Ink Visual Testing

Visual regression testing for Ink CLI applications with perfect emoji support.

Features

Visual regression testing helps detect unexpected changes in your UI:

• ✅ Prevent Layout Issues - Automatically detect border, alignment, and spacing problems
• ✅ Validate Dynamic Rendering - Ensure UI displays correctly with different data
• ✅ Catch Style Changes - Detect unexpected color, font, and style modifications
• ✅ Multi-State Testing - Test loading, error, empty states, and more
• ✅ CI/CD Integration - Automatically catch visual bugs before merging

Installation

npm install ink-visual-testing --save-dev

Usage

1. Basic Usage

import { describe, it } from 'vitest';
import React from 'react';
import { Box, Text } from 'ink';
import { visualTest } from 'ink-visual-testing';

// Your Ink component
const Greeting = ({ name, message }) => (
  <Box borderStyle="round" borderColor="cyan" padding={1}>
    <Text>Hello, <Text bold color="green">{name}</Text>!</Text>
    <Text dimColor>{message}</Text>
  </Box>
);

describe('Greeting', () => {
  it('should render correctly', async () => {
    // Mock data for the component
    const mockData = {
      name: 'Alice',
      message: 'Welcome to Ink Visual Testing'
    };

    // One line to create a visual test
    await visualTest('greeting', <Greeting {...mockData} />);
  });
});

First run: Automatically generates baseline image at tests/__baselines__/greeting.png Subsequent runs: Compares current output with baseline, failing if differences detected

2. Configuration Options

await visualTest(
  'component-name',      // Snapshot name
  <MyComponent />,       // React component
  {
    cols: 80,                  // Terminal width (default: 80)
    rows: 24,                  // Terminal height (default: 24)
    maxDiffPixels: 100,        // Max allowed pixel difference (default: 100)
    threshold: 0.1,            // Pixel diff threshold 0-1 (default: 0.1)
    backgroundColor: '#000000' // Background color (default: black)
  }
);

3. Testing Different States

describe('Dashboard', () => {
  it('loading state', async () => {
    await visualTest('dashboard-loading', <Dashboard loading={true} />);
  });

  it('loaded state', async () => {
    const mockData = { users: 100, sales: 5000 };
    await visualTest('dashboard-loaded', <Dashboard data={mockData} />);
  });

  it('error state', async () => {
    await visualTest('dashboard-error', <Dashboard error="Network Error" />);
  });
});

4. Testing Responsive Layouts

it('different terminal sizes', async () => {
  const mockData = { /* ... */ };

  // Small terminal
  await visualTest('small', <MyApp data={mockData} />, {
    cols: 60,
    rows: 20
  });

  // Large terminal
  await visualTest('large', <MyApp data={mockData} />, {
    cols: 120,
    rows: 40
  });
});

5. Updating Baselines

When you have intentional UI changes, update baselines:

# Run tests
npm test

# Review the new generated images
open tests/__output__/*.png

# If correct, update baselines
cp tests/__output__/*.png tests/__baselines__/

# Commit the updates
git add tests/__baselines__/
git commit -m "Update visual baselines"

Or use an npm script:

{
  "scripts": {
    "test": "vitest",
    "baseline:update": "cp tests/__output__/*.png tests/__baselines__/"
  }
}

6. Understanding Test Failures

When visual tests fail, it means the UI output differs from the baseline. This catches both intentional and unintentional changes.

Example: Detecting Unintended Changes

Consider a SettingsDialog where someone accidentally modified settings values:

// Original fixture (created baseline)
const mockSettings = {
  general: { vimMode: true }
};

// Modified fixture (someone changed vimMode to false and added settings)
const mockSettings = {
  general: {
    vimMode: false,          // ← Changed!
    disableAutoUpdate: true,  // ← Added!
    debugKeystrokeLogging: true // ← Added!
  }
};

Test output:

❯ npm test

 FAIL  tests/SettingsDialog.visual.test.tsx
   × should render default settings dialog
     → PNG diff exceeded tolerance: 777 pixels differ (allowed 500).
        Diff saved to tests/__diff__/settings-dialog-default.png

 Test Files  1 failed (1)

What happens:

1. Baseline image: Shows original UI with vimMode: true
2. Current output: Shows modified UI with vimMode: false and extra settings
3. Diff image: Highlights the differences in yellow/orange:
   • "Disable Auto Update (Modified in System)" - highlighted
   • "Debug Keystroke Logging (Modified in System)" - highlighted

The test fails with a clear message: 777 pixels differ (allowed 500), pinpointing exactly how many pixels changed.

How to resolve:

1. If change was unintentional (bug):

   # Fix the code to match the baseline
   git diff src/components/SettingsDialog.tsx
   # Revert the changes

2. If change was intentional (feature):

   # Review the diff image
   open tests/__diff__/settings-dialog-default.png
   
   # If correct, update baseline
   cp tests/__output__/settings-dialog-default.png tests/__baselines__/
   
   # Commit the new baseline
   git add tests/__baselines__/
   git commit -m "Update baseline after adding new settings"

Key insight: The diff image makes it obvious what changed, helping you decide if it's a bug or an intentional improvement!

