Browserless Testing in Vaadin 25

Use the Vaadin MCP tools (search_vaadin_docs) to look up the latest documentation whenever uncertain about a specific API detail. Always set vaadin_version to "25" and ui_language to "java".

What Browserless Testing Is

Browserless tests (previously called "UI Unit Tests") run server-side Java code without a browser or servlet container. You interact directly with your server-side view classes and Vaadin components. The BrowserlessTest / SpringBrowserlessTest base classes set up the Vaadin session, UI, and routing — all in the same JVM as your JUnit tests.

This makes tests fast (milliseconds, not seconds), stable (no browser flakiness), and easy to run in CI.

Free for all users since Vaadin 25.1. Earlier versions required a commercial TestBench subscription.

When to Use Browserless Tests vs. End-to-End Tests

Browserless tests — the default choice for most view testing:

• Testing view logic, navigation, form validation, component state
• TDD workflows where you run tests on every save
• Verifying that clicking a button shows the right notification
• Testing data binding and Binder behavior

End-to-end tests (TestBench) — for critical paths and client-side behavior:

• Login flows, checkout processes
• Testing JavaScript/client-side functionality
• Visual regression testing
• Cross-browser compatibility

Write many browserless tests and few end-to-end tests.

Setup

Maven dependency

The browserless testing framework ships in browserless-test-junit6. Vaadin 25 + Spring Boot 4 default to JUnit 6, which is API-compatible with JUnit 5.

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.vaadin</groupId>
    <artifactId>browserless-test-junit6</artifactId>
    <scope>test</scope>
</dependency>

Migrating from UI Unit Testing? Replace the older vaadin-testbench-unit (JUnit 4) or vaadin-testbench-unit-junit5 artifact with browserless-test-junit6, and rename the base classes (UIUnitTest → BrowserlessTest, SpringUIUnitTest → SpringBrowserlessTest). The testing API is otherwise unchanged.

Writing Your First Test

Extend SpringBrowserlessTest for Spring Boot projects (and add @SpringBootTest), or BrowserlessTest otherwise:

@SpringBootTest
class HelloWorldViewTest extends SpringBrowserlessTest {

    @Test
    void clickButton_showsNotification() {
        // Navigate to the view
        HelloWorldView view = navigate(HelloWorldView.class);

        // Interact via component testers
        test(view.nameField).setValue("Marcus");
        test(view.sayHelloButton).click();

        // Assert on the result
        Notification notification = $(Notification.class).first();
        assertEquals("Hello Marcus", test(notification).getText());
    }
}

Key points:

• navigate(ViewClass.class) navigates to a route and returns the view instance
• test(component) returns a type-specific tester with simulated user actions
• $(ComponentClass.class) queries for components in the current UI (like jQuery for Vaadin)
• Fields on the view should be package-private (not private) so tests in the same package can access them

Navigation

// Simple navigation
MyView view = navigate(MyView.class);

// Navigation with URL parameter
DetailView view = navigate(DetailView.class, "123");

// Navigation with route template parameters
TemplateView view = navigate(TemplateView.class, Map.of("id", "456"));

// Navigation by path string (validates expected view type)
MyView view = navigate("my-view", MyView.class);

Component Testers

The test() method returns a tester that simulates user interaction. Testers check that the component is visible, enabled, attached, and not behind a modal before allowing interaction.

// TextField
test(textField).setValue("hello");      // simulates typing
String value = test(textField).getValue();

// Button
test(button).click();                   // simulates click

// Checkbox
test(checkbox).setValue(true);

// ComboBox
test(comboBox).selectItem("Option A");

// Grid — use GridTester for row interaction
GridTester<Person> gridTester = test(grid);
gridTester.clickRow(0);                 // click first row

// Notification
Notification n = $(Notification.class).first();
String text = test(n).getText();

For commercial components (Chart, etc.), implement CommercialTesterWrappers on your test class.

Component Queries with $()

Find components in the current UI:

// Find first component of type
Button btn = $(Button.class).first();

// Find by ID
TextField field = $(TextField.class).id("email");

// Find all of a type
List<Button> buttons = $(Button.class).all();

// Check existence
boolean hasGrid = $(Grid.class).exists();

// Nested query — find inside a specific component
VerticalLayout layout = $(VerticalLayout.class).id("content");
Button innerBtn = layout.$(Button.class).first();

Restricting Package Scanning

By default, browserless tests scan the entire classpath for routes. For faster startup, restrict to specific packages with @ViewPackages. Prefer the classes() array — it survives IDE refactors when classes move:

@SpringBootTest
@ViewPackages(classes = {MyView.class, OtherView.class})
class MyViewTest extends SpringBrowserlessTest {
    // Scans the packages containing MyView and OtherView (and sub-packages)
}

// Or by package name:
@SpringBootTest
@ViewPackages(packages = {"com.example.app.feature1", "com.example.app.feature2"})
class MyViewTest extends SpringBrowserlessTest { }

Non-Spring Projects

If you aren't using Spring, extend BrowserlessTest directly and drop @SpringBootTest:

class MyViewTest extends BrowserlessTest {

    @Test
    void test() {
        MyView view = navigate(MyView.class);
        // ...
    }
}

For Quarkus, see the Vaadin docs for the Quarkus-specific browserless base class and dependency.

Common Testing Patterns

Test form validation

@Test
void submitEmptyForm_showsValidationErrors() {
    EditView view = navigate(EditView.class);

    test(view.saveButton).click();

    // Check that required fields show errors
    assertTrue(view.nameField.isInvalid());
}

Test navigation after action

@Test
void saveSuccess_navigatesToList() {
    EditView view = navigate(EditView.class);
    test(view.nameField).setValue("Test");
    test(view.saveButton).click();

    // Verify navigation occurred
    assertTrue(getCurrentView() instanceof ListView);
}

Test dialog content

@Test
void deleteButton_showsConfirmDialog() {
    ListView view = navigate(ListView.class);
    test(view.deleteButton).click();

    ConfirmDialog dialog = $(ConfirmDialog.class).first();
    assertNotNull(dialog);
}

Best Practices

1. Make view fields package-private — not private, so tests in the same package can access them directly. This avoids fragile reflection-based lookups.
2. Use @ViewPackages to limit scanning — speeds up test initialization significantly in large projects.
3. One assertion focus per test — test one behavior per method. Name tests descriptively: action_expectedResult.
4. Use test() for interaction, not direct method calls — test(button).click() checks visibility and enabled state; button.click() bypasses those checks.
5. Prefer browserless tests over end-to-end — they're 10-100x faster and more stable. Reserve end-to-end tests for client-side behavior and critical paths.
6. Test the user's perspective — verify what the user sees (notification text, navigation result, field errors) rather than internal implementation details.