Client Build System

Installs, stages, and builds the client-side scripts necessary for running the Galaxy web client. When started through run.sh or any other method that utilizes scripts/common_startup.sh, Galaxy will (since 18.09) automatically build the client as a part of server startup when it detects changes unless that functionality is explicitly disabled.

The base dependencies used are Node.js and pnpm. Galaxy includes appropriate versions of these in the virtual environment, and they can be accessed by activating that with . .venv/bin/activate from the Galaxy root directory.

If you'd like to install your dependencies external to Galaxy, on OSX the easiest way to get set up is using homebrew and the command brew install node pnpm. More information, including instructions for other platforms, is available at https://nodejs.org and https://pnpm.io/.

The Galaxy client build has necessarily grown more complex in the past several years, but we are still trying to keep things as simple as possible for everyone. If you're having any trouble with building the client after following the instructions below, please create an issue on GitHub or reach out for help directly on Gitter at https://gitter.im/galaxyproject/Lobby.

Complete Client Build

There are many moving parts to the client build system, but the entry point for most people is the 'client' rule in the Makefile at the root of the Galaxy repository. Execute the following to perform a complete build suitable for local development, including dependency staging, style building, script processing, and bundling. This is a development-specific build that includes extra debugging features and excludes several production optimizations made during the build process.

make client

For a production build, suitable for deploying to a live server, use the following:

make client-production

And, lastly, if you want a production build that includes sourcemaps to allow for inspection of live javascript to facilitate debugging, use:

make client-production-maps

Important Note: The Galaxy repository does not include client script artifacts, and these should not be committed.

Automatic Rebuilding

When you're actively developing, it is convenient to have the client automatically rebuild every time you save a file. You can do this using:

make client-dev-server

Or, with the package scripts from this client directory:

pnpm run develop

This will start up an extra client development server running on port 5173. Open your browser to http://localhost:5173 (instead of the default 8080 that Galaxy would run on), and you should see Galaxy like normal. Except now, when you change client code it'll automatically rebuild and reload the relevant portion of the application for you. Lastly, if you are running Galaxy at a location other than the default, you can specify a different proxy target (in this example, port 8000) using the GALAXY_URL environment variable:

GALAXY_URL="http://localhost:8000" make client-dev-server

Sometimes you want to run your local UI against a remote Galaxy server. This is also possible if you set the CHANGE_ORIGIN environment variable:

CHANGE_ORIGIN=true GALAXY_URL="https://usegalaxy.org/" make client-dev-server

You can also specify a particular port to bind the dev server to:

VITE_PORT=8083 pnpm run develop

Running a Separate Server

When developing the client it can be helpful to run a local server for the client to connect to, and run the client separately with one of the above commands. This command will run galaxy without building the client:

make skip-client

Or by setting the following environment variable and running Galaxy however you prefer:

GALAXY_SKIP_CLIENT_BUILD=1 ./run.sh

Changing Styles/CSS

Galaxy uses Sass for globally applied styling, which is a superset of CSS that compiles down to regular CSS. Most Galaxy styling source (.scss) files are kept in client/src/style/scss. Many components will also have local style blocks containing styles that are particular to that individual component and do not apply site-wide.

On build, the compiled css bundle is served at /static/dist/base.css.

As mentioned above, make client will rebuild styles as a part of the build process. For iterative development, "Watch Mode" rebuilds as described above do include style changes.

Client-Side Unit Testing

Galaxy's client is undergoing an extensive refactoring and modernizing process. As part of this initiative, we would like to request that all new client-side code submissions come with accompanying javascript unit-tests for the developer-facing API of your new code.

Testing Technologies

Galaxy uses Vitest for its client-side unit testing framework.

For testing Vue components, we use the Vue testing utils to mount individual components in a test bed and check them for rendered features. Please use Vitest's mocking capabilities for isolating test functionality.

Linting

We use Prettier to enforce code style and best practices. Before submitting a pull request, run the following commands as appropriate to ensure all the code is properly formatted:

make client-lint
make client-format

Running the tests

At Build-Time

To simply run all the javascript unit tests, you can use make from the root directory. This is what happens during a complete client build.

 make client-test

During Development

During client-side development, it is more convenient to have granular testing options. The various testing scripts are defined inside package.json within the client folder and are called with pnpm as demonstrated in the following commands.

