Intro
factory_bot is a fixtures replacement with a straightforward definition syntax, support for multiple build strategies (saved instances, unsaved instances, attribute hashes, and stubbed objects), and support for multiple factories for the same class (user, admin_user, and so on), including factory inheritance.
Its documentation is split as such:
- the guide is a great place to start for first-time users.
- the cookbook is the go-to place for creative solutions to common situations.
- the wiki details considerations for integrating with other software.
- the reference is terse facts for those who use this project often.
License
factory_bot is Copyright © 2008 Joe Ferris and thoughtbot. It is free software, and may be redistributed under the terms specified in the LICENSE file.
About thoughtbot
factory_bot is maintained and funded by thoughtbot, inc. The names and logos for thoughtbot are trademarks of thoughtbot, inc.
We love open source software! See our other projects or hire us to design, develop, and grow your product.
Build strategies
Once a factory_bot factory is defined, it can be constructed using any of the built-in build strategies, or a custom build strategy.
All of these strategies notify on the factory_bot.run_factory
instrumentation using ActiveSupport::Notifications, passing a payload with
:name
, :strategy
, :traits
, :overrides
, and :factory
keys.
The non-list (.build
, .build_pair
, .create
, etc.) methods take one
mandatory argument: the name of the factory. They can then optionally take
names of traits, and then a hash of attributes to override. Finally, they can
take a block. This block takes the produced object as an argument, and returns
an updated object.
The list methods (.build_list
, .create_list
, etc.) have two required
arguments: the name of the factory, and the number of instances to build. They
then can optionally take traits and overrides. Finally, they can take a block.
This block takes the produced object and the zero-based index as arguments, and
returns an updated object.
build
The FactoryBot.build
method constructs an instance of the class according to
initialize_with
, which defaults to calling the .new
class method.
.build_list
constructs multiple instances, and .build_pair
is a shorthand
to construct two instances.
After it calls initialize_with
, it invokes the after_build
hook.
Associations are constructed using the build
build strategy.
create
The FactoryBot.create
method constructs an instance of the class according to
initialize_with
, and then persists it using to_create
. The .create_list
class method constructs multiple instances, and .create_pair
is a shorthand
to construct two instances.
After it calls initialize_with
, it invokes the following hooks in order:
after_build
before_create
- non-hook:
to_create
after_create
Associations are constructed using the create
build strategy.
The to_create
hook controls how objects are persisted. It takes a block with
the object and the factory_bot context, and runs it for its side effect. By
default, it calls #save!
.
attributes_for
The FactoryBot.attributes_for
method constructs a Hash with the attributes
and their values, using initialize_with
. The attributes_for_pair
and
attributes_for_list
methods work similarly as build_pair
and build_list
.
Associations are constructed using the null
build strategy (they are not built).
No hooks are called.
build_stubbed
The FactoryBot.build_stubbed
method returns a fake ActiveRecord object. The
.build_stubbed_pair
and .build_stubbed_list
methods are defined similarly
to .build_pair
and .build_list
.
It uses initialize_with
to construct the object, but then stubs methods and
data as appropriate:
id
is set sequentially (unless overridden by attributes)created_at
andupdated_at
are set to the current time (unless overridden by attributes)- all ActiveModel::Dirty change tracking is cleared
persisted?
is truenew_record?
is falsedestroyed?
is false- persistence methods raise a
RuntimeError
(#connection
,#delete
,#save
,#update
, etc.)
After it sets up the object it invokes the after_stub
hook.
null
The FactoryBot.null
method returns nil
. The .null_pair
method gives you a
pair of nils, and .null_list
gives as many nils as you desire. This is used
internally.
FactoryBot.find_definitions
The FactoryBot.find_definitions
method loads in all factory_bot definitions
across the project.
The load order is controlled by the FactoryBot.definition_file_paths
attribute. The default load order is:
factories.rb
test/factories.rb
test/factories/**/*.rb
spec/factories.rb
spec/factories/**/*.rb
Rails
The .find_definitions
method is called automatically by factory_bot_rails
after initialize. The .definition_file_paths
can be set during initialization
(e.g. config/initializers
), or via
Rails.application.config.factory_bot.definition_file_paths
.
FactoryBot.define
Each file loaded by factory_bot is expected to call FactoryBot.define
with a
block. The block is evaluated within an instance of
FactoryBot::Syntax::Default::DSL
, giving access to factory
, sequence
,
trait
, and other methods.
factory
Within a FactoryBot.define
block, you can define factories. Anything defined
using factory
can be built using a build strategy.
The factory
method takes three arguments: a required name, an optional hash
of options, and an optional block.
The name is expected to be a Symbol.
Options
:class
- what class to construct. This can be either a class, or a String or Symbol (anything that responds to#to_s
). By default it is either the parent's class name or the factory's name.:parent
- the name of another factory that this factory should inherit from. Defaults tonil
.:aliases
- alternative names for this factory. Any of these names can be used with a build strategy. Defaults to the empty list.:traits
- base traits that are used by default when building this factory. Defaults to the empty list.
Block
You can use the block to define your factory. Within here you have access to the following methods:
add_attribute
association
sequence
trait
method_missing
transient
traits_for_enum
initialize_with
skip_create
to_create
before
after
callback
factory
You can use factory
inside a factory
block to define a new factory with an
implied parent.
add_attribute
Within a factory definition, the add_attribute
method defines a key/value
pair that will be set when the object is built.
The add_attribute
method takes two arguments: a name (Symbol or String) and a
block. This block is called each time this object is constructed. The block is
not called when the attribute is overriden by a build strategy.
Assignment is done by calling the Ruby attribute setter. For example, given
FactoryBot.define do
factory :user do
add_attribute(:name) { "Acid Burn" }
end
end
This will use the #name=
setter:
user = User.new
user.name = "Acid Burn"
Also see method_missing for a shorthand.
association
Within a factory block, use the association
method to always make an
additional object alongside this one. This name best makes sense within the
context of ActiveRecord.
The association
method takes a mandatory name and optional options.
The options are zero or more trait names (Symbols), followed by a hash of attribute overrides. When constructing this association, factory_bot uses the trait and attribute overrides given.
See method_missing for a shorthand. See build strategies for an explanation of how each build strategy handles associations.
sequence
A factory_bot set up supports two levels of sequences: global and factory-specific.
Global sequences
With a Factory.define
block, use the sequence
method to define global
sequences that can be shared with other factories.
