How to wait for a request just to be sent, not until it's completed in cypress?

I want to wait only until a request is sent.
I don't want to wait until the request receives a response.

As of now cy.intercept() and cy.wait() wait until the request receives a response.
Is there any way to wait just until the request is sent?

For example

cy.intercept(url).as('alias')  
                                      
cy.get('button').click()

cy.wait('@alias')   // only catches when the response returns 

The easiest way is to send a mock response, which by-passes waiting for the server. It's feasible if the app does not use the response.

cy.intercept(url, {}).as('my-alias')  // 2nd argument is a very simple mock response 
                                      // request never gets to the server
// trigger request in app 

cy.wait('@my-alias')                  // should fire on outbound request

If you find the app does complain about the mock response, a stub function could be used instead.

You cannot cy.wait('@stub') on a stub alias, but you can use cy.get('@stub').should('be.called') to do the same thing.

Here's a working example.

const stub = cy.stub().as('stub')     // set up the stub

cy.intercept('**/my/api/items?1', (req) => {

  stub()         // call the stub as soon as the request is made 

  req.reply({
    delay: 60_000, // simulate response after 1 minute
  })
})
.as('response')    // this is the response alias

cy.window().then(win => {
  setTimeout(() => {
    win.fetch('my/api/items?1')       // fire the request after 2 seconds
  }, 2_000)
})

cy.get('@stub').should('be.called')   // wait for stub call up to 4 seconds
                                      // or add a timeout if required

// cy.wait('@response')       // response alias fails after 30 seconds

In your test you can use a shorter version, since you don't need to artificially delay the response

cy.intercept(url, cy.stub().as('stub'))  

// trigger request

cy.get('@stub').should('be.called')