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Turbine

Turbine is a small testing library for kotlinx.coroutines Flow.

flowOf("one", "two").test {
  assertEquals("one", awaitItem())
  assertEquals("two", awaitItem())
  awaitComplete()
}

A turbine is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.

– Wikipedia

Download

repositories {
  mavenCentral()
}
dependencies {
  testImplementation("app.cash.turbine:turbine:1.2.0")
}

<details> <summary>Snapshots of the development version are available in Sonatype's snapshots repository.</summary> <p>

repositories {
  maven {
    url = uri("https://oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/snapshots/")
  }
}
dependencies {
  testImplementation("app.cash.turbine:turbine:1.3.0-SNAPSHOT")
}

</p> </details>

While Turbine's own API is stable, we are currently forced to depend on an unstable API from kotlinx.coroutines test artifact: UnconfinedTestDispatcher. Without this usage of Turbine with runTest would break. It's possible for future coroutine library updates to alter the behavior of this library as a result. We will make every effort to ensure behavioral stability as well until this API dependency is stabilized (tracking issue #132).

Usage

A Turbine is a thin wrapper over a Channel with an API designed for testing.

You can call awaitItem() to suspend and wait for an item to be sent to the Turbine:

assertEquals("one", turbine.awaitItem())

...awaitComplete() to suspend until the Turbine completes without an exception:

turbine.awaitComplete()

...or awaitError() to suspend until the Turbine completes with a Throwable.

assertEquals("broken!", turbine.awaitError().message)

If await* is called and nothing happens, Turbine will timeout and fail instead of hanging.

When you are done with a Turbine, you can clean up by calling cancel() to terminate any backing coroutines. Finally, you can assert that all events were consumed by calling ensureAllEventsConsumed().

Single Flow

The simplest way to create and run a Turbine is produce one from a Flow. To test a single Flow, call the test extension:

someFlow.test {
  // Validation code here!
}

test launches a new coroutine, calls someFlow.collect, and feeds the results into a Turbine. Then it calls the validation block, passing in the read-only ReceiveTurbine interface as a receiver:

flowOf("one").test {
  assertEquals("one", awaitItem())
  awaitComplete()
}

When the validation block is complete, test cancels the coroutine and calls ensureAllEventsConsumed().

Multiple Flows

To test multiple flows, assign each Turbine to a separate val by calling testIn instead:

runTest {
  turbineScope {
    val turbine1 = flowOf(1).testIn(backgroundScope)
    val turbine2 = flowOf(2).testIn(backgroundScope)
    assertEquals(1, turbine1.awaitItem())
    assertEquals(2, turbine2.awaitItem())
    turbine1.awaitComplete()
    turbine2.awaitComplete()
  }
}

Like test, testIn produces a ReceiveTurbine. ensureAllEventsConsumed() will be invoked when the calling coroutine completes.

testIn cannot automatically clean up its coroutine, so it is up to you to ensure that the running flow terminates. Use runTest's backgroundScope, and it will take care of this automatically. Otherwise, make sure to call one of the following methods before the end of your scope:

cancel()
awaitComplete()
awaitError()

Otherwise, your test will hang.

Consuming All Events

Failing to consume all events before the end of a flow-based Turbine's validation block will fail your test:

flowOf("one", "two").test {
  assertEquals("one", awaitItem())
}

Exception in thread "main" AssertionError:
  Unconsumed events found:
   - Item(two)
   - Complete

The same goes for testIn, but at the end of the calling coroutine:

runTest {
  turbineScope {
    val turbine = flowOf("one", "two").testIn(backgroundScope)
    turbine.assertEquals("one", awaitItem())
  }
}

Exception in thread "main" AssertionError:
  Unconsumed events found:
   - Item(two)
   - Complete

Received events can be explicitly ignored, however.

flowOf("one", "two").test {
  assertEquals("one", awaitItem())
  cancelAndIgnoreRemainingEvents()
}