The sequence
method takes a name, optional arguments, and a block. The name
is expected to be a Symbol.
The supported arguments are a number representing the starting value (default:
1
), and :aliases
(default []
). The starting value must respond to #next
.
The block takes a value as an argument, and returns a result.
The sequence value is incremented globally. Using an :email_address
sequence
from multiple places increments the value each time.
See method_missing for a shorthand.
Factory sequences
Sequences can be localized within factory
blocks. The syntax is the same as
for a global sequence, but the scope of the incremented value is limited to the
factory definition.
In addition, using sequence
with a factory
block implicitly calls
add_attribute
for that value.
These two are similar, except the second example does not cause any global sequences to exist:
# A global sequence
sequence(:user_factory_email) { |n| "person#{n}@example.com" }
factory :user do
# Using a global sequence
email { generate(:user_factory_email) }
end
# A factory-scoped sequence
factory :user do
sequence(:email) { |n| "person#{n}@example.com" }
end
trait
Within a factory
definition block, use the trait
method to define named permutations of the factory.
The trait method takes a name (Symbol) and a block. Treat the block like you
would a factory
definition block.
See method_missing for a shorthand.
method_missing
With a factory
definition block, you can use add_attribute
, association
,
sequence
, and trait
to define a factory. You can also level a default
method_missing
definition for potential shortcuts.
Calling an unknown method (e.g. name
, admin
, email
, account
) connects
an association, sequence, trait, or attribute to the factory:
-
If the method missing is passed a block, it always defines an attribute. This allows you to set the value for the attribute.
-
If the method missing is passed a hash as a argument with the key
:factory
, then it always defines an association. This allows you to override the factory used for the association. -
If there is another factory of the same name, then it defines an association.
-
If there is a global sequence of the same name, then it defines an attribute with a value that pulls from the sequence.
-
If there is a trait of the same name for that factory, then it turns that trait on for all builds of this factory.
Using method_missing
can turn an explicit definition:
FactoryBot.define do
sequence(:email) { |n| "person#{n}@example.com" }
factory :account
factory :organization
factory :user, traits: [:admin] do
add_attribute(:name) { "Lord Nikon" }
add_attribute(:email) { generate(:email) }
association :account
association :org, factory: :organization
trait :admin do
add_attribute(:admin) { true }
end
end
end
... into a more implicit definition:
FactoryBot.define do
sequence(:email) { |n| "person#{n}@example.com" }
factory :account
factory :organization
factory :user do
name { "Lord Nikon" } # no more `add_attribute`
admin # no more :traits
email # no more `add_attribute`
account # no more `association`
org factory: :organization # no more `association`
trait :admin do
admin { true }
end
end
end
traits_for_enum
With a factory
definition block, the traits_for_enum
method is a helper for
any object with an attribute that can be one of a few values. The original
inspiration was ActiveRecord::Enum
but it can apply to any attribute with a
restricted set of values.
This method creates a trait for each value.
The traits_for_enum
method takes a required attribute name and an optional
set of values. The values can be any Enumerable, such as Array or Hash. By
default, the values are nil
.
If the values are an Array, this method defines a trait for each element in the array. The trait's name is the array element, and it sets the attribute to the same array element.
If the values are a Hash, this method defines traits based on the keys, setting the attribute to the values. The trait's name is the key, and it sets the attribute to the value.
If the value is any other Enumerable, it treats it like an Array or Hash based
on whether #each
iterates in pairs like it does for Hashes.
If the value is nil, it uses a class method named after the pluralized attribute name.
FactoryBot.define do
factory :article do
traits_for_enum :visibility, [:public, :private]
# trait :public do
# visibility { :public }
# end
# trait :private do
# visibility { :private }
# end
traits_for_enum :collaborative, draft: 0, shared: 1
# trait :draft do
# collaborative { 0 }
# end
# trait :shared do
# collaborative { 1 }
# end
traits_for_enum :status
# Article.statuses.each do |key, value|
# trait key do
# status { value }
# end
# end
end
end
skip_create, to_create, and initialize_with
The skip_create
, to_create
, and initialize_with
methods control how
factory_bot interacts with the build strategies.
These methods can be called within a factory
definition block, to scope their
effects to just that factory; or within FactoryBot.define
, to affect global
change.
initialize_with
The initialize_with
method takes a block and returns an instance of the
factory's class. It has access to the attributes
method, which is a hash of
all the fields and values for the object.
The default definition is:
initialize_with { new }
to_create
The to_create
method lets you control the FactoryBot.create
strategy. This
method takes a block which takes the object as constructed by
initialize_with
, and the factory_bot context. The context has additional
data from any transient
blocks.
The default definition is:
to_create { |obj, context| obj.save! }
The skip_create
method is a shorthand for turning to_create
into a no-op.
This allows you to use the create
strategy as a synonym for build
, except
you additionally get any create
hooks.
transient
Within a factory
definition block, the goal is to construct an instance of
the class. While factory_bot does this, it keeps track of data in a
context. To set data on this context, use a transient
block.
Treat a transient
block like a factory
definition block. However, none of
the attributes, associations, traits, or sequences you set will impact the
final object.
This is most useful when paired with hooks or to_create.
Hooks
Within a factory
definition block and the FactoryBot.define
block, you have
access to the after
, before
, and callback
methods. This allow you to hook
into parts of the build strategies.
Within a factory
definition block, these callbacks are scoped to just that
factory. Within a FactoryBot.define
block, they are global to all factories.
callback
The callback
method allows you to hook into any factory_bot callback by
name. The pre-defined names, as seen in the build strategies reference, are
after_build
, before_create
, after_create
, and after_stub
.
This method takes a splat of names, and a block. It invokes the block any time
one of the names is activated. The block can be anything that responds to
#to_proc
.
This block takes two arguments: the instance of the factory, and the factory_bot context. The context holds transient attributes.
The same callback name can be hooked into multiple times. Every block is run, in the order it was defined. Callbacks are inherited from their parents; the parents' callbacks are run first.
after
and before
methods
The after
and before
methods add some nice syntax to callback
:
after(:create) do |user, context|
user.post_first_article(context.article)
end
callback(:after_create) do |user, context|
user.post_first_article(context.article)
end
FactoryBot.modify
The FactoryBot.modify
class method defines a block with an overriding
factory
method available. That is the only method you can call within the
block.
The factory
method within this block takes a mandatory factory name, and a
block. All other arguments are ignored. The factory name must already be
defined. The block is a normal factory definition block. Take
note that hooks cannot be cleared and continue to compound.
