Node.js assert.throws with async functions (Promises)
Since the question is still getting attention, I'd like to sum up the two best solutions, especially to highlight the new standard method.
Node v10+
There's a dedicated method in the assert library, assert.rejects
.
For older versions of Node
A fill from vitalets answer:
import assert from 'assert';
async function assertThrowsAsync(fn, regExp) {
let f = () => {};
try {
await fn();
} catch(e) {
f = () => {throw e};
} finally {
assert.throws(f, regExp);
}
}
The answers given work, but I came across this issue today and came up with another solution, that I think is a little simpler.
// Code being tested
async function thisFunctionThrows() {
throw new Error('Bad response')
}
// In your test.
try {
await thisFunctionThrows()
assert.equal(1 == 0) // Never gets run. But if it does you know it didn't throw.
} catch (e) {
assert(e.message.includes('Bad response'))
}
Based on Bergi answer I've suggest more universal solution that utilizes original assert.throws for error messages:
import assert from 'assert';
async function assertThrowsAsync(fn, regExp) {
let f = () => {};
try {
await fn();
} catch(e) {
f = () => {throw e};
} finally {
assert.throws(f, regExp);
}
}
Usage:
it('should throw', async function () {
await assertThrowsAsync(async () => await asyncTask(), /Error/);
});
node 10 and newer
Since Node.js v10.0, there is assert.rejects
which does just that.
Older versions of node
async
functions never throw - they return promises that might be rejected.
You cannot use assert.throws
with them. You need to write your own asynchronous assertion:
async function assertThrowsAsynchronously(test, error) {
try {
await test();
} catch(e) {
if (!error || e instanceof error)
return "everything is fine";
}
throw new AssertionError("Missing rejection" + (error ? " with "+error.name : ""));
}
and use it like
return assertThrowsAsynchronously(aPromise);
in an asynchronous test case.