clerk-testing

★ 54

by clerk · part of clerk/skills

E2E testing for Clerk apps. Use with Playwright or Cypress for auth flow

🔥🔥🔥✓ VerifiedFreeQuick setup

🧩 One of 7 skills in the clerk/skills package — works on its own, and pairs well with its siblings.

This is the playbook your agent receives when the skill activates — you don't need to read it to use the skill, but it's here to audit before installing.

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 development-instance keys only (pk_test_* / sk_test_*). If the project has no keys yet, npx clerk@latest init (the Clerk CLI; see clerk-setup) creates a Clerk application and writes development-instance keys to the env file. No Clerk account or Dashboard visit is needed.

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`

Framework-Specific

Playwright: Use globalSetup for auth state Cypress: Add addClerkCommands({ Cypress, cy }) to support file