Capybara not holding user session after one page visit -- Rails 4.2 - ruby-on-rails

Question

I can't get Capybara to hold a session beyond one page visit within one spec. I am familiar with the concept that Capybara's driver might be using a different database connection, but anything I do (including not using :js => true) doesn't seem to change anything.
I am just trying to visit a page that requires user authentication. It succeeds on first visit. It fails when I visit it a second time. (This of course all works when I manually test in development.) Code:
activity_areas_spec.rb
require "rails_helper"
RSpec.feature "Activity areas", :type => :feature do
user = FactoryGirl.create(:user)
before(:each) do
login_as(user, :scope => :user)
end
after(:each) do
Warden.test_reset!
end
...
feature "displays activities shared", :js => true do
scenario "to public" do
visit area_activities_path
expect(page).to have_content I18n.t('pages.activity.areas.title') #passes
visit area_activities_path
expect(page).to have_content I18n.t('pages.activity.areas.title') #fails -- user is redirected to login page.
end
end
end
#rails_helper.rb
ENV['RAILS_ENV'] ||= 'test'
require File.expand_path('../../config/environment', __FILE__)
# Prevent database truncation if the environment is production
abort("The Rails environment is running in production mode!") if Rails.env.production?
require 'rspec/rails'
require 'spec_helper'
require 'capybara/rails'
require 'devise'
require 'support/controller_macros'
include Warden::Test::Helpers
Warden.test_mode!
ActiveRecord::Migration.maintain_test_schema!
RSpec.configure do |config|
# Factory girl
config.include FactoryGirl::Syntax::Methods
# Make routes available in specs
config.include Rails.application.routes.url_helpers
# Capybara
config.include Capybara::DSL
# To get Devise test helpers
config.include Devise::TestHelpers, :type => :controller
config.extend ControllerMacros::DeviseHelper, :type => :controller
config.include ControllerMacros::AttributeHelper, :type => :controller
config.use_transactional_fixtures = false
config.infer_spec_type_from_file_location!
config.filter_rails_from_backtrace!
# Database cleaner gem configurations
config.before(:suite) do
DatabaseCleaner.clean_with(:truncation)
end
config.before(:each) do
DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
end
config.before(:each, :js => true) do
DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :truncation
end
config.before(:each) do
DatabaseCleaner.start
end
config.after(:each) do
DatabaseCleaner.clean
end
end
Since I was sensitive to the fact that Capy might be using a different database connection, I have tried following DatabaseCleaner's suggested code to the tee in the place of the above DatabaseCleaner commands:
config.before(:suite) do
if config.use_transactional_fixtures?
raise(<<-MSG)
Delete line `config.use_transactional_fixtures = true` from rails_helper.rb
(or set it to false) to prevent uncommitted transactions being used in
JavaScript-dependent specs.
During testing, the app-under-test that the browser driver connects to
uses a different database connection to the database connection used by
the spec. The app's database connection would not be able to access
uncommitted transaction data setup over the spec's database connection.
MSG
end
DatabaseCleaner.clean_with(:truncation)
end
config.before(:each) do
DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
end
config.before(:each, type: :feature) do
driver_shares_db_connection_with_specs = Capybara.current_driver == :rack_test
if !driver_shares_db_connection_with_specs
DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :truncation
end
end
config.before(:each) do
DatabaseCleaner.start
end
config.append_after(:each) do
DatabaseCleaner.clean
end
See here.
#spec_helper.rb
require 'factory_girl_rails'
require "capybara/rspec"
require 'sidekiq/testing'
RSpec.configure do |config|
config.expect_with :rspec do |expectations|
expectations.include_chain_clauses_in_custom_matcher_descriptions = true
end
config.mock_with :rspec do |mocks|
mocks.verify_partial_doubles = true
end
end
I'm confused easily, so much appreciated for any help that is provided in simple terms. And let me know if you need any other files.

Answer 1

As a quick guess your user = FactoryGirl.create(:user) needs to be inside your before block - otherwise it would only be run once when the feature is loaded - and then removed from the database before the first feature is run