Additionally, we can receive the most recent emitted item and ignore the previous ones.

flowOf("one", "two", "three")
  .map {
    delay(100)
    it
  }
  .test {
    // 0 - 100ms -> no emission yet
    // 100ms - 200ms -> "one" is emitted
    // 200ms - 300ms -> "two" is emitted
    // 300ms - 400ms -> "three" is emitted
    delay(250)
    assertEquals("two", expectMostRecentItem())
    cancelAndIgnoreRemainingEvents()
  }

Flow Termination

Flow termination events (exceptions and completion) are exposed as events which must be consumed for validation. So, for example, throwing a RuntimeException inside of your flow will not throw an exception in your test. It will instead produce a Turbine error event:

flow { throw RuntimeException("broken!") }.test {
  assertEquals("broken!", awaitError().message)
}

Failure to consume an error will result in the same unconsumed event exception as above, but with the exception added as the cause so that the full stacktrace is available.

flow<Nothing> { throw RuntimeException("broken!") }.test { }

app.cash.turbine.TurbineAssertionError: Unconsumed events found:
 - Error(RuntimeException)
	at app//app.cash.turbine.ChannelTurbine.ensureAllEventsConsumed(Turbine.kt:215)
  ... 80 more
Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: broken!
	at example.MainKt$main$1.invokeSuspend(FlowTest.kt:652)
	... 105 more

Standalone Turbines

In addition to ReceiveTurbines created from flows, standalone Turbines can be used to communicate with test code outside of a flow. Use them everywhere, and you might never need runCurrent() again. Here's an example of how to use Turbine() in a fake:

class FakeNavigator : Navigator {
  val goTos = Turbine<Screen>()

  override fun goTo(screen: Screen) {
    goTos.add(screen)
  }
}

runTest {
  val navigator = FakeNavigator()
  val events: Flow<UiEvent> =
    MutableSharedFlow<UiEvent>(extraBufferCapacity = 50)
  val models: Flow<UiModel> =
    makePresenter(navigator).present(events)
  models.test {
    assertEquals(UiModel(title = "Hi there"), awaitItem())
    events.emit(UiEvent.Close)
    assertEquals(Screens.Back, navigator.goTos.awaitItem())
  }
}

Standalone Turbine Compat APIs

To support codebases with a mix of coroutines and non-coroutines code, standalone Turbine includes non-suspending compat APIs. All the await methods have equivalent take methods that are non-suspending:

val navigator = FakeNavigator()
val events: PublishRelay<UiEvent> = PublishRelay.create()

val models: Observable<UiModel> =
  makePresenter(navigator).present(events)
val testObserver = models.test()
testObserver.assertValue(UiModel(title = "Hi there"))
events.accept(UiEvent.Close)
assertEquals(Screens.Back, navigator.goTos.takeItem())

Use takeItem() and friends, and Turbine behaves like simple queue; use awaitItem() and friends, and it's a Turbine.

These methods should only be used from a non-suspending context. On JVM platforms, they will throw when used from a suspending context.

Asynchronicity and Turbine

Flows are asynchronous by default. Your flow is collected concurrently by Turbine alongside your test code.

Handling this asynchronicity works the same way with Turbine as it does in production coroutines code: instead of using tools like runCurrent() to "push" an asynchronous flow along, Turbine's awaitItem(), awaitComplete(), and awaitError() "pull" them along by parking until a new event is ready.

channelFlow {
  withContext(IO) {
    Thread.sleep(100)
    send("item")
  }
}.test {
  assertEquals("item", awaitItem())
  awaitComplete()
}

Your validation code may run concurrently with the flow under test, but Turbine puts it in the driver's seat as much as possible: test will end when your validation block is done executing, implicitly cancelling the flow under test.

channelFlow {
  withContext(IO) {
    repeat(10) {
      Thread.sleep(200)
      send("item $it")
    }
  }
}.test {
  assertEquals("item 0", awaitItem())
  assertEquals("item 1", awaitItem())
  assertEquals("item 2", awaitItem())
}

