angular/angular.js · error · Error

No pending request to flush !

Error message

No pending request to flush !

What it means

The fake $httpBackend queues one response entry per request actually made against its expectations/definitions; flush([count][, skip][, digest]) executes them. It throws 'No pending request to flush !' when there is nothing to execute from the requested position — responses is empty, or skip >= responses.length — meaning no (more) HTTP request was made by the code under test.

Source

Thrown at src/ngMock/angular-mocks.js:1984

   * @description
   * Flushes pending requests using the trained responses. Requests are flushed in the order they
   * were made, but it is also possible to skip one or more requests (for example to have them
   * flushed later). This is useful for simulating scenarios where responses arrive from the server
   * in any order.
   *
   * If there are no pending requests to flush when the method is called, an exception is thrown (as
   * this is typically a sign of programming error).
   *
   * @param {number=} count - Number of responses to flush. If undefined/null, all pending requests
   *     (starting after `skip`) will be flushed.
   * @param {number=} [skip=0] - Number of pending requests to skip. For example, a value of `5`
   *     would skip the first 5 pending requests and start flushing from the 6th onwards.
   */
  $httpBackend.flush = function(count, skip, digest) {
    if (digest !== false) $rootScope.$digest();

    skip = skip || 0;
    if (skip >= responses.length) throw new Error('No pending request to flush !');

    if (angular.isDefined(count) && count !== null) {
      while (count--) {
        var part = responses.splice(skip, 1);
        if (!part.length) throw new Error('No more pending request to flush !');
        part[0]();
      }
    } else {
      while (responses.length > skip) {
        responses.splice(skip, 1)[0]();
      }
    }
    $httpBackend.verifyNoOutstandingExpectation(digest);
  };


  /**
   * @ngdoc method

View on GitHub (pinned to d8f77817eb)

Solutions

1. Trigger the request first: call the controller/service method (or run the event handler) that performs $http/$resource before flush().
2. If the request is gated behind a $timeout or promise chain, run that step ($timeout.flush()) before $httpBackend.flush().
3. Guard the call: check $http.pendingRequests.length > 0 before flushing.
4. In multi-flush tests, track how many responses remain and use verifyNoOutstandingRequest() to assert the end state instead of flushing blindly.

Example fix

// before
it('loads users', inject(function($httpBackend, $controller) {
  $httpBackend.expectGET('/users').respond([]);
  $httpBackend.flush(); // throws: no request made yet
  var ctrl = $controller('UserListCtrl');
}));

// after
it('loads users', inject(function($httpBackend, $controller) {
  $httpBackend.expectGET('/users').respond([]);
  var ctrl = $controller('UserListCtrl'); // constructor issues $http.get
  $httpBackend.flush();
}));

// Flush only when requests are actually in flight
inject(function($http, $httpBackend) {
  if ($http.pendingRequests.length > 0) {
    $httpBackend.flush();
  }
});

When it happens

Trigger: Calling $httpBackend.flush() before the code under test performed any $http/$resource call; calling flush twice when the first flush consumed all responses; using flush(count, skip) with skip pointing past the end of the queue.

Common situations: The test forgot to invoke the controller/service function that issues the request; the request only starts inside a callback that has not run yet (e.g., inside a $timeout — flush() digests first but does not run timers); an earlier exception in the test prevented the $http call; all requests were already flushed by a previous flush in a multi-step test.

Related errors

• No more pending request to flush !
• Unflushed requests: {} {}
• No deferred tasks to be flushed
• No pending animations ready to be closed or flushed
• Unsatisfied requests: {}

AI-assisted analysis of angular/angular.js@d8f77817eb (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e2a69bfcdca09f60. Report an issue: GitHub.