For details on why you'd want to use this, see the guide.
FactoryBot.lint
The FactoryBot.lint
method tries each factory and raises
FactoryBot::InvalidFactoryError
on failure.
It can take the following optional arguments:
- A splat of factory names. This will restrict the linting to just the ones listed. The default is all.
:strategy
- the build strategy to use. The default is:create
.:traits
- whether to try building each trait, too. The default isfalse
.:verbose
- whether to show a stack trace on error. The default isfalse
.
Suggested techniques for hooking .lint
into your system is discussed in the
guide.
FactoryBot.register_strategy
The FactoryBot.register_strategy
method is how to add a build
strategy.
It takes two mandatory arguments: name and class. The name is a Symbol, and
registering it exposes a method under FactoryBot::Syntax::Methods
.
The class must define the methods association
and result
.
The association
method takes an instance of FactoryRunner
. You can #run
this runner, passing a strategy name (it defaults to the current one) and an
optional block. The block is called after the association is built, and is
passed the object that was built.
The result
method takes the object that was built for this factory (using
initalize_with
), and returns the result of this factory for this build
strategy.
Setup
Installation varies based on the framework you are using, if any, and optionally the test framework.
Since installation varies based on code that we do not control, those docs are kept up-to-date in our wiki. We encourage you to edit the wiki as the frameworks change.
Below we document the most common setup. However, we go into more detail in our wiki.
Update Your Gemfile
If you're using Rails:
gem "factory_bot_rails"
If you're not using Rails:
gem "factory_bot"
For more, see our wiki.
Configure your test suite
RSpec
RSpec.configure do |config|
config.include FactoryBot::Syntax::Methods
end
Test::Unit
class Test::Unit::TestCase
include FactoryBot::Syntax::Methods
end
For more, see our wiki.
Using Without Bundler
If you're not using Bundler, be sure to have the gem installed and call:
require 'factory_bot'
Once required, assuming you have a directory structure of spec/factories
or
test/factories
, all you'll need to do is run:
FactoryBot.find_definitions
If you're using a separate directory structure for your factories, you can change the definition file paths before trying to find definitions:
FactoryBot.definition_file_paths = %w(custom_factories_directory)
FactoryBot.find_definitions
If you don't have a separate directory of factories and would like to define them inline, that's possible as well:
require 'factory_bot'
FactoryBot.define do
factory :user do
name { 'John Doe' }
date_of_birth { 21.years.ago }
end
end
Rails Preloaders and RSpec
When running RSpec with a Rails preloader such as spring
or zeus
, it's
possible to encounter an ActiveRecord::AssociationTypeMismatch
error when
creating a factory with associations, as below:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :united_states, class: "Location" do
name { 'United States' }
association :location_group, factory: :north_america
end
factory :north_america, class: "LocationGroup" do
name { 'North America' }
end
end
The error occurs during the run of the test suite:
Failure/Error: united_states = create(:united_states)
ActiveRecord::AssociationTypeMismatch:
LocationGroup(#70251250797320) expected, got LocationGroup(#70251200725840)
The two possible solutions are to either run the suite without the preloader,
or to add FactoryBot.reload
to the RSpec configuration, like so:
RSpec.configure do |config|
config.before(:suite) { FactoryBot.reload }
end
Defining factories
Factory name and attributes
Each factory has a name and a set of attributes. The name is used to guess the class of the object by default:
# This will guess the User class
FactoryBot.define do
factory :user do
first_name { "John" }
last_name { "Doe" }
admin { false }
end
end
Specifying the class explicitly
It is also possible to explicitly specify the class:
# This will use the User class (otherwise Admin would have been guessed)
factory :admin, class: "User"
You can pass a constant as well, if the constant is available (note that this can cause test performance problems in large Rails applications, since referring to the constant will cause it to be eagerly loaded).
factory :access_token, class: User
Definition file paths
Factories can be defined anywhere, but will be automatically loaded after
calling FactoryBot.find_definitions
if factories are defined in files at the
following locations:
test/factories.rb
spec/factories.rb
test/factories/*.rb
spec/factories/*.rb
Hash attributes
Because of the block syntax in Ruby, defining attributes as Hash
es (for
serialized/JSON columns, for example) requires two sets of curly brackets:
factory :program do
configuration { { auto_resolve: false, auto_define: true } }
end
Alternatively you may prefer do
/end
syntax:
factory :program do
configuration do
{ auto_resolve: false, auto_define: true }
end
end
However, defining a value as a hash makes it complicated to set values within the hash when constructing an object. Instead, prefer to use factory_bot itself:
factory :program do
configuration { attributes_for(:configuration) }
end
factory :configuration do
auto_resolve { false }
auto_define { true }
end
This way you can more easily set value when building:
create(
:program,
configuration: attributes_for(
:configuration,
auto_resolve: true,
)
)
Best practices
It is recommended that you have one factory for each class that provides the simplest set of attributes necessary to create an instance of that class. If you're creating ActiveRecord objects, that means that you should only provide attributes that are required through validations and that do not have defaults. Other factories can be created through inheritance to cover common scenarios for each class.
Attempting to define multiple factories with the same name will raise an error.
Static Attributes
Static attributes (without a block) are no longer available in factory_bot 5. You can read more about the decision to remove them in this blog post.
Using factories
Build strategies
factory_bot supports several different build strategies: build
, create
,
attributes_for
and build_stubbed
:
# Returns a User instance that's not saved
user = build(:user)
# Returns a saved User instance
user = create(:user)
# Returns a hash of attributes, which can be used to build a User instance for example
attrs = attributes_for(:user)
# Integrates with Ruby 3.0's support for pattern matching assignment
attributes_for(:user) => {email:, name:, **attrs}
# Returns an object with all defined attributes stubbed out
stub = build_stubbed(:user)
# Passing a block to any of the methods above will yield the return object
create(:user) do |user|
user.posts.create(attributes_for(:post))
end
build_stubbed and Marshal.dump
Note that objects created with build_stubbed
cannot be serialized with
Marshal.dump
, since factory_bot defines singleton methods on these objects.
