Bun Test Lifecycle

Bun supports Jest-compatible lifecycle hooks for test setup and teardown.

Lifecycle Hooks

import { test, expect, beforeAll, afterAll, beforeEach, afterEach } from "bun:test";

let db: Database;
let testData: any;

// Runs once before all tests in file
beforeAll(async () => {
  db = await Database.connect();
});

// Runs once after all tests in file
afterAll(async () => {
  await db.close();
});

// Runs before each test
beforeEach(() => {
  testData = { id: 1, name: "test" };
});

// Runs after each test
afterEach(() => {
  testData = null;
});

test("example", () => {
  expect(testData.name).toBe("test");
});

Hook Execution Order

beforeAll
  ├── beforeEach
  │   └── test 1
  │   └── afterEach
  ├── beforeEach
  │   └── test 2
  │   └── afterEach
afterAll

Nested Describe Hooks

import { describe, test, beforeAll, beforeEach, afterEach, afterAll } from "bun:test";

describe("outer", () => {
  beforeAll(() => console.log("1. outer beforeAll"));
  afterAll(() => console.log("6. outer afterAll"));
  beforeEach(() => console.log("2. outer beforeEach"));
  afterEach(() => console.log("5. outer afterEach"));

  describe("inner", () => {
    beforeEach(() => console.log("3. inner beforeEach"));
    afterEach(() => console.log("4. inner afterEach"));

    test("test", () => {
      console.log("test runs here");
    });
  });
});

// Output:
// 1. outer beforeAll
// 2. outer beforeEach
// 3. inner beforeEach
// test runs here
// 4. inner afterEach
// 5. outer afterEach
// 6. outer afterAll

Async Hooks

beforeAll(async () => {
  await setupDatabase();
});

beforeEach(async () => {
  await seedTestData();
});

afterEach(async () => {
  await clearTestData();
});

afterAll(async () => {
  await teardownDatabase();
});

Timeout for Hooks

// Set timeout for slow setup
beforeAll(async () => {
  await slowSetup();
}, 30000); // 30 seconds

Preload Scripts

Use --preload for global setup across all test files:

bun test --preload ./setup.ts

setup.ts

import { beforeAll, afterAll } from "bun:test";

// Global setup
beforeAll(() => {
  console.log("Global setup runs before all test files");
});

// Global teardown
afterAll(() => {
  console.log("Global teardown runs after all test files");
});

// Set global variables
globalThis.testConfig = {
  apiUrl: "http://localhost:3000",
};

Configure in bunfig.toml

[test]
preload = ["./test/setup.ts"]

Common Patterns

Database Setup

import { beforeAll, afterAll, beforeEach, afterEach } from "bun:test";

let db: Database;

beforeAll(async () => {
  db = await Database.connect(process.env.TEST_DB_URL);
  await db.migrate();
});

afterAll(async () => {
  await db.close();
});

beforeEach(async () => {
  await db.beginTransaction();
});

afterEach(async () => {
  await db.rollback(); // Reset state
});

Server Setup

import { beforeAll, afterAll } from "bun:test";

let server: Server;
let baseUrl: string;

beforeAll(async () => {
  server = Bun.serve({
    port: 0, // Random available port
    fetch: app.fetch,
  });
  baseUrl = `http://localhost:${server.port}`;
});

// Bun 1.2+: server.stop() returns a Promise that resolves once in-flight
// connections have closed — await it so the test process doesn't exit early.
afterAll(async () => {
  await server.stop();
});

test("api works", async () => {
  const res = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/health`);
  expect(res.ok).toBe(true);
});

Mock Setup

import { beforeEach, afterEach, spyOn } from "bun:test";

let fetchSpy: ReturnType<typeof spyOn>;

beforeEach(() => {
  fetchSpy = spyOn(global, "fetch").mockResolvedValue(
    new Response(JSON.stringify({ ok: true }))
  );
});

afterEach(() => {
  fetchSpy.mockRestore();
});

Environment Variables

import { beforeAll, afterAll } from "bun:test";

const originalEnv = process.env;

beforeAll(() => {
  process.env = {
    ...originalEnv,
    NODE_ENV: "test",
    API_KEY: "test-key",
  };
});

afterAll(() => {
  process.env = originalEnv;
});

Shared Fixtures

// fixtures.ts
export async function createTestUser() {
  return { id: 1, name: "Test User" };
}

export async function cleanupTestUser(user: any) {
  // cleanup logic
}

// test file
import { createTestUser, cleanupTestUser } from "./fixtures";

let user: any;

beforeEach(async () => {
  user = await createTestUser();
});

afterEach(async () => {
  await cleanupTestUser(user);
});

Hook Errors

If a hook throws, all tests in that describe block fail:

beforeAll(() => {
  throw new Error("Setup failed");
});

// All tests in this file will fail
test("will fail", () => {
  expect(true).toBe(true);
});

Common Errors

Error	Cause	Fix
`beforeAll timeout`	Slow async setup	Increase timeout
`Hook not called`	Wrong scope	Check hook placement
`Cleanup not run`	afterAll skipped	Ensure no throws in tests
`State leak`	Missing cleanup	Add proper afterEach

When to Load References

Load references/preload-scripts.md when:

Complex global setup
Multiple preload files

Load references/fixtures.md when:

Reusable test fixtures
Factory patterns

bun-test-lifecycle