within
Scopes all subsequent cy commands to within this element. Useful when working
within a particular group of elements such as a <form>
.
It is unsafe to
chain further commands that rely on the subject after .within()
.
Syntax
.within(callbackFn)
.within(options, callbackFn)
Usage
Correct Usage
cy.get('.list')
.first()
.within(($list) => {}) // Yield the first `.list` and scope all commands within it
Incorrect Usage
cy.within(() => {}) // Errors, cannot be chained off 'cy'
cy.getCookies().within(() => {}) // Errors, 'getCookies' does not yield DOM element
cy.get('div').within(($divs) => {}) // Probably errors, because get('div') yields multiple elements
Arguments
callbackFn (Function)
Pass a function that takes the current yielded subject as its first argument.
options (Object)
Pass in an options object to change the default behavior of .within()
.
Option | Default | Description |
---|---|---|
log | true | Displays the command in the Command log |
Yields
.within()
yields the same subject it was given.- It is unsafe
to chain further commands that rely on the subject after
.within()
.
Trying to return a different element the .within
callback have no effect:
<div id="within-yields">
The parent div
<div class="some-child">Child element</div>
</div>
cy.get('#within-yields')
.within(() => {
// we are trying to return something
// from the .within callback,
// but it won't have any effect
return cy.contains('Child element').should('have.class', 'some-child')
})
.should('have.id', 'within-yields')
Similarly, trying to change the subject by using the
cy.wrap command inside the .within
callback have no
effect:
<div id="wrap-inside-within">
The parent div
<div class="some-child">Child element</div>
</div>
cy.get('#wrap-inside-within')
.within(() => {
// returning cy.wrap(...) has no effect on the yielded value
// it will still be the original parent DOM element
return cy.wrap('a new value')
})
.should('have.id', 'wrap-inside-within')
Examples
Forms
Get inputs within a form and submit the form
<form>
<input name="email" type="email" />
<input name="password" type="password" />
<button type="submit">Login</button>
</form>
cy.get('form').within(($form) => {
// you have access to the found form via
// the jQuery object $form if you need it
// cy.get() will only search for elements within form,
// not within the entire document
cy.get('input[name="email"]').type('[email protected]')
cy.get('input[name="password"]').type('password')
cy.root().submit()
})
Tables
Find row with specific cell and confirm other cells in the row
<table>
<tr>
<td>My first client</td>
<td>My first project</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>Active</td>
<td><button>Edit</button></td>
</tr>
</table>
cy.contains('My first client')
.parent('tr')
.within(() => {
// all searches are automatically rooted to the found tr element
cy.get('td').eq(1).contains('My first project')
cy.get('td').eq(2).contains('0')
cy.get('td').eq(3).contains('Active')
cy.get('td').eq(4).contains('button', 'Edit').click()
})
Temporarily escape
You can temporarily escape the .within
context by starting a new command chain
with cy.root followed by .closest
commands.
<section class="example">
<!-- note the input field outside the form -->
<input id="name" type="text" />
<form>
<input name="email" type="email" />
<input name="password" type="password" />
<button type="submit">Login</button>
</form>
</section>
cy.get('form').within(($form) => {
// temporarily escape the .within context
cy.root().closest('.example').find('#name').type('Joe')
// continue using the .within context
cy.get('input[name="email"]').type('[email protected]')
cy.get('input[name="password"]').type('password')
cy.root().submit()
})
Rules
Requirements
.within()
requires being chained off a previous command that yields exactly one DOM element.
Assertions
.within()
will only run assertions you have chained once, and will not retry.
Timeouts
.within()
cannot time out.
Command Log
Get the input within the form
cy.get('.query-form').within((el) => {
cy.get('input:first')
})
The commands above will display in the Command Log as:

When clicking on the within
command within the command log, the console
outputs the following:

History
Version | Changes |
---|---|
12.0.0 | .within() now throws an error when given more than one element as the subject. |
5.4.0 | fixed the yielded value to always be the parent element |
< 0.3.3 | .within() command added |