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name: smith-nuxt description: Nuxt 3 development patterns including auto-import stubbing for tests, environment variable conventions, and middleware testing. Use when working with Nuxt projects, testing Nuxt components/middleware, or configuring Nuxt environment variables.

Nuxt Development Standards

• Scope: Nuxt 3 specific patterns
• Load if: Working with Nuxt projects
• Prerequisites: @smith-principles/SKILL.md, @smith-standards/SKILL.md, @smith-typescript/SKILL.md

CRITICAL: Auto-Import Stubbing (Primacy Zone)

Stub Nuxt auto-imports BEFORE importing modules that use them - module code executes at import time.

• Mocking h3 module expecting auto-imports (they're globals)
• Importing middleware before stubbing globals

Auto-Import Stubbing in Tests

Nuxt auto-imports utilities like defineEventHandler, createError, useState. These are globally available in Nuxt runtime but NOT in test environments.

Stub auto-imports globally BEFORE importing the module under test:

Copyimport { describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
import type { H3Event } from 'h3';

// Stub Nuxt auto-imports BEFORE any imports that use them
(globalThis as Record<string, unknown>).defineEventHandler =
  (handler: (event: H3Event) => unknown) => handler;
(globalThis as Record<string, unknown>).createError =
  (options: { statusCode: number; statusMessage: string }) =>
    Object.assign(new Error(options.statusMessage), { statusCode: options.statusCode });

// Now import the module that uses auto-imports
import middleware from '../myMiddleware';

• NEVER mock h3 module expecting auto-imports to work (they're globals, not module exports)
• NEVER import middleware before stubbing globals (module executes at import time)

Environment Variables

Nuxt uses NUXT_ prefix for runtime config environment variables.

• NUXT_PUBLIC_* - Exposed to client
• NUXT_* - Server-only

Server-only:

CopyNUXT_DATABASE_URL=postgres://...
NUXT_API_SECRET=secret

Public (exposed to browser):

CopyNUXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE=https://api.example.com

• @smith-typescript/SKILL.md - General TypeScript patterns
• @smith-tests/SKILL.md - Testing standards

ACTION (Recency Zone)

Before testing Nuxt code:

1. Stub auto-imports BEFORE any imports
2. Use NUXT_PUBLIC_* for client-exposed env vars
3. Use NUXT_* for server-only env vars