Building or Creating Multiple Records
Sometimes, you'll want to create or build multiple instances of a factory at once.
built_users = build_list(:user, 25)
created_users = create_list(:user, 25)
These methods will build or create a specific amount of factories and return them as an array. To set the attributes for each of the factories, you can pass in a hash as you normally would.
twenty_year_olds = build_list(:user, 25, date_of_birth: 20.years.ago)
In order to set different attributes for each factory, these methods may be passed a block, with the factory and the index as parameters:
twenty_somethings = build_list(:user, 10) do |user, i|
user.date_of_birth = (20 + i).years.ago
end
create_list
passes saved instances into the block. If you modify the
instance, you must save it again:
twenty_somethings = create_list(:user, 10) do |user, i|
user.date_of_birth = (20 + i).years.ago
user.save!
end
build_stubbed_list
will give you fully stubbed out instances:
stubbed_users = build_stubbed_list(:user, 25) # array of stubbed users
There's also a set of *_pair
methods for creating two records at a time:
built_users = build_pair(:user) # array of two built users
created_users = create_pair(:user) # array of two created users
If you need multiple attribute hashes, attributes_for_list
will generate
them:
users_attrs = attributes_for_list(:user, 25) # array of attribute hashes
Attribute overrides
No matter which strategy is used, it's possible to override the defined attributes by passing a hash:
# Build a User instance and override the first_name property
user = build(:user, first_name: "Joe")
user.first_name
# => "Joe"
Ruby 3.1's support for omitting values from Hash
literals dovetails with
attribute overrides and provides an opportunity to limit the repetition of
variable names:
first_name = "Joe"
# Build a User instance and override the first_name property
user = build(:user, first_name:)
user.first_name
# => "Joe"
Aliases
factory_bot allows you to define aliases to existing factories to make them easier to re-use. This could come in handy when, for example, your Post object has an author attribute that actually refers to an instance of a User class. While normally factory_bot can infer the factory name from the association name, in this case it will look for an author factory in vain. So, alias your user factory so it can be used under alias names.
factory :user, aliases: [:author, :commenter] do
first_name { "John" }
last_name { "Doe" }
date_of_birth { 18.years.ago }
end
factory :post do
# The alias allows us to write author instead of
# association :author, factory: :user
author
title { "How to read a book effectively" }
body { "There are five steps involved." }
end
factory :comment do
# The alias allows us to write commenter instead of
# association :commenter, factory: :user
commenter
body { "Great article!" }
end
Dependent Attributes
Attributes can be based on the values of other attributes using the context that is yielded to dynamic attribute blocks:
factory :user do
first_name { "Joe" }
last_name { "Blow" }
email { "#{first_name}.#{last_name}@example.com".downcase }
end
create(:user, last_name: "Doe").email
# => "joe.doe@example.com"
Transient Attributes
Transient attributes are attributes only available within the factory definition, and not set on the object being built. This allows for more complex logic inside factories.
These are defined within a transient
block:
factory :user do
name { "Zero Cool" }
birth_date { age&.years.ago }
transient do
age { 11 } # only used to set `birth_date` above
end
end
With other attributes
You can access transient attributes within other attributes (see Dependent Attributes):
factory :user do
transient do
rockstar { true }
end
name { "John Doe#{" - Rockstar" if rockstar}" }
end
create(:user).name
#=> "John Doe - ROCKSTAR"
create(:user, rockstar: false).name
#=> "John Doe"
With attributes_for
Transient attributes will be ignored within attributes_for
and won't be set
on the model, even if the attribute exists or you attempt to override it.
With callbacks
If you need to access the evaluated definition itself in a factory_bot callback, you'll need to declare a second block argument (for the definition) and access transient attributes from there. This represents the final, evaluated value.
factory :user do
transient do
upcased { false }
end
name { "John Doe" }
after(:create) do |user, context|
user.name.upcase! if context.upcased
end
end
create(:user).name
#=> "John Doe"
create(:user, upcased: true).name
#=> "JOHN DOE"
With associations
Transient associations are not supported in factory_bot. Associations within the transient block will be treated as regular, non-transient associations.
If needed, you can generally work around this by building a factory within a transient attribute:
factory :post
factory :user do
transient do
post { build(:post) }
end
end
Method Name / Reserved Word Attributes
If your attributes conflict with existing methods or reserved words (all
methods in the
DefinitionProxy
class) you can define them with add_attribute
.
factory :dna do
add_attribute(:sequence) { 'GATTACA' }
end
factory :payment do
add_attribute(:method) { 'paypal' }
end
Inheritance
Nested factories
You can create multiple factories for the same class without repeating common attributes by nesting factories:
factory :post do
title { "A title" }
factory :approved_post do
approved { true }
end
end
approved_post = create(:approved_post)
approved_post.title # => "A title"
approved_post.approved # => true
Assigning parent explicitly
You can also assign the parent explicitly:
factory :post do
title { "A title" }
end
factory :approved_post, parent: :post do
approved { true }
end
Best practices
As mentioned above, it's good practice to define a basic factory for each class with only the attributes required to create it. Then, create more specific factories that inherit from this basic parent.
Associations
Implicit definition
It's possible to set up associations within factories. If the factory name is the same as the association name, the factory name can be left out.
factory :post do
# ...
author
end
Explicit definition
You can define associations explicitly. This can be handy especially when Overriding attributes
factory :post do
# ...
association :author
end
Inline definition
You can also define associations inline within regular attributes, but note
that the value will be nil
when using the attributes_for
strategy.
factory :post do
# ...
author { association :author }
end
Specifying the factory
You can specify a different factory (although Aliases might also help you out here).
Implicitly:
factory :post do
# ...
author factory: :user
end
Explicitly:
factory :post do
# ...
association :author, factory: :user
end
Inline:
factory :post do
# ...
author { association :user }
end
Overriding attributes
You can also override attributes on associations.
Implicitly:
factory :post do
# ...
author factory: :author, last_name: "Writely"
end
Explicitly:
factory :post do
# ...
association :author, last_name: "Writely"
end
Or inline using attributes from the factory:
factory :post do
# ...
author_last_name { "Writely" }
author { association :author, last_name: author_last_name }
end
Association overrides
Attribute overrides can be used to link associated objects:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :author do
name { 'Taylor' }
end
factory :post do
author
end
end
eunji = build(:author, name: 'Eunji')
post = build(:post, author: eunji)
Ruby 3.1's support for omitting values from Hash
literals dovetails with
attribute overrides, and provides an opportunity to limit the repetition of
variable names:
author = build(:author, name: 'Eunji')
post = build(:post, author:)
Build strategies
Associations default to using the same build strategy as their parent object:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :author
factory :post do
author
end
end
post = build(:post)
post.new_record? # => true
post.author.new_record? # => true
post = create(:post)
post.new_record? # => false
post.author.new_record? # => false
This is different than the default behavior for previous versions of
factory_bot, where the association strategy would not always match the strategy
of the parent object. If you want to continue using the old behavior, you can
set the use_parent_strategy
configuration option to false
.
