Open-Source Testing · cypress-io

cypress-realworld-app

Cypress Real-World App is a full-stack Express/React payment application designed to teach Cypress testing patterns and workflows through practical, production-like examples. It includes API, UI, component, and unit tests with zero external database dependencies, making it easy to set up and experiment with.

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Source: GitHub — github.com/cypress-io/cypress-realworld-app

5.9k

GitHub stars

2.6k

Forks

TypeScript

Primary language

MIT

License (OSI-approved)

Key facts

Objective fields from the source. Values we can't verify are shown as “Unknown” rather than guessed.

Field	Value
Repository	cypress-io/cypress-realworld-app
Owner	cypress-io
Primary language	TypeScript
License	MIT — OSI-approved
Stars	5.9k
Forks	2.6k
Open issues	42
Latest release	v1.0.18 (2021-08-06)
Last updated	2026-07-06
Source	https://github.com/cypress-io/cypress-realworld-app

What cypress-realworld-app is

TypeScript-based full-stack application (React frontend, Express backend) with lowdb JSON persistence, XState state management, and Material-UI components. Bundled with example data and comprehensive test suites covering e2e, API, component, and unit testing patterns, plus CI/CD integration via Cypress Cloud.

Quickstart

Get the cypress-realworld-app source

Clone the repository and explore it locally.

terminalbash

1git clone https://github.com/cypress-io/cypress-realworld-app.git2cd cypress-realworld-app3# follow the project's README for install & configuration

Need it deployed, integrated, or customized instead? DEV.co ships production installs.

Best use cases

Cypress Testing Education & Onboarding

Ideal for teaching teams Cypress best practices, test patterns, and real-world workflows. The app's structure mirrors production systems while remaining simple enough for learning.

Testing Methodology Experimentation

Provides a safe sandbox to experiment with different testing strategies (API, UI, component tests, code coverage) without production risk or complex setup.

CI/CD & Test Automation Reference

Demonstrates practical integration with Cypress Cloud, code coverage tools (CodeCov), visual testing (Percy), and automated database seeding—useful as a reference implementation.

Implementation considerations

Requires Node.js (check .node-version file for exact version) and Yarn Classic v1; Yarn Modern (v2+) is not compatible.
Must run on ports 3000 (frontend) and 3001 (backend) by default; port changes require updates to cypress.config.ts, .env, and local re-testing.
Database seeding runs on each app startup (yarn dev); custom data requires modifying data/database-seed.json and regenerating with yarn db:seed.
All example users share password 's3cret' by default; change before any non-local use and avoid exposing example data in shared environments.
Component tests live alongside source (src/), unit tests in src/__tests__; adopt this structure for consistency if using as a template.

When to avoid it — and what to weigh

Production Payment System Needed — Explicitly stated as educational/demonstration-only. Not a full-fledged production system; lacks security hardening, audit trails, PCI compliance, and payment processor integration required for real payments.
Scaling Beyond Local JSON Database — Uses lowdb (file-based JSON storage) which does not scale to concurrent multi-user production workloads. No support for relational databases, transactions, or distributed data handling.
Long-term Maintenance Expectations — Latest release is v1.0.18 (August 2021), over 4 years old. Recent push (July 2026) suggests maintenance, but release cadence indicates this is a stable reference app, not actively developed for new features.
Advanced Authentication/Authorization — Supports Auth0, Okta, Cognito, and Google logins, but setup varies per provider and documentation/guides are external. Built-in auth is basic local authentication; enterprise IAM integration requires custom work.

License & commercial use

MIT License (permissive, OSI-approved). Permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution for any purpose (commercial or non-commercial) with only the requirement to include original license and copyright notice. No warranty provided.

MIT License permits commercial use and modification. However, this project is explicitly educational/demonstration-only and not a production system. Commercial use of the app itself (e.g., as a real payment platform) is not recommended and would require substantial security/compliance hardening outside the scope of the repository. Commercial use of the testing *patterns* and *codebase as a reference* is permissible under MIT.

DEV.co evaluation signals

Editorial assessment — not user reviews. Directional, with an explicit confidence level.

Signal	Assessment
Maintenance	Moderate
Documentation	Adequate
License clarity	Clear
Deployment complexity	Low
DEV.co fit	Good
Assessment confidence	High

Security considerations

Project is educational and not hardened for production. Default hardcoded credentials (all users: password 's3cret') are intentional for learning but dangerous if exposed. No encryption, audit logging, CSRF protection, rate limiting, or PCI-DSS compliance mentioned. Local JSON database has no access control. Not suitable for sensitive data or real payments without substantial security additions.

Alternatives to consider

Sauce Labs Sample Apps / WebdriverIO demo repos

Similar educational test automation demos; broader test framework support (not Cypress-specific). May suit teams not committed to Cypress ecosystem.

TodoMVC / TODOMVC.com reference implementations

Simpler, framework-agnostic testing reference apps. Good if you need minimal setup but lack real-world features (auth, API, payments).

Custom in-house staging/demo app

If testing patterns from this repo are extractable, building your own app avoids adopting external maintenance burden and allows feature alignment with actual product.

Software development agency

Build on cypress-realworld-app with DEV.co software developers

Clone the Cypress Real-World App and start experimenting with production-like test patterns. Perfect for onboarding teams or building your own testing reference. MIT licensed and ready to use.

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cypress-realworld-app FAQ

Can I use this as a production payment app?

No. Maintainers explicitly state it's for demonstration/education only. It lacks security hardening, PCI compliance, audit trails, and production-grade persistence. Use it to *learn* testing, then build/secure your own system.

What's the current maintenance status?

Stable with moderate activity. Latest release is from 2021, but recent pushes (2026) show ongoing upkeep. It's a reference app, not a rapidly-evolving product. Open issues exist but release cadence suggests bug fixes and dependency updates rather than major features.

Can I run this on custom ports?

Yes, via PORT and VITE_BACKEND_PORT in .env. However, you must also update cypress.config.ts (e2e.baseUrl, env.apiUrl, env.url) locally. Avoid committing these changes; CI still expects default ports 3000/3001.

What database does it use?

lowdb, a file-based JSON database with zero external dependencies. Great for local development and testing; does not scale to concurrent production workloads. Data reseeds on each yarn dev run.

Software development & web development with DEV.co

DEV.co helps companies turn open-source tools like cypress-realworld-app into production software. Our software development services cover the full lifecycle — architecture, web development, integration, and maintenance — delivered by software developers and web developers who ship. Engage our software development agency to implement or customize it for your open-source testing stack.

Ready to Master Cypress Testing?

Clone the Cypress Real-World App and start experimenting with production-like test patterns. Perfect for onboarding teams or building your own testing reference. MIT licensed and ready to use.

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