Flows can also be explicitly canceled at any point.

channelFlow {
  withContext(IO) {
    repeat(10) {
      Thread.sleep(200)
      send("item $it")
    }
  }
}.test {
  Thread.sleep(700)
  cancel()

  assertEquals("item 0", awaitItem())
  assertEquals("item 1", awaitItem())
  assertEquals("item 2", awaitItem())
}

Names

Turbines can be named to improve error feedback. Pass in a name to test, testIn, or Turbine(), and it will be included in any errors that are thrown:

runTest {
  turbineScope {
    val turbine1 = flowOf(1).testIn(backgroundScope, name = "turbine 1")
    val turbine2 = flowOf(2).testIn(backgroundScope, name = "turbine 2")
    turbine1.awaitComplete()
    turbine2.awaitComplete()
  }
}

Expected complete for turbine 1 but found Item(1)
app.cash.turbine.TurbineAssertionError: Expected complete for turbine 1 but found Item(1)
	at app//app.cash.turbine.ChannelKt.unexpectedEvent(channel.kt:258)
	at app//app.cash.turbine.ChannelKt.awaitComplete(channel.kt:226)
	at app//app.cash.turbine.ChannelKt$awaitComplete$1.invokeSuspend(channel.kt)
	at app//kotlin.coroutines.jvm.internal.BaseContinuationImpl.resumeWith(ContinuationImpl.kt:33)
	...

Order of Execution & Shared Flows

Shared flows are sensitive to order of execution. Calling emit before calling collect will drop the emitted value:

val mutableSharedFlow = MutableSharedFlow<Int>(replay = 0)
mutableSharedFlow.emit(1)
mutableSharedFlow.test {
  assertEquals(awaitItem(), 1)
}

No value produced in 1s
java.lang.AssertionError: No value produced in 1s
	at app.cash.turbine.ChannelKt.awaitEvent(channel.kt:90)
	at app.cash.turbine.ChannelKt$awaitEvent$1.invokeSuspend(channel.kt)
	(Coroutine boundary)
	at kotlinx.coroutines.test.TestBuildersKt__TestBuildersKt$runTestCoroutine$2.invokeSuspend(TestBuilders.kt:212)

Turbine's test and testIn methods guarantee that the flow under test will run up to the first suspension point before proceeding. So calling test on a shared flow before emitting will not drop:

val mutableSharedFlow = MutableSharedFlow<Int>(replay = 0)
mutableSharedFlow.test {
  mutableSharedFlow.emit(1)
  assertEquals(awaitItem(), 1)
}

If your code collects on shared flows, ensure that it does so promptly to have a lovely experience.

The shared flow types Kotlin currently provides are:

MutableStateFlow
StateFlow
MutableSharedFlow
SharedFlow

Timeouts

Turbine applies a timeout whenever it waits for an event. This is a wall clock time timeout that ignores runTest's virtual clock time.

The default timeout length is three seconds. This can be overridden by passing a timeout duration to test:

flowOf("one", "two").test(timeout = 10.milliseconds) {
  ...
}

This timeout will be used for all Turbine-related calls inside the validation block.

You can also override the timeout for Turbines created with testIn and Turbine():

val standalone = Turbine<String>(timeout = 10.milliseconds)
val flow = flowOf("one").testIn(
  scope = backgroundScope,
  timeout = 10.milliseconds,
)

These timeout overrides only apply to the Turbine on which they were applied.

Finally, you can also change the timeout for a whole block of code using withTurbineTimeout:

withTurbineTimeout(10.milliseconds) {
  ...
}

Channel Extensions

Most of Turbine's APIs are implemented as extensions on Channel. The more limited API surface of Turbine is usually preferable, but these extensions are also available as public APIs if you need them.

License

Copyright 2018 Square, Inc.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.