# Jest HTML Report Not Generated, Blank, or Missing Errors — Fixes

Canonical: https://commareports.com/fix/jest-html-report-not-generated
Published: 2026-11-06

> jest-html-reporter wrote nothing, jest-html-reporters opens blank once moved, or the report says failed with no message. Config that never loads, the -attach folder, inlineSource, includeFailureMsg, and the Vitest html reporter.

# Jest's HTML report is missing, blank, or says nothing useful

There are two popular packages with almost the same name, and most of the
confusion starts there:

| Package                         | Output by default                                     | Single file?                   |
| ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| `jest-html-reporter` (singular) | `./test-report.html`                                  | Yes, CSS inlined               |
| `jest-html-reporters` (plural)  | `./jest_html_reporters.html` plus a `*-attach` folder | Only with `inlineSource: true` |

Work out which one is in `package.json` before reading further. The fixes
differ.

## Symptom → cause

| What you see                                        | Most likely cause                                               |
| --------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| No HTML file at all                                 | Reporter never ran: CLI `--reporters`, `projects`, wrong config |
| HTML file exists, terminal output vanished          | `reporters` array without `"default"`                           |
| File is there locally, missing from the CI artifact | `outputPath` relative to a different working directory          |
| Plural package: blank page once moved or uploaded   | `-attach` folder left behind; `inlineSource` is off             |
| Singular package: "failed" with no message          | `includeFailureMsg` defaults to `false`                         |
| Vitest `html/index.html` blank                      | Page fetches its data; needs an HTTP server                     |
| Report only from the last CI step / partial suite   | Job killed (timeout, OOM, `process.exit`) before Jest finished  |

## 1. The reporter never ran

Jest calls reporters at the end of the run. If nothing was written, Jest
didn't load the reporter. Three ways that happens:

**The command line replaced it.** `--reporters` on the CLI overrides the
`reporters` key in your config, it doesn't add to it. A CI script with
`jest --ci --reporters=default --reporters=jest-junit` silently drops the
HTML reporter you configured.

**It's inside `projects`.** `reporters` is a global option. In a monorepo
config with `projects: [...]`, a `reporters` key inside a project entry is
ignored. Put it at the top level of the root config.

**Jest read a different config.** A `jest` key in `package.json` and a
`jest.config.js` in the same folder is an error (`Multiple configurations
found`). A `--config` flag in CI, or running from a subfolder, can pick up
a file you didn't edit.

Check what Jest actually resolved:

```bash
npx jest --showConfig | grep -A5 '"reporters"'
```

If your reporter isn't in that list, nothing below matters yet.

## 2. You lost the terminal output

Setting `reporters` replaces Jest's defaults rather than adding to them.
Keep the console summary with `"default"`:

```js
// jest.config.js
module.exports = {
  reporters: [
    "default",
    [
      "jest-html-reporter",
      {
        pageTitle: "Test report",
        outputPath: "reports/test-report.html",
        includeFailureMsg: true,
        includeSuiteFailure: true,
      },
    ],
  ],
};
```

Older setups used `testResultsProcessor: "./node_modules/jest-html-reporter"`.
That still exists, but the `reporters` form is the one to use; don't
configure both.

## 3. The file is local-only

`outputPath` is resolved from the directory Jest runs in. In a monorepo
where CI runs `npm test -w packages/web`, the report lands in
`packages/web/reports/`, while the artifact step uploads `reports/` at the
repo root and finds nothing. Use an absolute path in CI, or point the
upload at the package folder. `jest-html-reporter` also reads environment
variables such as `JEST_HTML_REPORTER_OUTPUT_PATH`, which is handy when
only CI needs a different location.

