Environment variables for configuration in Cypress - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

Understanding Cypress environment variable usage

What will be the output of the following Cypress test code snippet when run with the environment variable USERNAME set to 'tester'?

Cypress

describe('Env Var Test', () => {
  it('prints username', () => {
    const user = Cypress.env('USERNAME')
    cy.log(`User is: ${user}`)
  })
})

A User is: tester

B User is: undefined

C User is: Cypress.env('USERNAME')

D Test fails with an error

💡 Hint

Remember Cypress.env() reads environment variables set before running tests.

Cypress.env('USERNAME') fetches the environment variable USERNAME. If set to 'tester', cy.log prints 'User is: tester'.

❓ assertion

intermediate

Correct assertion for environment variable in Cypress

Which assertion correctly verifies that the environment variable API_KEY equals '12345' in a Cypress test?

Cypress

const apiKey = Cypress.env('API_KEY')

A expect(apiKey).to.be.true

B assert(apiKey === '12345')

C expect(apiKey).to.equal('12345')

D assert.equal(apiKey, 12345)

💡 Hint

Use Cypress's recommended assertion style with expect().

expect(apiKey).to.equal('12345') correctly checks string equality. Option C uses less common syntax in Cypress, C checks boolean, D compares string to number.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Debugging missing environment variable in Cypress

A Cypress test fails because Cypress.env('PASSWORD') returns undefined, even though you set PASSWORD in cypress.config.js. What is the most likely cause?

A Cypress.env() cannot access variables from cypress.config.js

B PASSWORD is set under the wrong environment key in cypress.config.js

C PASSWORD variable name is case-insensitive and mismatched

D You must restart Cypress after setting environment variables

💡 Hint

Check how environment variables are structured in the config file.

Environment variables must be set under the 'env' key in cypress.config.js. If set elsewhere, Cypress.env() returns undefined.

🧠 Conceptual

advanced

Best practice for sensitive environment variables in Cypress

Which is the best practice to handle sensitive environment variables like API keys in Cypress tests?

A Store sensitive variables in cypress.env.json and commit to version control

B Hardcode sensitive variables directly in test files for clarity

C Use Cypress fixtures to store sensitive variables

D Set sensitive variables in CI/CD environment and access via Cypress.env()

💡 Hint

Think about security and version control best practices.

Setting sensitive variables in CI/CD environment variables and accessing them via Cypress.env() keeps secrets out of code and version control.

❓ framework

expert

Configuring Cypress environment variables for multiple environments

You want to run Cypress tests with different environment variables for 'staging' and 'production'. Which configuration approach allows this?

A Use separate cypress.config.js files named cypress.staging.config.js and cypress.production.config.js and specify --config-file option

B Set all variables in one cypress.config.js and switch using Cypress.env('ENV') inside tests

C Use environment variables only in test code without config files

D Manually edit cypress.config.js before each run to change variables

💡 Hint

Consider how Cypress supports multiple config files.

Cypress supports multiple config files. Using --config-file option lets you run tests with different environment variables per environment.