@types/testing-library__jest-dom

This is essentially a redirect package that exists for historical reasons. In older versions of @testing-library/jest-dom (pre-6.0), TypeScript types were published separately as DefinitelyTyped packages. Since version 6.0, the main package includes its own types, making this stub obsolete.

The practical issue is that having this installed can cause confusion during upgrades. If you're on jest-dom 6.x+, you should remove this package entirely. The stub exists to prevent breaks for projects that had it listed explicitly, but it adds zero value and creates an extra dependency in your tree. I've debugged type resolution issues where this package was shadowing the actual types from the main package.

From a production engineering standpoint, this package has no runtime implications since it's dev-only TypeScript definitions. However, keeping unnecessary packages increases audit surface area and dependency tree complexity. The migration path is trivial: just uninstall it and ensure you're using @testing-library/jest-dom directly.

This package is essentially a redirect - it exists solely to point developers to the built-in types now shipped with @testing-library/jest-dom itself. Since version 6.0.0, the main library bundles its own TypeScript definitions, making this @types package obsolete for new projects.

In practice, this works beautifully. If you accidentally install this package, TypeScript immediately recognizes the main library's types without any configuration headaches. The stub approach prevents type conflicts and ensures your IDE picks up the correct, up-to-date type definitions from the source package. No tsconfig changes needed, no module augmentation required.

For existing projects still using older versions, this provides a clean migration path. You can safely remove this dependency once you upgrade to @testing-library/jest-dom v6+, and everything continues working identically. The transition is completely transparent, which is exactly how package migrations should work.

This package is essentially a stub that redirects to the actual type definitions in @testing-library/jest-dom. After version 5.14.1, jest-dom started bundling its own TypeScript definitions, making this package a simple pointer. In practice, you'll likely install it once during project setup and never think about it again.

The onboarding is straightforward - you just npm install it alongside @testing-library/jest-dom and the types work automatically. No configuration needed beyond your standard Jest setup. Error messages come from the actual jest-dom library, so you get helpful hints like "toBeInTheDocument is not a function" if you forget to import the matchers. The type definitions themselves are excellent, providing IntelliSense for all custom matchers like toHaveTextContent, toBeVisible, and toBeDisabled.

The only real issue is the initial confusion about why this separate package exists. The npm description helps, but newcomers sometimes wonder if they need both packages or just one. Once you understand it's just a types stub, it's completely hassle-free.