FactoryBot.use_parent_strategy = false
# Builds and saves a User and a Post
post = create(:post)
post.new_record? # => false
post.author.new_record? # => false
# Builds and saves a User, and then builds but does not save a Post
post = build(:post)
post.new_record? # => true
post.author.new_record? # => false
To not save the associated object, specify strategy: :build
in the factory:
FactoryBot.use_parent_strategy = false
factory :post do
# ...
association :author, factory: :user, strategy: :build
end
# Builds a User, and then builds a Post, but does not save either
post = build(:post)
post.new_record? # => true
post.author.new_record? # => true
Note that the strategy: :build
option must be passed to an explicit call to
association
, and cannot be used with implicit associations:
factory :post do
# ...
author strategy: :build # <<< this does *not* work; causes author_id to be nil
Sequences
Global sequences
Unique values in a specific format (for example, e-mail addresses) can be
generated using sequences. Sequences are defined by calling sequence
in a
definition block, and values in a sequence are generated by calling generate
:
# Defines a new sequence
FactoryBot.define do
sequence :email do |n|
"person#{n}@example.com"
end
end
generate :email
# => "person1@example.com"
generate :email
# => "person2@example.com"
With dynamic attributes
Sequences can be used in dynamic attributes:
FactoryBot.define do
sequence :email do |n|
"person#{n}@example.com"
end
end
factory :invite do
invitee { generate(:email) }
end
As implicit attributes
Or as implicit attributes:
FactoryBot.define do
sequence :email do |n|
"person#{n}@example.com"
end
end
factory :user do
email # Same as `email { generate(:email) }`
end
Note that defining sequences as implicit attributes will not work if you have a factory with the same name as the sequence.
Inline sequences
And it's also possible to define an in-line sequence that is only used in a particular factory:
factory :user do
sequence(:email) { |n| "person#{n}@example.com" }
end
With Ruby 2.7's support for numbered parameters, inline definitions can be even more abbreviated:
factory :user do
sequence(:email) { "person#{_1}@example.com" }
end
Initial value
You can override the initial value. Any value that responds to the #next
method will work (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 'a', 'b', 'c')
factory :user do
sequence(:email, 1000) { |n| "person#{n}@example.com" }
end
Without a block
Without a block, the value will increment itself, starting at its initial value:
factory :post do
sequence(:position)
end
Note that the value for the sequence could be any Enumerable instance, as long
as it responds to #next
:
factory :task do
sequence :priority, %i[low medium high urgent].cycle
end
Aliases
Sequences can also have aliases. The sequence aliases share the same counter:
factory :user do
sequence(:email, 1000, aliases: [:sender, :receiver]) { |n| "person#{n}@example.com" }
end
# will increase value counter for :email which is shared by :sender and :receiver
generate(:sender)
Define aliases and use default value (1) for the counter
factory :user do
sequence(:email, aliases: [:sender, :receiver]) { |n| "person#{n}@example.com" }
end
Setting the value:
factory :user do
sequence(:email, 'a', aliases: [:sender, :receiver]) { |n| "person#{n}@example.com" }
end
The value needs to support the #next
method. Here the next value will be 'a',
then 'b', etc.
Rewinding
Sequences can also be rewound with FactoryBot.rewind_sequences
:
sequence(:email) {|n| "person#{n}@example.com" }
generate(:email) # "person1@example.com"
generate(:email) # "person2@example.com"
generate(:email) # "person3@example.com"
FactoryBot.rewind_sequences
generate(:email) # "person1@example.com"
This rewinds all registered sequences.
Uniqueness
When working with uniqueness constraints, be careful not to pass in override values that will conflict with the generated sequence values.
In this example the email will be the same for both users. If email must be unique, this code will error:
factory :user do
sequence(:email) { |n| "person#{n}@example.com" }
end
FactoryBot.create(:user, email: "person1@example.com")
FactoryBot.create(:user)
Traits
Traits allow you to group attributes together and then apply them to any factory.
factory :user, aliases: [:author]
factory :story do
title { "My awesome story" }
author
trait :published do
published { true }
end
trait :unpublished do
published { false }
end
trait :week_long_publishing do
start_at { 1.week.ago }
end_at { Time.now }
end
trait :month_long_publishing do
start_at { 1.month.ago }
end_at { Time.now }
end
factory :week_long_published_story, traits: [:published, :week_long_publishing]
factory :month_long_published_story, traits: [:published, :month_long_publishing]
factory :week_long_unpublished_story, traits: [:unpublished, :week_long_publishing]
factory :month_long_unpublished_story, traits: [:unpublished, :month_long_publishing]
end
As implicit attributes
Traits can be used as implicit attributes:
factory :week_long_published_story_with_title, parent: :story do
published
week_long_publishing
title { "Publishing that was started at #{start_at}" }
end
Note that defining traits as implicit attributes will not work if you have a factory or sequence with the same name as the trait.
Using traits
Traits can also be passed in as a list of Symbols when you construct an instance from factory_bot.
factory :user do
name { "Friendly User" }
trait :active do
name { "John Doe" }
status { :active }
end
trait :admin do
admin { true }
end
end
# creates an admin user with :active status and name "Jon Snow"
create(:user, :admin, :active, name: "Jon Snow")
This ability works with build
, build_stubbed
, attributes_for
, and create
.
create_list
and build_list
methods are supported as well. Remember to pass
the number of instances to create/build as second parameter, as documented in
the "Building or Creating Multiple Records" section of this file.
factory :user do
name { "Friendly User" }
trait :active do
name { "John Doe" }
status { :active }
end
trait :admin do
admin { true }
end
end
# creates 3 admin users with :active status and name "Jon Snow"
create_list(:user, 3, :admin, :active, name: "Jon Snow")
Enum traits
Given an Active Record model with an enum attribute:
class Task < ActiveRecord::Base
enum status: {queued: 0, started: 1, finished: 2}
end
factory_bot will automatically define traits for each possible value of the enum:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :task
end
FactoryBot.build(:task, :queued)
FactoryBot.build(:task, :started)
FactoryBot.build(:task, :finished)
Writing the traits out manually would be cumbersome, and is not necessary:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :task do
trait :queued do
status { :queued }
end
trait :started do
status { :started }
end
trait :finished do
status { :finished }
end
end
end
If automatically defining traits for enum attributes on every factory is not
desired, it is possible to disable the feature by setting
FactoryBot.automatically_define_enum_traits = false
In that case, it is still possible to explicitly define traits for an enum attribute in a particular factory:
FactoryBot.automatically_define_enum_traits = false
FactoryBot.define do
factory :task do
traits_for_enum(:status)
end
end
It is also possible to use this feature for other enumerable values, not specifically tied to Active Record enum attributes.
