Shoulda-matchers: Broken Rspec Integration 3.0.0

[edwinlunando]

Hi, I just installed this gem and following the readme, but. it gives this error while running rspec. uninitialized constant Shoulda (NameError)

This is my rails_helper.rb

Shoulda::Matchers.configure do |config|

    config.integrate do |with|
      # Choose a test framework:
      with.test_framework :rspec

      # Or, choose the following (which implies all of the above):
      with.library :rails
    end

  end

Any idea?

[mcmire]

I'm not sure why you'd be getting that error. I'm assuming you have shoulda-matchers in your Gemfile?

[edwinlunando]

Yes. It is a fresh install.

group :test do

  gem 'rspec-rails', '~> 3.0'
  gem 'shoulda-matchers', '~> 3.0.0'
  gem 'factory_girl_rails'
  gem 'faker'

end

[mcmire]

Is there a way you can share the repo or re-create this in a repo?

I'm also assuming that there are other things in your rails_helper than just the shoulda-matchers configuration -- you didn't replace the entire file?

[edwinlunando]

You can see it here https://github.com/edwinlunando/bitubi. I hope it helps.

[edwinlunando]

Sorry for wasting your time. Now, it worked. :)).

[mcmire]

Cool, glad you got it working.

[Oladele]

I hate to do this but I've been stumped on this for some days. I created a brand new project to demonstrate. Thanks much for any help.

https://github.com/Oladele/sample-shoulda-app/commits/master

The commit history message summarizes the commands used to generate each commit per the install docs of Rails, Rspec and Shoulda/Matchers:

1. rails new skip tests, javascript
2. rspec gem, rails g rspec:install, rspec
3. bundle binstubs rspec-core (generates bin/rspec for Rails 4)
4. :+1: shoulda-matchers gem install
   _bundle exec rspec runs fine up to this point_
5. :-1: shoulda-matchers gem configure (per ~>3.0 config docs config code further below is added to spec_helper)
   _bundle exec rspec broken!!_

Same error as original thread: uninitialized constant Shoulda (NameError)

shoulda-matchers ~>3.0 config added to spec_helper

Shoulda::Matchers.configure do |config|
  config.integrate do |with|
    with.test_framework :rspec
    with.library :rails
  end
end

Thanks much for any help

[mcmire]

The shoulda-matchers configuration should not be added to spec_helper, but to rails_helper.

When you run the rspec executable, because you have --require spec_helper in .rspec, RSpec will load spec_helper first before it tries to run any files. The goal of spec_helper is to set up any tests that don't need Rails to run; therefore, it will not load your Rails environment or automatically require any gems in your Gemfile, including shoulda-matchers. This is why the Shoulda constant isn't available. To fix this, move that configuration block into rails_helper (which _does_ set up a Rails environment) and everything should be golden.

[edwinlunando]

Ah yes. I think my problem is I added the configuration at spec_helper.rb

[Oladele]

@mcmire Thanks so much. This was exactly the issue. Thanks for the quick and super-clear and instructive response.

[cank]

I ran into this too. I think the confusion might be because the shoulda README.md contain this:

You can supply this information by using a configuration block. Place the following in your test or spec helper...

@mcmire Any chance we can get this clarified in the README? I'd be happy to submit a merge request with some changes too.

[mcmire]

Sure, that'd be fine.

Would something like this help?

Place the following in your rails_helper (if you're using RSpec) or test_helper (if you're using Minitest)

[JoseMPena]

I was having same issues. Solution: I had a group "test" in the Gemfile for which the shoulda-matcher was defined, but was working all the time on development environment. Just changed the gem definition to :development, :test group and bundle install again. Worked like a charm.

[Wokoro]

i am still having this issue
$ bundle exec rspec

An error occurred while loading ./spec/models/item_spec.rb.
Failure/Error:
Shoulda::Matchers.configure do |config| config.integrate do |with| with.test_framework :rspec with.library :rails end end

NameError:
uninitialized constant Shoulda

./spec/rails_helper.rb:6:in `

./spec/models/item_spec.rb:1:in `require'

./spec/models/item_spec.rb:1:in `

please i need help

[mcmire]

@Wokoro Do you have shoulda-matchers in your Gemfile?

[HeidiHansen]

@mcmire, I am having this issue.
I'm using Ruby 2.3.4p301 (2017-03-30 revision 58214) [x86_64-darwin16] and Rails 5.1.3
shoulda-matchers are included in my gemfile like this:

group :development, :test do
  gem 'shoulda-matchers', '~> 3.1'

(I did have shoulda-matchers line in group :test do instead earlier, with the same error.

Here are the errors:

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ bundle exec rspec

An error occurred while loading ./spec/models/meal_spec.rb.
Failure/Error:
  Shoulda::Matchers.configure do |config|
    config.integrate do |with|
      with.test_framework :rspec
      with.library :rails
    end
  end

NameError:
  uninitialized constant Shoulda
# ./spec/rails_helper.rb:6:in `<top (required)>'
# ./spec/models/meal_spec.rb:1:in `require'
# ./spec/models/meal_spec.rb:1:in `<top (required)>'

An error occurred while loading ./spec/models/user_spec.rb.
Failure/Error:
  Shoulda::Matchers.configure do |config|
    config.integrate do |with|
      with.test_framework :rspec
      with.library :rails
    end
  end

NameError:
  uninitialized constant Shoulda
# ./spec/rails_helper.rb:6:in `<top (required)>'
# ./spec/models/user_spec.rb:1:in `require'
# ./spec/models/user_spec.rb:1:in `<top (required)>'
No examples found.


