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Quick reference

Vows.js Cheatsheet

A quick reference guide for Vows.js asynchronous BDD testing framework for Node.js: batches, topics, assertions, and async callbacks.

Compiled by Cheat Sheets · PublishedOctober 24, 2026

Vows is an asynchronous behavior-driven development (BDD) testing framework for Node.js.

Basic Usage

const vows = require('vows');
const assert = require('assert');

vows
  .describe('Math operations')
  .addBatch({
    'when calculating numbers': {
      topic: function () {
        return 100;
      },
      'should equal 100': function (number) {
        assert.equal(number, 100);
      }
    }
  })
  .export(module);

Running Tests

vows test/*-test.js --spec

Assertions

assert.equal(a, b);
assert.notEqual(a, b);
assert.strictEqual(a, b);

assert.isNaN(number);
assert.instanceOf(object, klass);
assert.isUndefined(object);
assert.isFunction(func);
assert.isNull(object);
assert.isNotZero(object);
assert.isObject(object);
assert.isString(object);

Asynchronous Topics

.addBatch({
  'when performing async tasks': {
    topic: function () {
      doAsyncWork(this.callback);
    },
    'should handle callback result': function (err, result) {
      assert.isNull(err);
      assert.equal(result, 42);
    }
  }
})

Related topics

#javascript #vows #testing #cheatsheet