Rework the Unit testing page for Strapi 5

[pwizla]

This PR merges content from 2 blog posts published on Unit testing and tries to update them for Strapi 5

TODO:

• integrate blog posts content
• refine content
• fix why example tests are failing
• rework content with the fixed test examples

Direct preview link 👉 here

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Project	Deployment	Preview	Comments	Updated (UTC)
documentation	Ready	Preview	Comment	Oct 20, 2025 2:33pm

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[ancashoria]

Hey, it's great you're updating the testing page.
I'm trying to setup a Strapi testing environment using sqlite and I'd like to mention one thing I have stumbled upon because it seems it's still present in the updated article.

This section: https://documentation-git-cms-testing-reworked-strapijs.vercel.app/cms/testing#set-up-a-testing-environment

When I have two different files for the database config, only one of them ends up in dist/config/database.js and since my test setup uses the dist folder, my test setup breaks if I run yarn dev setup.

const app = await createStrapi({
      appDir: "./",
      distDir: "./dist",
    }).load();

Basically if I run yarn test after yarn dev, my testing fails.

Hopefuly this helps somehow.

[ancashoria]

Is there a way to bootstrap the sqlite db based on a template? My API tests expect some data already configured.

[pwizla]

Hi @ancashoria, thanks for your interest and kind words regarding this PR :)

To be honest, I only have basic experience with testing, but as a technical writer for Strapi, I’m doing my best, with the help of AI-based tools, to update this page. I’m afraid your feedback points to issues that are a bit beyond my current skill set, but I’ll try to get help from Strapi engineers to improve the PR (it still needs their review, anyway 👀).

I’ll keep you posted!

[pwizla]

@ancashoria I haven't had any replies from the Strapi devs yet, but did my best to update things (both the present PR and the accompanying https://github.com/pwizla/strapi-unit-testing-examples repo with the help of AIs.

Here's what I did:

1. distDir conflict issue:
   Added a detailed warning section explaining the problem when using distDir after running yarn dev
   Updated the test harness to avoid distDir conflicts by using createStrapi().load() without overrides

2. SQLite bootstrap/template:
   Added a complete "Seed predictable test data" section with step-by-step guide
   Implemented TEST_SEED=true environment variable support in the test harness
   The seeding function automatically adapts for test environment (skips complex operations that aren't needed for basic tests)

Usage: Run TEST_SEED=true yarn test or TEST_SEED=true npm run test(I've tested it locally and now all tests pass)

Both solutions are now documented and working in the updated testing guide. The test suite runs cleanly without the previous SQLite "aborted" errors.

I hope this helps!