clerk-testing

by clerk

E2E testing utilities for Clerk authentication flows in Playwright and Cypress. Supports both Playwright and Cypress frameworks with framework-specific setup patterns (globalSetup for Playwright, custom commands for Cypress) Provides clerkSetup() and setupClerkTestingToken() utilities to initialize test environments and bypass bot detection Includes storageState persistence to reuse authenticated sessions across tests, reducing test execution time Requires test API keys ( pk_test_* ,...

npx skills add https://github.com/clerk/skills --skill clerk-testing

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Testing

Decision Tree

Framework	Documentation
Overview	https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/testing/overview
Playwright	https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/testing/playwright/overview
Cypress	https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/testing/cypress/overview

Mental Model

Test auth = isolated session state. Each test needs fresh auth context.

clerkSetup() initializes test environment
setupClerkTestingToken() bypasses bot detection
storageState persists auth between tests for speed

Workflow

Identify test framework (Playwright or Cypress)
WebFetch the appropriate URL from decision tree above
Follow official setup instructions
Use pk_test_* and sk_test_* keys only

Best Practices

Use setupClerkTestingToken() before navigating to auth pages
Use test API keys: pk_test_xxx, sk_test_xxx
Save auth state with storageState for faster tests
Use page.waitForSelector('[data-clerk-component]') for Clerk UI

Anti-Patterns

Pattern	Problem	Fix
Production keys in tests	Security risk	Use `pk_test_*` keys
No `setupClerkTestingToken()`	Auth fails	Call before navigation
UI-based sign-in every test	Slow tests	Use `storageState`