Controller specs are marked by :type => :controller or if you have set config.infer_spec_type_from_file_location! by placing them in spec/controllers.

A controller spec is an RSpec wrapper for a Rails functional test (ActionController::TestCase::Behavior). It allows you to simulate a single http request in each example, and then specify expected outcomes such as:

• rendered templates
• redirects
• instance variables assigned in the controller to be shared with the view
• cookies sent back with the response

To specify outcomes, you can use:

• standard rspec matchers (expect(response.status).to eq(200))
• standard test/unit assertions (assert_equal 200, response.status)
• rails assertions (assert_response 200)
• rails-specific matchers:

  • render_template

    expect(response).to render_template(:new)   # wraps assert_template

  • redirect_to

    expect(response).to redirect_to(location)   # wraps assert_redirected_to

  • have_http_status

    expect(response).to have_http_status(:created)

  • be_a_new

    expect(assigns(:widget)).to be_a_new(Widget)

RSpec.describe TeamsController do
  describe "GET index" do
    it "assigns @teams" do
      team = Team.create
      get :index
      expect(assigns(:teams)).to eq([team])
    end

    it "renders the index template" do
      get :index
      expect(response).to render_template("index")
    end
  end
end

• by default, views are not rendered. See views are stubbed by default and render_views for details.