Implementation:Teamcapybara Capybara Session Visit

Knowledge Sources	Capybara
Domains	Testing, Navigation
Last Updated	2026-02-12 00:00 GMT

Overview

Concrete tool for navigating the browser to a URL provided by Capybara::Session#visit.

Description

Session#visit parses the given URI using Addressable::URI, resolves it against the configured app_host or the session's server_url, and delegates to driver.visit. Before navigating, it raises any pending server errors and marks the session as @touched (which triggers cleanup on reset). Relative URLs have the base URI's path prepended, and the server port is adjusted when always_include_port is enabled.

Usage

Call visit as the first action in a test to navigate to the page under test. Accepts relative paths (/login) or absolute URLs (http://example.com).

Code Reference

Source Location

• Repository: capybara
• File: lib/capybara/session.rb
• Lines: L261-282

Signature

def visit(visit_uri)
  # @param visit_uri [#to_s] The URL to navigate to
  # @return [nil]
  raise_server_error!
  @touched = true
  visit_uri = ::Addressable::URI.parse(visit_uri.to_s)
  base_uri = ::Addressable::URI.parse(config.app_host || server_url)
  if base_uri && [nil, 'http', 'https'].include?(visit_uri.scheme)
    if visit_uri.relative?
      visit_uri_parts = visit_uri.to_hash.compact
      visit_uri_parts[:path] = base_uri.path + visit_uri.path
      visit_uri = base_uri.merge(visit_uri_parts)
    end
    adjust_server_port(visit_uri)
  end
  driver.visit(visit_uri.to_s)
end

Import

require 'capybara'
# visit is available via Capybara::DSL or directly on a Session instance

I/O Contract

Inputs

Name	Type	Required	Description
visit_uri	#to_s	Yes	URL to navigate to (relative or absolute)

Outputs

Name	Type	Description
(nil)	nil	Browser navigated to the specified URL; session marked as touched

Usage Examples

Basic Navigation

# Relative path (resolved against server URL)
visit '/login'
visit '/users/new'

# Absolute URL
visit 'http://example.com/api'

# With app_host configured
Capybara.app_host = 'http://staging.example.com'
visit '/dashboard'  # navigates to http://staging.example.com/dashboard

Related Pages

Implements Principle

• Principle:Teamcapybara_Capybara_Page_Navigation