Real Failure Examples

Let's examine two concrete scenarios where visual tests catch problems:

Example 1: Content Difference - Text Changed

Someone modified the file count in a success message:

// Baseline fixture
<Text dimColor>
  Files processed: 10
</Text>

// Modified fixture (accidentally changed)
<Text dimColor>
  Files processed: 25 (DIFFERENT!)
</Text>

Test output:

❯ npm test

 FAIL  tests/VisualFailure.demo.test.tsx
   × should detect content difference (extra text)
     → PNG diff exceeded tolerance: 299 pixels differ (allowed 100).
        Diff saved to tests/__diff__/message-box-content.png

Visual comparison:

• Baseline: Shows "Files processed: 10"
• Output: Shows "Files processed: 25 (DIFFERENT!)"
• Diff: Highlights "25 (DIFFERENT!)" in red/yellow - clearly showing the text change

299 pixels changed because the characters "25 (DIFFERENT!)" replaced "10", affecting approximately that many pixels.

Example 2: Color Difference - Styling Changed

Someone changed the color of a status indicator from yellow to cyan:

// Baseline fixture
<Text bold color="yellow">
  Active
</Text>

// Modified fixture (color accidentally changed)
<Text bold color="cyan">
  Active
</Text>

Test output:

❯ npm test

 FAIL  tests/VisualFailure.demo.test.tsx
   × should detect color difference (cyan vs yellow)
     → PNG diff exceeded tolerance: 178 pixels differ (allowed 50).
        Diff saved to tests/__diff__/status-box-color.png

Visual comparison:

• Baseline: "Active" rendered in yellow color
• Output: "Active" rendered in cyan color
• Diff: Highlights the entire word "Active" in red - showing every pixel of the word changed color

178 pixels changed because each character pixel in "Active" has a different RGB value (yellow vs cyan).

Understanding Diff Colors

The diff image uses these colors:

• Gray background: Identical pixels (darkened for contrast)
• Yellow/Orange: Small differences (anti-aliasing, slight shifts)
• Red: Significant differences (different text, different colors)

More red/yellow = more pixels changed = larger visual difference

Best Practices

⚠️ Key Points

1. Use Fixed Mock Data

   // ✅ Good: Fixed data
   const mockData = {
     timestamp: '2024-01-15 10:30:00',
     count: 42
   };
   
   // ❌ Bad: Dynamic data (different every time)
   const mockData = {
     timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
     count: Math.random()
   };

2. Create Separate Tests for Each State

   // ✅ Good: Separate tests
   it('empty state', () => visualTest('empty', <List items={[]} />));
   it('with data', () => visualTest('with-data', <List items={mock} />));
   
   // ❌ Bad: Reusing names
   it('list', () => {
     visualTest('list', <List items={[]} />);
     visualTest('list', <List items={mock} />); // Name conflict!
   });

3. Set Appropriate Tolerance

   • Static content (logos, icons): maxDiffPixels: 0 (strict)
   • Simple layouts: maxDiffPixels: 100 (default)
   • Complex layouts: maxDiffPixels: 500 (lenient)

4. Ignore Generated Files

   # .gitignore
   tests/__output__/    # Test output
   tests/__diff__/      # Diff images
   tests/__temp__/      # Temporary files
   
   # Baseline images should be committed
   !tests/__baselines__/

🔧 CI/CD Configuration

# .github/workflows/test.yml
name: Visual Tests

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'

      - name: Install system dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-get update
          sudo apt-get install -y libnss3 libatk1.0-0 libgbm1 fonts-dejavu-core

      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

      - name: Upload diff images on failure
        if: failure()
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: visual-diffs
          path: tests/__diff__/*.png

📊 Project Structure

Recommended directory structure:

your-project/
├── src/
│   └── components/
│       └── MyComponent.tsx     # Your Ink component
├── tests/
│   ├── MyComponent.test.ts     # Test file (with mock data)
│   ├── __baselines__/          # Baseline images (commit to Git)
│   │   ├── my-component.png
│   │   └── my-component-loading.png
│   ├── __output__/             # Test output (Git ignore)
│   └── __diff__/               # Diff images (Git ignore)
└── package.json

Maintenance & Long-term Benefits

Initial Setup Effort

The effort required depends on component complexity:

Simple Components (No Context Dependencies)

Example: Basic message box without Context Providers

// tests/fixtures/simple-message.tsx
import React from 'react';
import { render, Box, Text } from 'ink';

render(
  <Box borderStyle="round" padding={1}>
    <Text>Success!</Text>
  </Box>
);

// tests/SimpleMessage.visual.test.tsx
import { visualTest } from 'ink-visual-testing';

it('renders simple message', async () => {
  await visualTest('simple-message', './tests/fixtures/simple-message.tsx', {
    cols: 80, rows: 20
  });
});

Effort: ~33 lines of code, 5-10 minutes

Complex Components (With Context Providers)

