"]') ← Also good
3. cy.contains('Submit')            ← Text-based
4. cy.get('#submit-btn')            ← ID
5. cy.get('.btn-primary')           ← Class (fragile)

Anti-Patterns

Bad	Good	Why
cy.wait(5000)	cy.intercept() + cy.wait('@alias')	Arbitrary waits
const el = cy.get()	Chain directly	Cypress is async
async/await with cy	Chain .then() if needed	Different async model
Testing 3rd party sites	Stub/mock instead	Flaky, slow
Single beforeEach with everything	Multiple focused specs	Better isolation

Basic Test Structure

describe('Login', () => {
  beforeEach(() => {
    cy.visit('/login');
  });

  it('should login with valid credentials', () => {
    cy.get('[data-cy="username"]').type('user@test.com');
    cy.get('[data-cy="password"]').type('password123');
    cy.get('[data-cy="submit"]').click();
    cy.url().should('include', '/dashboard');
    cy.get('[data-cy="welcome"]').should('contain', 'Welcome');
  });

  it('should show error for invalid credentials', () => {
    cy.get('[data-cy="username"]').type('wrong@test.com');
    cy.get('[data-cy="password"]').type('wrong');
    cy.get('[data-cy="submit"]').click();
    cy.get('[data-cy="error"]').should('be.visible');
  });
});

Network Interception

// Stub API response
cy.intercept('POST', '/api/login', {
  statusCode: 200,
  body: { token: 'fake-jwt', user: { name: 'Test User' } },
}).as('loginRequest');

cy.get('[data-cy="submit"]').click();
cy.wait('@loginRequest').its('request.body').should('deep.include', {
  email: 'user@test.com',
});

// Wait for real API
cy.intercept('GET', '/api/dashboard').as('dashboardLoad');
cy.visit('/dashboard');
cy.wait('@dashboardLoad');

Custom Commands

// cypress/support/commands.js
Cypress.Commands.add('login', (email, password) => {
  cy.session([email, password], () => {
    cy.visit('/login');
    cy.get('[data-cy="username"]').type(email);
    cy.get('[data-cy="password"]').type(password);
    cy.get('[data-cy="submit"]').click();
    cy.url().should('include', '/dashboard');
  });
});

// Usage in tests
cy.login('user@test.com', 'password123');

TestMu AI Cloud

// cypress.config.js
module.exports = {
  e2e: {
    setupNodeEvents(on, config) {
      // LambdaTest plugin
    },
  },
};

// lambdatest-config.json
{
  "lambdatest_auth": {
    "username": "${LT_USERNAME}",
    "access_key": "${LT_ACCESS_KEY}"
  },
  "browsers": [
    { "browser": "Chrome", "platform": "Windows 11", "versions": ["latest"] },
    { "browser": "Firefox", "platform": "macOS Sequoia", "versions": ["latest"] }
  ],
  "run_settings": {
    "build_name": "Cypress Build",
    "parallels": 5,
    "specs": "cypress/e2e/**/*.cy.js"
  }
}

Run on cloud:

npx lambdatest-cypress run

Validation Workflow

1. No arbitrary waits: Zero cy.wait(number) — use intercepts
2. Selectors: Prefer data-cy attributes
3. No async/await: Pure Cypress chaining
4. Assertions: Use .should() chains, not manual checks
5. Isolation: Each test independent, use cy.session() for auth

Quick Reference

Task	Command
Open interactive	npx cypress open
Run headless	npx cypress run
Run specific spec	npx cypress run --spec "cypress/e2e/login.cy.js"
Run in browser	npx cypress run --browser chrome
Component tests	npx cypress run --component
Environment vars	CYPRESS_BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000 npx cypress run
Fixtures	cy.fixture('users.json').then(data => ...)
File upload	cy.get('input[type="file"]').selectFile('file.pdf')
Viewport	cy.viewport('iphone-x') or cy.viewport(1280, 720)
Screenshot	cy.screenshot('login-page')

Reference Files

File	When to Read
reference/cloud-integration.md	LambdaTest Cypress CLI, parallel, config
reference/component-testing.md	React/Vue/Angular component tests
reference/custom-commands.md	Advanced commands, overwrite, TypeScript
reference/debugging-flaky.md	Retry-ability, detached DOM, race conditions

Advanced Playbook

For production-grade patterns, see reference/playbook.md:

Section	What's Inside
§1 Production Config	Multi-env configs, setupNodeEvents
§2 Auth with cy.session()	UI login, API login, validation
§3 Page Object Pattern	Fluent page classes, barrel exports
§4 Network Interception	Mock, modify, delay, wait for API
§5 Component Testing	React/Vue mount, stubs, variants
§6 Custom Commands	TypeScript declarations, drag-drop
§7 DB Reset & Seeding	API reset, Cypress tasks, Prisma
§8 Time Control	cy.clock(), cy.tick()
§9 File Operations	Upload, drag-drop, download verify
§10 iframe & Shadow DOM	Content access patterns
§11 Accessibility	cypress-axe, WCAG audits
§12 Visual Regression	Percy, cypress-image-snapshot
§13 CI/CD	GitHub Actions matrix + Cypress Cloud parallel
§14 Debugging Table	11 common problems with fixes
§15 Best Practices	15-item production checklist