as

Assign an alias for later use. Reference the alias later within a cy.get() query or cy.wait() command with an @ prefix.

Note: .as() assumes you are already familiar with core concepts such as aliases

Syntax

.as(aliasName)

Usage

Correct Usage

cy.get('.main-nav').find('li').first().as('firstNav') // Alias element as @firstNav
cy.intercept('PUT', '/users').as('putUser') // Alias route as @putUser
cy.stub(api, 'onUnauth').as('unauth') // Alias stub as @unauth
cy.spy(win, 'fetch').as('winFetch') // Alias spy as @winFetch

Incorrect Usage

cy.as('foo') // Errors, cannot be chained off 'cy'

Arguments

aliasName (String)

The name of the alias to be referenced later within a cy.get() or cy.wait() command using an @ prefix.

Yields

.as() yields the same subject it was given.
It is safe to chain further commands after .as().

Examples

DOM element

Aliasing a DOM element and then using cy.get() to access the aliased element.

it('disables on click', () => {
  cy.get('button[type=submit]').as('submitBtn')
  cy.get('@submitBtn').click().should('be.disabled')
})

Intercept

Aliasing an intercepted route defined with cy.intercept() and then using cy.wait() to wait for the aliased route.

// `PUT` requests on the `/users` endpoint will be stubbed with
// the `user` fixture and be aliased as `editUser`
cy.intercept('PUT', '/users', { fixture: 'user' }).as('editUser')

// we'll assume submitting `form` triggers a matching request
cy.get('form').submit()

// once a response comes back from the `editUser`
// this `wait` will resolve with the subject containing `url`
cy.wait('@editUser').its('url').should('contain', 'users')

More examples of aliasing routes can be found here.

Fixture

Aliasing cy.fixture() data and then using this to access it via the alias.

beforeEach(() => {
  cy.fixture('users-admins.json').as('admins')
})

it('the users fixture is bound to this.admins', function () {
  cy.log(`There are ${this.admins.length} administrators.`)
})

Note the use of the standard function syntax. Using arrow functions to access aliases via this won't work because of the lexical binding of this.

Notes

Aliases are reset

Note: all aliases are reset before each test. See the aliases guide for details.

Reserved words

Alias names cannot match some reserved words.

Some strings are not allowed as alias names since they are reserved words in Cypress. These words include: test, runnable, timeout, slow, skip, and inspect.

`as` is asynchronous

Remember that Cypress commands are async, including .as().

Because of this you cannot synchronously access anything you have aliased. You must use other asynchronous commands such as .then() to access what you've aliased.

Here are some further examples of using .as() that illustrate the asynchronous behavior.

describe('A fixture', () => {
  describe('alias can be accessed', () => {
    it('via get().', () => {
      cy.fixture('admin-users.json').as('admins')
      cy.get('@admins').then((users) => {
        cy.log(`There are ${users.length} admins.`)
      })
    })

    it('via then().', function () {
      cy.fixture('admin-users.json').as('admins')
      cy.visit('/').then(() => {
        cy.log(`There are ${this.admins.length} admins.`)
      })
    })
  })

  describe('aliased in beforeEach()', () => {
    beforeEach(() => {
      cy.fixture('admin-users.json').as('admins')
    })

    it('is bound to this.', function () {
      cy.log(`There are ${this.admins.length} admins.`)
    })
  })
})

Rules

Requirements

.as() requires being chained off a previous command.

Assertions

.as() is a utility command.
.as() will not run assertions. Assertions will pass through as if this command did not exist.

Timeouts

.as() cannot time out.

Command Log

Alias several routes

cy.intercept('/company/*').as('companyGet')
cy.intercept('/roles/*').as('rolesGet')
cy.intercept('/teams/*').as('teamsGet')
cy.intercept(/users\/\d+/).as('userGet')
cy.intercept('PUT', /^\/users\/\d+/).as('userPut')

Aliases of routes display in the routes instrument panel:

as