This is what CI is going to run, and also what 'make client-test' invokes, executing all the client tests:

 pnpm test

Watch and rerun unit tests every time a source file changes

This is incredibly handy, and there are a host of options in the interactive terminal this starts for executing Vitest tests.

 pnpm test:watch

Run only specified test files when a source file changes

pnpm test:watch MyModule

pnpm test:watch Dialog

pnpm test:watch workflow/run

Testing Best Practices and Patterns

Test File Structure

Test files should be placed adjacent to the code they test with a .test.ts or .test.js extension:

src/components/MyComponent/
├── MyComponent.vue
├── MyComponent.test.ts
└── test-utils.ts        # optional: shared test utilities

Standard imports pattern:

import { createTestingPinia } from "@pinia/testing";
import { getLocalVue } from "@tests/vitest/helpers";
import { mount } from "@vue/test-utils";
import flushPromises from "flush-promises";
import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";

import { useServerMock } from "@/api/client/__mocks__";

import MyComponent from "./MyComponent.vue";

Galaxy Testing Infrastructure

LocalVue Setup: Use the shared getLocalVue() helper which configures BootstrapVue, Pinia, localization, and common directives:

const localVue = getLocalVue();
// or with localization instrumentation for testing l() calls:
const localVue = getLocalVue(true);

Test Data Factories: Use factory functions for consistent test data:

import { getFakeRegisteredUser } from "@tests/test-data";

const user = getFakeRegisteredUser({ id: "custom-id", is_admin: true });

Create domain-specific factories for complex test data:

// In test-utils.ts or inline
function createFakeHistory(overrides = {}) {
    return {
        id: "history-id",
        name: "Test History",
        deleted: false,
        ...overrides,
    };
}

Suppressing Warnings: Use helpers to suppress known console warnings:

import { suppressBootstrapVueWarnings, suppressLucideVue2Deprecation } from "@tests/vitest/helpers";

beforeEach(() => {
    suppressBootstrapVueWarnings();
    suppressLucideVue2Deprecation();
});

API Mocking with MSW

Galaxy uses Mock Service Worker (MSW) with OpenAPI-MSW for type-safe API mocking. This is the preferred approach over axios-mock-adapter:

import { useServerMock } from "@/api/client/__mocks__";

const { server, http } = useServerMock();

beforeEach(() => {
    server.use(
        http.get("/api/histories/{history_id}", ({ response }) => {
            return response(200).json({
                id: "history-id",
                name: "Test History",
            });
        }),
        http.post("/api/jobs", ({ response }) => {
            return response(201).json({ id: "job-id" });
        }),
    );
});

For untyped responses (endpoints not in OpenAPI spec):

import { HttpResponse, useServerMock } from "@/api/client/__mocks__";

server.use(
    http.get("/api/configuration", ({ response }) => {
        return response.untyped(HttpResponse.json({ enable_feature: true }));
    }),
);

See the MSW documentation for advanced usage patterns.

Mount vs ShallowMount

Vue Test Utils provides two mounting functions: mount and shallowMount. In Galaxy, prefer shallowMount for client unit tests.

shallowMount (preferred):

• Renders the component but stubs all child components
• Tests the component in isolation
• Faster execution, fewer dependencies to mock
• Avoids cascading API calls from child components

mount:

• Renders the full component tree including all children
• Tests component integration with children
• Slower, requires more mocking setup

import { shallowMount, mount } from "@vue/test-utils";

// Preferred: isolated unit test
const wrapper = shallowMount(MyComponent, { localVue, pinia });

// Use sparingly: when testing parent-child interaction
const wrapper = mount(MyComponent, { localVue, pinia });

Why shallowMount for Galaxy? Client-side tests should be focused unit tests that verify individual component behavior. Integration testing across multiple components is better handled by Galaxy's Selenium/Playwright test framework, which tests the full application stack in a real browser environment. This separation keeps unit tests fast, focused, and maintainable.

See Vue Test Utils: Stubs and Shallow Mount for more details.

Component Testing Patterns

Mount Wrapper Factories: Create reusable mount functions for complex component setup:

async function mountMyComponent(propsData = {}, options = {}) {
    const pinia = createTestingPinia({ createSpy: vi.fn });

    const wrapper = shallowMount(MyComponent, {
        localVue,
        propsData: {
            defaultProp: "value",
            ...propsData,
        },
        pinia,
        ...options,
    });

    await flushPromises();
    return wrapper;
}

Selector Constants: Define selectors as constants for maintainability:

const SELECTORS = {
    SUBMIT_BUTTON: "[data-description='submit button']",
    ERROR_MESSAGE: "[data-description='error message']",
    USER_NAME: "#user-name-input",
};

it("shows error on failure", async () => {
    const wrapper = await mountMyComponent();
    expect(wrapper.find(SELECTORS.ERROR_MESSAGE).exists()).toBe(true);
});

Testing Emitted Events:

it("emits update on change", async () => {
    const wrapper = await mountMyComponent();
    await wrapper.find("input").setValue("new value");

    expect(wrapper.emitted()["update:value"]).toBeTruthy();
    expect(wrapper.emitted()["update:value"][0][0]).toBe("new value");
});