## 4. jest-html-reporters opens blank

The plural package writes the page and a sibling folder (`*-attach`) that
holds the run data and any attachments. The page loads that folder when it
opens. Email the HTML, upload it alone, or open it from inside a zip
preview, and you get the app shell with no tests in it.

```js
reporters: [
  "default",
  [
    "jest-html-reporters",
    {
      publicPath: "./reports",
      filename: "jest-report.html",
      inlineSource: true, // one file, no -attach folder needed for the data
      expand: false,
    },
  ],
];
```

Attachments added with `addAttach` (screenshots from Puppeteer or
Playwright-in-Jest) are still files on disk. If you need them in the shared
copy, pass them as base64 or keep the folder with the report. The general
rule is the same one behind most broken reports: [a report is the
directory, not the file](/glossary/self-contained-html).

## 5. "Failed" with no reason

In `jest-html-reporter`, `includeFailureMsg` defaults to `false`. The
report shows a red row and no assertion message, so whoever opens it still
has to go and find the CI log. Turn it on, along with:

- `includeSuiteFailure: true` — suites that fail to even load (a syntax
  error, a bad import) otherwise show up as an empty suite.
- `includeConsoleLog: true` — `console.log` output per suite.
- `executionTimeWarningThreshold` — highlights slow tests, useful when
  hunting [flaky tests](/glossary/flaky-test).

## 6. Vitest's HTML report is blank

`vitest --reporter=html` (it needs `@vitest/ui` installed) writes an
`html/` directory. Its `index.html` fetches the results at view time, so
opening it from disk hits the [file:// origin rules](/fix/cors-error-file-origin-null)
and renders an empty UI. The Vitest docs serve it instead:

```bash
npx vite preview --outDir ./html
```

That works on your machine but not as something to send. For a shareable
view of a Vitest run, emit JUnit XML and render it:

```bash
npx vitest run --reporter=default --reporter=junit --outputFile.junit=junit.xml
```

Paste `junit.xml` into the [JUnit XML viewer](/tools/junit-xml-viewer) to
get a static HTML report with failures grouped by suite — one file, no
fetches.

## 7. Half a report, or none, after a CI timeout

Reporters write when the run completes. A job killed by the CI step
timeout, the OOM killer, or a test calling `process.exit()` never gets
there. Signs: the HTML file is missing only on the runs where the job was
red for "cancelled" or "exit code 137". Give the job more headroom,
shard with `--shard=1/3`, or use `--maxWorkers=50%` on small runners.

And make the upload step unconditional (`if: always()` in GitHub Actions),
or the report never leaves the runner on exactly the runs that failed.

## Checklist

- [ ] Reporter shows up in `npx jest --showConfig`
- [ ] `"default"` is still in `reporters`
- [ ] Single file: singular package, or `inlineSource: true` on the plural
- [ ] `includeFailureMsg: true`
- [ ] `outputPath` matches the path your artifact step uploads
- [ ] Upload step runs on failure

## Sending it to someone

Once the report is one file, it can live behind a link. Comma stores the
HTML as-is and renders it in a sandboxed frame with scripts allowed, so the
jest-html-reporters React UI works when it's built with `inlineSource:
true`. Teammates open one URL without a CI login; commenting needs a free
sign-in. Each run can land as a new revision of the same report with one
`curl` from CI — see [publish from CI](/docs/ci). One limit to know: a
report that loads its data from sibling files at view time (the default
plural setup, Vitest html) won't load it inside Comma either. Make it a
single file first.

## Try it

Comma is free — unlimited reports, unlimited commenters, unlimited
revision history.

**[Publish a Jest report →](https://commareports.com/)**

### Related

- [Share a Jest or Vitest report](/share-jest-report)
- [Test reporter](/glossary/test-reporter) — what a reporter is, and running more than one
- [JUnit XML viewer](/tools/junit-xml-viewer)
- [pytest-html report has no CSS](/fix/pytest-html-report-no-css) · [Playwright report is blank](/fix/playwright-report-blank)
- [Cypress mochawesome shows only the last spec](/fix/cypress-mochawesome-report-only-last-spec)