cy.go() for browser history in Cypress - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What is the result of cy.go(-1) after navigation?

Consider the following Cypress test steps:

cy.visit('/page1')
cy.visit('/page2')
cy.go(-1)

What page will Cypress be on after cy.go(-1) executes?

Cypress

cy.visit('/page1')
cy.visit('/page2')
cy.go(-1)

A The browser will stay on '/page2' because cy.go(-1) does nothing if history is empty.

B The browser will be on '/page1' because cy.go(-1) goes back one page in history.

C The browser will be on '/page3' because cy.go(-1) goes forward one page in history.

D The browser will be on '/page2' because cy.go(-1) reloads the current page.

💡 Hint

Think about how browser history works when you visit pages and then go back.

After visiting '/page1' and then '/page2', the browser history has two entries. cy.go(-1) moves back one entry, so the browser goes back to '/page1'.

❓ assertion

intermediate

Which assertion correctly verifies cy.go(1) navigated forward?

You have navigated back one page using cy.go(-1). Now you want to go forward one page using cy.go(1) and verify the URL is '/page2'. Which assertion is correct?

A cy.url().should('eq', '/page2')

B cy.url().should('contain', '/page2')

C cy.url().should('include', '/page2')

D cy.url().should('equal', '/page2')

💡 Hint

Check the Cypress documentation for the correct assertion method to check URL substring.

cy.url() returns the full URL string. Using should('include', '/page2') checks that the URL contains '/page2' anywhere, which is the correct way to verify partial URL matches.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does cy.go(-2) cause an error in this test?

Given the test steps:

cy.visit('/home')
cy.visit('/about')
cy.go(-2)

Running cy.go(-2) causes the test to fail with a navigation error. Why?

A Because there is only one page in history before '/about', so going back two pages is invalid.

B Because cy.go() only accepts -1 or 1 as valid arguments.

C Because cy.visit() clears the browser history each time it runs.

D Because cy.go(-2) requires a preceding cy.reload() to work.

💡 Hint

Think about how many pages are in the browser history after two visits.

After visiting '/home' and then '/about', the history stack has two entries. Going back two pages means going before the first page, which is invalid and causes an error.

🧠 Conceptual

advanced

What does cy.go() without arguments do?

In Cypress, what is the behavior of cy.go() when called without any arguments?

A It reloads the current page, similar to cy.reload().

B It navigates forward one page in the browser history.

C It navigates back one page in the browser history.

D It throws an error because an argument is required.

💡 Hint

Check the Cypress documentation for the default behavior of cy.go().

Calling cy.go() without arguments reloads the current page, acting like cy.reload().

❓ framework

expert

How to test browser history navigation with cy.go() in a single test?

You want to write a Cypress test that visits three pages in order: '/page1', '/page2', '/page3'. Then you want to go back twice and verify the URL is '/page1'. Which code snippet correctly implements this?

A

cy.visit('/page1')
cy.visit('/page2')
cy.visit('/page3')
cy.go(-2)
cy.url().should('include', '/page1')

B

cy.visit('/page1')
cy.visit('/page2')
cy.visit('/page3')
cy.go(-2)
cy.url().should('eq', '/page1')

C

cy.visit('/page1')
cy.visit('/page2')
cy.visit('/page3')
cy.go(-1)
cy.go(-1)
cy.url().should('eq', '/page1')

D

cy.visit('/page1')
cy.visit('/page2')
cy.visit('/page3')
cy.go(-2)
cy.url().should('contain', '/page1')

💡 Hint

Remember that cy.url() returns the full URL, so exact equality may fail if the base URL is included.

Option D correctly goes back two pages and asserts the URL contains '/page1'. Using should('contain', '/page1') is safer than should('eq', '/page1') because the full URL includes the base domain.