Fix UI test timeouts, TypeScript compilation, dependency compatibility, and backend tests with isolated test suite using per-test mocking (#930)

Author: Copilot

.github/copilot-instructions.md

@@ -188,6 +188,59 @@ yarn lint
 yarn lint:fix
 ```
 
+### Running UI Tests (yarn test:ui)
+
+The UI tests require specific setup in the test environment:
+
+**Prerequisites:**
+1. **Xvfb (X Virtual Framebuffer)** - Required for headless Electron testing
+   ```bash
+   # Start Xvfb on display :99
+   Xvfb :99 -screen 0 1024x720x24 -ac &
+   export DISPLAY=:99
+   ```
+
+2. **Mosquitto MQTT Broker** - Required for MQTT message testing
+   ```bash
+   # Install mosquitto
+   sudo apt-get install -y mosquitto mosquitto-clients
+   
+   # Start mosquitto service
+   sudo systemctl start mosquitto
+   
+   # Verify it's running on port 1883
+   sudo systemctl status mosquitto
+   ```
+
+3. **@types/node** - Required for TypeScript compilation
+   ```bash
+   yarn add -D @types/node
+   ```
+
+**Running UI Tests:**
+```bash
+# Build the application first
+yarn build
+
+# Run UI tests with proper display
+DISPLAY=:99 yarn test:ui
+```
+
+**Common Issues:**
+- **"Timeout exceeded" in before hook**: Mosquitto is not running or not accessible on port 1883
+- **"Cannot find type definition file for 'node'"**: Run `yarn add -D @types/node`
+- **Electron fails to launch**: Xvfb is not running or DISPLAY variable not set
+- **Tests hang**: Check if old Electron/mosquitto processes are still running and kill them
+
+**Environment Cleanup:**
+```bash
+# Kill old Electron processes
+ps aux | grep electron | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill -9 2>/dev/null
+
+# Kill old mosquitto processes (if running custom instance)
+ps aux | grep mosquitto | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | xargs kill -9 2>/dev/null
+```
+
 ## MCP Introspection Testing
 
 The project supports MCP (Model Context Protocol) for automated testing with Playwright:

.github/workflows/tests.yml

@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build
         run: yarn build
       - name: Run UI Tests
+        timeout-minutes: 10
         run: ./scripts/runUiTests.sh
       - name: Upload Test Screenshots
         if: always()

backend/package.json

@@ -4,12 +4,11 @@
   "description": "",
   "main": "build/index.js",
   "scripts": {
-    "test": "mocha --require ts-node/register --require source-map-support/register --recursive ./src/*/**/*.spec.ts",
+    "test": "NODE_PATH=../node_modules TS_NODE_PROJECT=./tsconfig.json mocha --require ts-node/register --require source-map-support/register --recursive ./src/*/**/*.spec.ts",
     "build": "tsc",
-    "test-inspect": "mocha --inspect-brk --require ts-node/register --require source-map-support/register --recursive ./src/*/**/*.spec.ts",
-    "coverage": "nyc mocha --require ts-node/register --require source-map-support/register --recursive ./src/*/**/*.spec.ts",
-    "debug": "ts-node --inspect ./src/index.ts",
-    "postinstall": "yarn build"
+    "test-inspect": "NODE_PATH=../node_modules TS_NODE_PROJECT=./tsconfig.json mocha --inspect-brk --require ts-node/register --require source-map-support/register --recursive ./src/*/**/*.spec.ts",
+    "coverage": "NODE_PATH=../node_modules TS_NODE_PROJECT=./tsconfig.json nyc mocha --require ts-node/register --require source-map-support/register --recursive ./src/*/**/*.spec.ts",
+    "debug": "ts-node --inspect ./src/index.ts"
   },
   "engines": {
     "node": ">=20"
@@ -38,12 +37,31 @@
     "sourceMap": true,
     "instrument": true
   },
-  "peerDependencies": {
-    "fs-extra": "^8.0.1",
-    "js-base64": "^2.5.1",
-    "long": "^4.0.0",
+  "dependencies": {
+    "@types/sha1": "^1.1.5",
+    "builder-util-runtime": "^9",
+    "fs-extra": "9",
+    "js-base64": "^3.7.2",
     "lowdb": "^1.0.0",
-    "mqtt": "^3.0.0",
-    "protobufjs": "^6.11.4"
+    "mqtt": "^4.3.6",
+    "protobufjs": "^8.0.0",
+    "sha1": "^1.1.1",
+    "uuid": "^8.3.2"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "@types/chai": "^4.1.7",
+    "@types/fs-extra": "8",
+    "@types/lowdb": "^1.0.6",
+    "@types/mocha": "^7.0.2",
+    "@types/node": "^25.0.3",
+    "@types/sha1": "^1.1.1",
+    "@types/uuid": "^8.3.4",
+    "chai": "^4.2.0",
+    "electron": "29.2.0",
+    "mocha": "^10.4.0",
+    "nyc": "15",
+    "source-map-support": "^0.5.9",
+    "ts-node": "^10.9.2",
+    "typescript": "^4.5.5"
   }
-}
+}

backend/tsconfig.json

@@ -6,11 +6,21 @@
     "strictNullChecks": true,
     "outDir": "./build",
     "strict": true,
+    "module": "commonjs",
+    "moduleResolution": "node",
+    "target": "ES2017",
     "lib": [
       "es2017",
       "dom"
     ],
-    "sourceMap": true
+    "sourceMap": true,
+    "esModuleInterop": true
+  },
+  "ts-node": {
+    "compilerOptions": {
+      "module": "commonjs"
+    },
+    "transpileOnly": true
   },
   "includes": [
     "src/**/*.ts"
@@ -20,6 +30,8 @@
     "node_modules",
     "src/**/*.spec.ts",
     "**/*.d.ts",
-    "typings"
+    "typings",
+    "../events",
+    "../app"
   ]
 }