In what scenarios is Shortest's lifecycle hook particularly useful?

2025-09-10

1.7 K

Lifecycle hooks are passed through thebefore/afteretc. extension points to fulfill the following typical needs:

Test Environment Preparation::
- Start the simulation service before all tests:
```
beforeAll(() => startMockAuthServer());
```
- Individual pre-test implantation test data:
```
before(async () => {
  await db.insert(products).values(testInventory);
});
```

Sensitive operations encapsulation::

Automatically cleans up generated data after testing:

after(async ({ page }) => {
  const orderId = await extractOrderId(page);
  await db.delete(orders).where(eq(orders.id, orderId));
});

Cross-test reuse logic::

Encapsulate generic login operations:

const loginHook = (creds) => before(() => 
  shortest('Login', creds)
);

Best Practice Recommendations:

Avoid including business assertions in hooks (they should be placed in the main test body)
For CI environments, it is recommended that theafterAllAdd resource recovery logic to
utilizationtry-catchWrap hook code to ensure that failure does not affect subsequent tests