Pinia Store Testing

Setup for Component Tests:

import { createTestingPinia } from "@pinia/testing";
import { setActivePinia } from "pinia";

const pinia = createTestingPinia({ createSpy: vi.fn, stubActions: false });
setActivePinia(pinia);

const wrapper = shallowMount(MyComponent, { localVue, pinia });

// Access and manipulate stores
const userStore = useUserStore();
userStore.currentUser = getFakeRegisteredUser();

Isolated Store Tests:

import { createPinia, setActivePinia } from "pinia";

describe("useMyStore", () => {
    beforeEach(() => {
        setActivePinia(createPinia());
    });

    it("updates state correctly", () => {
        const store = useMyStore();
        store.doAction();
        expect(store.someState).toBe("expected");
    });
});

Composable Testing

Test composables by mounting a minimal component that uses them:

import { mount } from "@vue/test-utils";
import { ref } from "vue";

import { useMyComposable } from "./useMyComposable";

function createTestComponent(initialValue) {
    return mount({
        template: "<div></div>",
        setup() {
            const input = ref(initialValue);
            const { result, doSomething } = useMyComposable(input);
            return { result, doSomething };
        },
    });
}

it("computes result correctly", () => {
    const wrapper = createTestComponent("input");
    expect(wrapper.vm.result).toBe("expected");
});

Mocking Modules and Composables

Mock at file level before imports are resolved:

vi.mock("@/composables/config", () => ({
    useConfig: vi.fn(() => ({
        config: { enable_feature: true },
        isConfigLoaded: true,
    })),
}));

vi.mock("vue-router/composables", () => ({
    useRoute: vi.fn(() => ({ params: { id: "123" } })),
}));

Async Operations

Always use flushPromises() after operations that trigger API calls or state updates:

import flushPromises from "flush-promises";

it("loads data on mount", async () => {
    const wrapper = shallowMount(MyComponent, { localVue, pinia });
    await flushPromises(); // Wait for mounted() API calls

    expect(wrapper.find(".data").exists()).toBe(true);
});

For Vue reactivity, use nextTick():

import { nextTick } from "vue";

await wrapper.setProps({ value: "new" });
await nextTick();
expect(wrapper.text()).toContain("new");

Useful Test Pattern Examples

The following test files demonstrate specific patterns well and can serve as references:

| Pattern | Example File | What It Demonstrates | | ----------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | API mocking basics | src/api/client/serverMock.test.ts | Core useServerMock patterns: query params, path params, status codes, typed responses | | Multiple HTTP methods | src/composables/userToolCredentials.test.ts | GET, POST, PUT, DELETE in one test; query param filtering; 204 empty responses | | Conditional API responses | src/composables/taskMonitor.test.ts | Switch statement pattern for different task states (PENDING, SUCCESS, FAILURE) | | Paginated API responses | src/stores/collectionElementsStore.test.ts | Dynamic response generation based on offset/limit query params | | API error handling | src/components/History/Export/HistoryExport.test.ts | 4XX/5XX error responses with err_code and err_msg | | Config composable mock | src/entry/analysis/modules/Login.test.ts | Using setMockConfig() helper to customize Galaxy configuration | | Config mock (simple) | src/components/Citation/CitationsList.test.ts | Basic vi.mock pattern for useConfig | | Shared YAML | src/components/Collections/pairing.test.ts | Defining YAML specifications that can be shared between frontend and backend | | Stub with methods | src/components/Workflow/Editor/Index.test.ts | Stubbing components with methods and expose for template refs | | Stub with factory | src/components/Tool/ToolForm.test.js | MockCurrentHistory() factory for configurable stubs | | Selective stubbing | src/components/History/Content/ContentItem.test.js | Mix of stubbed (true) and rendered (false) components | | Named slots | src/components/Popper/Popper.test.js | Testing multiple named slots with HTML string content | | Multiple slots | src/components/Form/FormCardSticky.test.js | Testing buttons, default, and footer slots together | | Scoped slots mock | src/components/Visualizations/DisplayApplications.test.js | Mocking provider component with $scopedSlots | | Slots in stubs | src/components/Markdown/Editor/Configurations/ConfigureHeader.test.js | Stub templates that include slot definitions | | Test data factory | tests/test-data/index.ts | getFakeRegisteredUser() pattern for reusable mock data |

Best Practices Summary

1. Test behavior, not implementation: Focus on what users see, not internal methods
2. Avoid accessing wrapper.vm directly: Test through the template when possible
3. Keep tests focused: One behavior per test
4. Use descriptive names: "displays error banner when API returns 500" not "test error"
5. Clean up between tests: Reset mocks in beforeEach/afterEach
6. Mock at appropriate level: Mock external services, test component logic with real data
7. Don't test framework code: Vue and Pinia are already tested
8. Test edge cases: Error states, empty data, boundary conditions