With an array:
class Task
attr_accessor :status
end
FactoryBot.define do
factory :task do
traits_for_enum(:status, ["queued", "started", "finished"])
end
end
Or with a hash:
class Task
attr_accessor :status
end
FactoryBot.define do
factory :task do
traits_for_enum(:status, { queued: 0, started: 1, finished: 2 })
end
end
Attribute precedence
Traits that define the same attributes won't raise AttributeDefinitionErrors; the trait that defines the attribute last gets precedence.
factory :user do
name { "Friendly User" }
login { name }
trait :active do
name { "John Doe" }
status { :active }
login { "#{name} (active)" }
end
trait :inactive do
name { "Jane Doe" }
status { :inactive }
login { "#{name} (inactive)" }
end
trait :admin do
admin { true }
login { "admin-#{name}" }
end
factory :active_admin, traits: [:active, :admin] # login will be "admin-John Doe"
factory :inactive_admin, traits: [:admin, :inactive] # login will be "Jane Doe (inactive)"
end
In child factories
You can override individual attributes granted by a trait in a child factory:
factory :user do
name { "Friendly User" }
login { name }
trait :active do
name { "John Doe" }
status { :active }
login { "#{name} (M)" }
end
factory :brandon do
active
name { "Brandon" }
end
end
As mixins
Traits can be defined outside of factories and used as mixins to compose shared attributes:
FactoryBot.define do
trait :timestamps do
created_at { 8.days.ago }
updated_at { 4.days.ago }
end
factory :user, traits: [:timestamps] do
username { "john_doe" }
end
factory :post do
timestamps
title { "Traits rock" }
end
end
With associations
Traits can be used with associations easily too:
factory :user do
name { "Friendly User" }
trait :admin do
admin { true }
end
end
factory :post do
association :user, :admin, name: 'John Doe'
end
# creates an admin user with name "John Doe"
create(:post).user
When you're using association names that are different than the factory:
factory :user do
name { "Friendly User" }
trait :admin do
admin { true }
end
end
factory :post do
association :author, :admin, factory: :user, name: 'John Doe'
# or
association :author, factory: [:user, :admin], name: 'John Doe'
end
# creates an admin user with name "John Doe"
create(:post).author
Traits within traits
Traits can be used within other traits to mix in their attributes.
factory :order do
trait :completed do
completed_at { 3.days.ago }
end
trait :refunded do
completed
refunded_at { 1.day.ago }
end
end
With transient attributes
Traits can accept transient attributes.
factory :invoice do
trait :with_amount do
transient do
amount { 1 }
end
after(:create) do |invoice, context|
create :line_item, invoice: invoice, amount: context.amount
end
end
end
create :invoice, :with_amount, amount: 2
Callbacks
factory_bot makes four callbacks available:
- after(:build) - called after a factory is built (via
FactoryBot.build
,FactoryBot.create
) - before(:create) - called before a factory is saved (via
FactoryBot.create
) - after(:create) - called after a factory is saved (via
FactoryBot.create
) - after(:stub) - called after a factory is stubbed (via
FactoryBot.build_stubbed
)
Examples:
# Define a factory that calls the generate_hashed_password method after the user factory is built
factory :user do
after(:build) { |user, context| generate_hashed_password(user) }
end
Note that you'll have an instance of the object in the block.
Multiple callbacks
You can also define multiple types of callbacks on the same factory:
factory :user do
after(:build) { |user| do_something_to(user) }
after(:create) { |user| do_something_else_to(user) }
end
Factories can also define any number of the same kind of callback. These callbacks will be executed in the order they are specified:
factory :user do
after(:create) { this_runs_first }
after(:create) { then_this }
end
Calling create
will invoke both after_build
and after_create
callbacks.
Also, like standard attributes, child factories will inherit (and can also define) callbacks from their parent factory.
Multiple callbacks can be assigned to run a block; this is useful when building various strategies that run the same code (since there are no callbacks that are shared across all strategies).
factory :user do
callback(:after_stub, :before_create) { do_something }
after(:stub, :create) { do_something_else }
before(:create, :custom) { do_a_third_thing }
end
Global callbacks
To override callbacks for all factories, define them within the
FactoryBot.define
block:
FactoryBot.define do
after(:build) { |object| puts "Built #{object}" }
after(:create) { |object| AuditLog.create(attrs: object.attributes) }
factory :user do
name { "John Doe" }
end
end
Symbol#to_proc
You can call callbacks that rely on Symbol#to_proc
:
# app/models/user.rb
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
def confirm!
# confirm the user account
end
end
# spec/factories.rb
FactoryBot.define do
factory :user do
after :create, &:confirm!
end
end
create(:user) # creates the user and confirms it
Modifying factories
If you're given a set of factories (say, from a gem developer) but want to change them to fit into your application better, you can modify that factory instead of creating a child factory and adding attributes there.
If a gem were to give you a User factory:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :user do
full_name { "John Doe" }
sequence(:username) { |n| "user#{n}" }
password { "password" }
end
end
Instead of creating a child factory that added additional attributes:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :application_user, parent: :user do
full_name { "Jane Doe" }
date_of_birth { 21.years.ago }
health { 90 }
end
end
You could modify that factory instead.
FactoryBot.modify do
factory :user do
full_name { "Jane Doe" }
date_of_birth { 21.years.ago }
health { 90 }
end
end
When modifying a factory, you can change any of the attributes you want (aside from callbacks).
FactoryBot.modify
must be called outside of a FactoryBot.define
block as it
operates on factories differently.
A caveat: you can only modify factories (not sequences or traits), and
callbacks still compound as they normally would. So, if the factory you're
modifying defines an after(:create)
callback, you defining an
after(:create)
won't override it, it will instead be run after the first
callback.
Linting Factories
factory_bot allows for linting known factories:
FactoryBot.lint
FactoryBot.lint
creates each factory and catches any exceptions raised during
the creation process. FactoryBot::InvalidFactoryError
is raised with a list
of factories (and corresponding exceptions) for factories which could not be
created.