Example: Settings dialog with VimModeProvider and KeypressProvider

// tests/fixtures/settings-dialog-default.tsx
import { useEffect } from 'react';
import { render } from 'ink';
import { SettingsDialog } from '../../src/components/SettingsDialog.js';
import { VimModeProvider } from '../../src/contexts/VimModeContext.js';
import { KeypressProvider } from '../../src/contexts/KeypressContext.js';

const mockSettings = createMockSettings({
  general: { vimMode: true }
});

const SettingsDialogWrapper = () => {
  useEffect(() => {
    const timer = setTimeout(() => process.exit(0), 1000);
    return () => clearTimeout(timer);
  }, []);

  return <SettingsDialog settings={mockSettings} onSelect={() => {}} />;
};

const { unmount } = render(
  <VimModeProvider settings={mockSettings}>
    <KeypressProvider kittyProtocolEnabled={false}>
      <SettingsDialogWrapper />
    </KeypressProvider>
  </VimModeProvider>
);

process.on('SIGINT', () => {
  unmount();
  process.exit(0);
});

Effort for 7 test scenarios: ~483 lines of code, 1-2 hours

But this is a one-time investment with continuous benefits!

Maintenance Cost When Components Change

Key insight: Most changes (80%) only require updating baseline images - just 1-2 minutes to review and approve visual changes!

Real-world Example: One Year of Maintenance

Let's track a SettingsDialog component over one year:

Total:

• Initial investment: 1-2 hours
• Annual maintenance: ~59 minutes
• Average per month: ~5 minutes

Compare with manual testing:

• 8 changes × 7 test scenarios × 15 minutes each = 14 hours of manual testing

Visual testing saves ~13 hours per year!

Why "One-time Setup, Continuous Benefits"?

1. Test Files Never Change

The test logic remains stable:

await visualTest('component-name', './fixtures/component.tsx', options);

You only add new tests when adding new scenarios.

2. Fixtures Rarely Change

Most UI changes don't require fixture modifications:

• ✅ Adding new UI elements: No fixture changes needed
• ✅ Changing colors/styles: No fixture changes needed
• ✅ Modifying layout: No fixture changes needed
• ⚠️ Changing component API: Quick batch find-replace
• ⚠️ Adding Context Providers: One-time update to all fixtures

3. Baseline Updates Are Fast

# Run tests to see what changed
npm test

# If changes look correct, update baselines
cp tests/__output__/*.png tests/__baselines__/

# Commit the updates
git add tests/__baselines__/
git commit -m "Update baselines after adding dark mode"

This takes 1-2 minutes vs. 15+ minutes of manual testing!

4. Automated Regression Detection

Once set up, every PR automatically checks for visual regressions:

• Catches unintended UI changes
• Prevents layout bugs
• Ensures consistent rendering across environments
• No manual testing needed

Tips for Minimizing Maintenance

1. Reuse Mock Data

// tests/mocks/settings.ts
export const defaultSettings = createMockSettings({ ... });
export const vimEnabledSettings = createMockSettings({ general: { vimMode: true } });

// In fixtures, just import and use
import { defaultSettings } from '../mocks/settings';

2. Use a Fixture Template Create a base fixture and copy/modify for new scenarios:

// tests/fixtures/_template.tsx
import { useEffect } from 'react';
import { render } from 'ink';
import { MyComponent } from '../../src/MyComponent';
import { AllNecessaryProviders } from './providers';

const FixtureWrapper = () => {
  useEffect(() => {
    const timer = setTimeout(() => process.exit(0), 1000);
    return () => clearTimeout(timer);
  }, []);

  return <MyComponent {...mockProps} />;
};

render(
  <AllNecessaryProviders>
    <FixtureWrapper />
  </AllNecessaryProviders>
);

3. Automate Baseline Updates

{
  "scripts": {
    "test:visual": "vitest --run tests/*.visual.test.tsx",
    "baseline:update": "cp tests/__output__/*.png tests/__baselines__/",
    "baseline:review": "open tests/__output__/*.png"
  }
}

Advanced Usage

Lower-Level API

If you need more control, use the lower-level API:

import { fixedPtyRender, getCIOptimizedConfig } from 'ink-visual-testing';
import path from 'node:path';

// Render CLI app to PNG
await fixedPtyRender(
  path.resolve('examples/my-cli.tsx'),
  'output.png',
  {
    ...getCIOptimizedConfig(),
    cols: 120,
    rows: 60
  }
);

Font Configuration

Uses system fonts by default (recommended). To use bundled emoji fonts:

import { getCIOptimizedConfig } from 'ink-visual-testing';

getCIOptimizedConfig('mono')   // NotoEmoji-Regular.ttf (monochrome)
getCIOptimizedConfig('color')  // NotoColorEmoji.ttf (color)
getCIOptimizedConfig()         // System fonts (default)

Examples

See examples/ directory for complete examples:

• examples/dashboard.tsx - Complex dashboard layout with emoji and various layouts
• examples/dashboard-cli.tsx - CLI entry point
• examples/dashboard-snapshot.tsx - Snapshot generation script

Run examples:

# View live rendering
npx tsx examples/dashboard-cli.tsx

# Generate snapshot
npx tsx examples/dashboard-snapshot.tsx

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please check GitHub Issues.