Finished in 0.00019 seconds (files took 0.11059 seconds to load)
0 examples, 0 failures, 2 errors occurred outside of examples

Here is my rails_helper:

# require database cleaner at the top level
require 'database_cleaner'

# [...]
# configure shoulda matchers to use rspec as the test framework and full matcher libraries for rails
Shoulda::Matchers.configure do |config|
  config.integrate do |with|
    with.test_framework :rspec
    with.library :rails
  end
end

# [...]
RSpec.configuration do |config|
  # [...]
  # add `FactoryGirl` methods
  config.include FactoryGirl::Syntax::Methods

  # start by truncating all the tables but then use the faster transaction strategy the rest of the time.
  config.before(:suite) do
    DatabaseCleaner.clean_with(:truncation)
    DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
  end

  # start the transaction strategy as examples are run
  config.around(:each) do |example|
    DatabaseCleaner.cleaning do
      example.run
    end
  end
  # [...]
end

[hamzaaltaf]

any answer to this issue that @HeidiHansen has mentioned, as I am having the same problem with ruby 2.3.4

[rekliure]

Just insert these lines into spec/spec_helper.rb:

config.include(Shoulda::Matchers::ActiveModel, type: :model)
config.include(Shoulda::Matchers::ActiveRecord, type: :model)

Reference:

https://github.com/thoughtbot/shoulda-matchers#availability-of-matchers-in-various-example-groups

[mcmire]

@HeidiHansen @hamzaaltaf @rekliure Sorry for the delay on this. You shouldn't have to do that -- the gem does that for you automatically. If you're getting an "uninitialized constant Shoulda" error, it means that the gem isn't loaded. Make sure that you are loading the Rails environment in your rails_helper (it should be at the top somewhere) and that you've placed the Shoulda configuration _below_ this line.

[wayne676]

You need add those new contents to rails_helper.rb instead of replacing the original code
rails_helper should be like this (it works for me):

# This file is copied to spec/ when you run 'rails generate rspec:install'
require 'spec_helper'
ENV['RAILS_ENV'] ||= 'test'
require File.expand_path('../../config/environment', __FILE__)
# Prevent database truncation if the environment is production
abort("The Rails environment is running in production mode!") if Rails.env.production?
require 'rspec/rails'
# Add additional requires below this line. Rails is not loaded until this point!
require 'database_cleaner'

# [...]

Shoulda::Matchers.configure do |config|
  config.integrate do |with|
    with.test_framework :rspec
    with.library :rails
  end
end


# end
# Requires supporting ruby files with custom matchers and macros, etc, in
# spec/support/ and its subdirectories. Files matching `spec/**/*_spec.rb` are
# run as spec files by default. This means that files in spec/support that end
# in _spec.rb will both be required and run as specs, causing the specs to be
# run twice. It is recommended that you do not name files matching this glob to
# end with _spec.rb. You can configure this pattern with the --pattern
# option on the command line or in ~/.rspec, .rspec or `.rspec-local`.
#
# The following line is provided for convenience purposes. It has the downside
# of increasing the boot-up time by auto-requiring all files in the support
# directory. Alternatively, in the individual `*_spec.rb` files, manually
# require only the support files necessary.
#
Dir[Rails.root.join('spec/support/**/*.rb')].each { |f| require f }

# Checks for pending migrations and applies them before tests are run.
# If you are not using ActiveRecord, you can remove this line.
ActiveRecord::Migration.maintain_test_schema!

RSpec.configure do |config|
  config.include RequestSpecHelper, type: :request
  # [...]

  config.include FactoryGirl::Syntax::Methods

  # start by truncating all the tables but then use the faster transaction strategy the rest of the time.
  config.before(:suite) do
    DatabaseCleaner.clean_with(:truncation)
    DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
  end

  # start the transaction strategy as examples are run
  config.around(:each) do |example|
    DatabaseCleaner.cleaning do
      example.run
    end
  end
  # [...]
  # Remove this line if you're not using ActiveRecord or ActiveRecord fixtures
  config.fixture_path = "#{::Rails.root}/spec/fixtures"

  # If you're not using ActiveRecord, or you'd prefer not to run each of your
  # examples within a transaction, remove the following line or assign false
  # instead of true.
  config.use_transactional_fixtures = true

  # RSpec Rails can automatically mix in different behaviours to your tests
  # based on their file location, for example enabling you to call `get` and
  # `post` in specs under `spec/controllers`.
  #
  # You can disable this behaviour by removing the line below, and instead
  # explicitly tag your specs with their type, e.g.:
  #
  #     RSpec.describe UsersController, :type => :controller do
  #       # ...
  #     end
  #
  # The different available types are documented in the features, such as in
  # https://relishapp.com/rspec/rspec-rails/docs
  config.infer_spec_type_from_file_location!

  # Filter lines from Rails gems in backtraces.
  config.filter_rails_from_backtrace!
  # arbitrary gems may also be filtered via:
  # config.filter_gems_from_backtrace("gem name")
end

[ddavisgraphics]

I've had the same issue, the only way I've been able to solve the issue is to use the full line,
RAILS_ENV=test bundle exec rspec

EDIT: Changing the location to group :development, :test also works, but this seems odd to me. The test suite feels like it should be in test only. I guess it is just a matter of semantics.

[mcmire]

Since this is an old issue, if you're still seeing issues please make a new issue! That will help me sort out what the actual issue you're having is.