Recommended usage of FactoryBot.lint
is to run this in a separate task before
your test suite is executed. Running it in a before(:suite)
will negatively
impact the performance of your tests when running single tests.
Example Rake task:
# lib/tasks/factory_bot.rake
namespace :factory_bot do
desc "Verify that all FactoryBot factories are valid"
task lint: :environment do
if Rails.env.test?
conn = ActiveRecord::Base.connection
conn.transaction do
FactoryBot.lint
raise ActiveRecord::Rollback
end
else
system("bundle exec rake factory_bot:lint RAILS_ENV='test'")
fail if $?.exitstatus.nonzero?
end
end
end
After calling FactoryBot.lint
, you'll likely want to clear out the database,
as records will most likely be created. The provided example above uses an SQL
transaction and rollback to leave the database clean.
You can lint factories selectively by passing only factories you want linted:
factories_to_lint = FactoryBot.factories.reject do |factory|
factory.name =~ /^old_/
end
FactoryBot.lint factories_to_lint
This would lint all factories that aren't prefixed with old_
.
Traits can also be linted. This option verifies that each and every trait of a
factory generates a valid object on its own. This is turned on by passing
traits: true
to the lint
method:
FactoryBot.lint traits: true
This can also be combined with other arguments:
FactoryBot.lint factories_to_lint, traits: true
You can also specify the strategy used for linting:
FactoryBot.lint strategy: :build
Verbose linting will include full backtraces for each error, which can be helpful for debugging:
FactoryBot.lint verbose: true
Custom Construction
If you want to use factory_bot to construct an object where some attributes
are passed to initialize
or if you want to do something other than simply
calling new
on your build class, you can override the default behavior by
defining initialize_with
on your factory. Example:
# user.rb
class User
attr_accessor :name, :email
def initialize(name)
@name = name
end
end
# factories.rb
sequence(:email) { |n| "person#{n}@example.com" }
factory :user do
name { "Jane Doe" }
email
initialize_with { new(name) }
end
build(:user).name # Jane Doe
Although factory_bot is written to work with ActiveRecord out of the box, it
can also work with any Ruby class. For maximum compatibility with ActiveRecord,
the default initializer builds all instances by calling new
on your build
class without any arguments. It then calls attribute writer methods to assign
all the attribute values. While that works fine for ActiveRecord, it actually
doesn't work for almost any other Ruby class.
You can override the initializer in order to:
- Build non-ActiveRecord objects that require arguments to
initialize
- Use a method other than
new
to instantiate the instance - Do wild things like decorate the instance after it's built
When using initialize_with
, you don't have to declare the class itself when
calling new
; however, any other class methods you want to call will have to
be called on the class explicitly.
For example:
factory :user do
name { "John Doe" }
initialize_with { User.build_with_name(name) }
end
You can also access all public attributes within the initialize_with
block
by calling attributes
:
factory :user do
transient do
comments_count { 5 }
end
name "John Doe"
initialize_with { new(**attributes) }
end
This will build a hash of all attributes to be passed to new
. It won't
include transient attributes, but everything else defined in the factory will
be passed (associations, evaluated sequences, etc.)
You can define initialize_with
for all factories by including it in the
FactoryBot.define
block:
FactoryBot.define do
initialize_with { new("Awesome first argument") }
end
When using initialize_with
, attributes accessed from within the
initialize_with
block are assigned only in the constructor; this equates to
roughly the following code:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :user do
initialize_with { new(name) }
name { 'value' }
end
end
build(:user)
# runs
User.new('value')
This prevents duplicate assignment; in versions of factory_bot before 4.0, it would run this:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :user do
initialize_with { new(name) }
name { 'value' }
end
end
build(:user)
# runs
user = User.new('value')
user.name = 'value'
Custom Strategies
There are times where you may want to extend behavior of factory_bot by adding a custom build strategy.
Strategies define two methods: association
and result
. association
receives a FactoryBot::FactoryRunner
instance, upon which you can call run
,
overriding the strategy if you want. The second method, result
, receives a
FactoryBot::Evaluation
instance. It provides a way to trigger callbacks (with
notify
), object
or hash
(to get the result instance or a hash based on
the attributes defined in the factory), and create
, which executes the
to_create
callback defined on the factory.
To understand how factory_bot uses strategies internally, it's probably easiest to view the source for each of the four default strategies.
Here's an example of composing a strategy using FactoryBot::Strategy::Create
to build a JSON representation of your model.
class JsonStrategy
def initialize
@strategy = FactoryBot.strategy_by_name(:create).new
end
delegate :association, to: :@strategy
def result(evaluation)
@strategy.result(evaluation).to_json
end
def to_sym
:json
end
end
For factory_bot to recognize the new strategy, you can register it:
FactoryBot.register_strategy(:json, JsonStrategy)
This allows you to call
FactoryBot.json(:user)
Finally, you can override factory_bot's own strategies if you'd like by registering a new object in place of the strategies.
Custom Callbacks
Custom callbacks can be defined if you're using custom strategies:
class JsonStrategy
def initialize
@strategy = FactoryBot.strategy_by_name(:create).new
end
delegate :association, to: :@strategy
def result(evaluation)
result = @strategy.result(evaluation)
evaluation.notify(:before_json, result)
result.to_json.tap do |json|
evaluation.notify(:after_json, json)
evaluation.notify(:make_json_awesome, json)
end
end
def to_sym
:json
end
end
FactoryBot.register_strategy(:json, JsonStrategy)
FactoryBot.define do
factory :user do
before(:json) { |user| do_something_to(user) }
after(:json) { |user_json| do_something_to(user_json) }
callback(:make_json_awesome) { |user_json| do_something_to(user_json) }
end
end
Custom Methods to Persist Objects
By default, creating a record will call save!
on the instance; since this may
not always be ideal, you can override that behavior by defining to_create
on
the factory:
factory :different_orm_model do
to_create { |instance| instance.persist! }
end
To disable the persistence method altogether on create, you can skip_create
for that factory:
factory :user_without_database do
skip_create
end
To override to_create
for all factories, define it within the
FactoryBot.define
block:
FactoryBot.define do
to_create { |instance| instance.persist! }
factory :user do
name { "John Doe" }
end
end
ActiveSupport Instrumentation
In order to track what factories are created (and with what build strategy),
ActiveSupport::Notifications
are included to provide a way to subscribe to
factories being compiled and run. One example would be to track factories based on a
threshold of execution time.
