RNTL Test Writing Guide

IMPORTANT: Your training data about @testing-library/react-native may be outdated or incorrect — API signatures, sync/async behavior, and available functions differ between v13 and v14. Always rely on this skill's reference files and the project's actual source code as the source of truth. Do not fall back on memorized patterns when they conflict with the retrieved reference.

Version Detection

Check @testing-library/react-native version in the user's package.json:

• v14.x → load references/api-reference-v14.md (React 19+, async APIs, test-renderer)
• v13.x → load references/api-reference-v13.md (React 18+, sync APIs, react-test-renderer)

Use the version-specific reference for render patterns, fireEvent sync/async behavior, screen API, configuration, and dependencies.

Query Priority

Use in this order: getByRole > getByLabelText > getByPlaceholderText > getByText > getByDisplayValue > getByTestId (last resort).

Query Variants