ActiveSupport::Notifications.subscribe("factory_bot.run_factory") do |name, start, finish, id, payload|
execution_time_in_seconds = finish - start
if execution_time_in_seconds >= 0.5
$stderr.puts "Slow factory: #{payload[:name]} using strategy #{payload[:strategy]}"
end
end
Another example would be tracking all factories and how they're used throughout
your test suite. If you're using RSpec, it's as simple as adding a
before(:suite)
and after(:suite)
:
factory_bot_results = {}
config.before(:suite) do
ActiveSupport::Notifications.subscribe("factory_bot.run_factory") do |name, start, finish, id, payload|
factory_name = payload[:name]
strategy_name = payload[:strategy]
factory_bot_results[factory_name] ||= {}
factory_bot_results[factory_name][strategy_name] ||= 0
factory_bot_results[factory_name][strategy_name] += 1
end
end
config.after(:suite) do
puts factory_bot_results
end
Another example could involve tracking the attributes and traits that factories are compiled with. If you're using RSpec, you could add before(:suite)
and after(:suite)
blocks that subscribe to factory_bot.compile_factory
notifications:
factory_bot_results = {}
config.before(:suite) do
ActiveSupport::Notifications.subscribe("factory_bot.compile_factory") do |name, start, finish, id, payload|
factory_name = payload[:name]
factory_class = payload[:class]
attributes = payload[:attributes]
traits = payload[:traits]
factory_bot_results[factory_class] ||= {}
factory_bot_results[factory_class][factory_name] = {
attributes: attributes.map(&:name)
traits: traits.map(&:name)
}
end
end
config.after(:suite) do
puts factory_bot_results
end
has_many associations
There are a few ways to generate data for a has_many
relationship. The
simplest approach is to write a helper method in plain Ruby to tie together the
different records:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :post do
title { "Through the Looking Glass" }
user
end
factory :user do
name { "Rachel Sanchez" }
end
end
def user_with_posts(posts_count: 5)
FactoryBot.create(:user) do |user|
FactoryBot.create_list(:post, posts_count, user: user)
end
end
create(:user).posts.length # 0
user_with_posts.posts.length # 5
user_with_posts(posts_count: 15).posts.length # 15
If you prefer to keep the object creation fully within factory_bot, you can
build the posts in an after(:create)
callback.
FactoryBot.define do
factory :post do
title { "Through the Looking Glass" }
user
end
factory :user do
name { "John Doe" }
# user_with_posts will create post data after the user has been created
factory :user_with_posts do
# posts_count is declared as a transient attribute available in the
# callback via the context
transient do
posts_count { 5 }
end
# the after(:create) yields two values; the user instance itself and the
# context, which stores all values from the factory, including transient
# attributes; `create_list`'s second argument is the number of records
# to create and we make sure the user is associated properly to the post
after(:create) do |user, context|
create_list(:post, context.posts_count, user: user)
# You may need to reload the record here, depending on your application
user.reload
end
end
end
end
create(:user).posts.length # 0
create(:user_with_posts).posts.length # 5
create(:user_with_posts, posts_count: 15).posts.length # 15
Or, for a solution that works with build
, build_stubbed
, and create
(although it doesn't work well with attributes_for
), you can use inline
associations:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :post do
title { "Through the Looking Glass" }
user
end
factory :user do
name { "Taylor Kim" }
factory :user_with_posts do
posts { [association(:post)] }
end
end
end
create(:user).posts.length # 0
create(:user_with_posts).posts.length # 1
build(:user_with_posts).posts.length # 1
build_stubbed(:user_with_posts).posts.length # 1
For more flexibility you can combine this with the posts_count
transient
attribute from the callback example:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :post do
title { "Through the Looking Glass" }
user
end
factory :user do
name { "Adiza Kumato" }
factory :user_with_posts do
transient do
posts_count { 5 }
end
posts do
Array.new(posts_count) { association(:post) }
end
end
end
end
create(:user_with_posts).posts.length # 5
create(:user_with_posts, posts_count: 15).posts.length # 15
build(:user_with_posts, posts_count: 15).posts.length # 15
build_stubbed(:user_with_posts, posts_count: 15).posts.length # 15
has_and_belongs_to_many associations
Generating data for a has_and_belongs_to_many
relationship is very similar
to the above has_many
relationship, with a small change: you need to pass an
array of objects to the model's pluralized attribute name rather than a single
object to the singular version of the attribute name.
def profile_with_languages(languages_count: 2)
FactoryBot.create(:profile) do |profile|
FactoryBot.create_list(:language, languages_count, profiles: [profile])
end
end
Or with the callback approach:
factory :profile_with_languages do
transient do
languages_count { 2 }
end
after(:create) do |profile, context|
create_list(:language, context.languages_count, profiles: [profile])
profile.reload
end
end
Or the inline association approach (note the use of the instance
method here
to refer to the profile being built):
factory :profile_with_languages do
transient do
languages_count { 2 }
end
languages do
Array.new(languages_count) do
association(:language, profiles: [instance])
end
end
end
Polymorphic associations
Polymorphic associations can be handled with traits:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :video
factory :photo
factory :comment do
for_photo # default to the :for_photo trait if none is specified
trait :for_video do
association :commentable, factory: :video
end
trait :for_photo do
association :commentable, factory: :photo
end
end
end
This allows us to do:
create(:comment)
create(:comment, :for_video)
create(:comment, :for_photo)
Interconnected associations
There are limitless ways objects might be interconnected, and factory_bot may not always be suited to handle those relationships. In some cases it makes sense to use factory_bot to build each individual object, and then to write helper methods in plain Ruby to tie those objects together.
That said, some more complex, interconnected relationships can be built in factory_bot
using inline associations with reference to the instance
being built.
Let's say your models look like this, where an associated Student
and
Profile
should both belong to the same School
:
class Student < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :school
has_one :profile
end
class Profile < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :school
belongs_to :student
end
class School < ApplicationRecord
has_many :students
has_many :profiles
end
We can ensure the student and profile are connected to each other and to the same school with a factory like this:
FactoryBot.define do
factory :student do
school
profile { association :profile, student: instance, school: school }
end
factory :profile do
school
student { association :student, profile: instance, school: school }
end
factory :school
end
Note that this approach works with build
, build_stubbed
, and create
, but
the associations will return nil
when using attributes_for
.
Also, note that if you assign any attributes inside a custom initialize_with
(e.g. initialize_with { new(**attributes) }
), those attributes should not refer to instance
,
since it will be nil
.