Laravel TDD Workflow

Test-driven development for Laravel applications using PHPUnit and Pest with 80%+ coverage (unit + feature).

When to Use

• New features or endpoints in Laravel
• Bug fixes or refactors
• Testing Eloquent models, policies, jobs, and notifications
• Prefer Pest for new tests unless the project already standardizes on PHPUnit

How It Works

Red-Green-Refactor Cycle

1. Write a failing test
2. Implement the minimal change to pass
3. Refactor while keeping tests green

Test Layers

• Unit: pure PHP classes, value objects, services
• Feature: HTTP endpoints, auth, validation, policies
• Integration: database + queue + external boundaries

Choose layers based on scope:

• Use Unit tests for pure business logic and services.
• Use Feature tests for HTTP, auth, validation, and response shape.
• Use Integration tests when validating DB/queues/external services together.

Database Strategy

• RefreshDatabase for most feature/integration tests (runs migrations once per test run, then wraps each test in a transaction when supported; in-memory databases may re-migrate per test)
• DatabaseTransactions when the schema is already migrated and you only need per-test rollback
• DatabaseMigrations when you need a full migrate/fresh for every test and can afford the cost

Use RefreshDatabase as the default for tests that touch the database: for databases with transaction support, it runs migrations once per test run (via a static flag) and wraps each test in a transaction; for :memory: SQLite or connections without transactions, it migrates before each test. Use DatabaseTransactions when the schema is already migrated and you only need per-test rollbacks.

Testing Framework Choice

• Default to Pest for new tests when available.
• Use PHPUnit only if the project already standardizes on it or requires PHPUnit-specific tooling.

Examples

PHPUnit Example

use App\Models\User;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;
use Tests\TestCase;

final class ProjectControllerTest extends TestCase
{
    use RefreshDatabase;

    public function test_owner_can_create_project(): void
    {
        $user = User::factory()->create();

        $response = $this->actingAs($user)->postJson('/api/projects', [
            'name' => 'New Project',
        ]);

        $response->assertCreated();
        $this->assertDatabaseHas('projects', ['name' => 'New Project']);
    }
}

Feature Test Example (HTTP Layer)

use App\Models\Project;
use App\Models\User;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;
use Tests\TestCase;

final class ProjectIndexTest extends TestCase
{
    use RefreshDatabase;

    public function test_projects_index_returns_paginated_results(): void
    {
        $user = User::factory()->create();
        Project::factory()->count(3)->for($user)->create();

        $response = $this->actingAs($user)->getJson('/api/projects');

        $response->assertOk();
        $response->assertJsonStructure(['success', 'data', 'error', 'meta']);
    }
}

Pest Example

use App\Models\User;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;

use function Pest\Laravel\actingAs;
use function Pest\Laravel\assertDatabaseHas;

uses(RefreshDatabase::class);

test('owner can create project', function () {
    $user = User::factory()->create();

    $response = actingAs($user)->postJson('/api/projects', [
        'name' => 'New Project',
    ]);

    $response->assertCreated();
    assertDatabaseHas('projects', ['name' => 'New Project']);
});

Feature Test Pest Example (HTTP Layer)

use App\Models\Project;
use App\Models\User;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;

use function Pest\Laravel\actingAs;

uses(RefreshDatabase::class);

test('projects index returns paginated results', function () {
    $user = User::factory()->create();
    Project::factory()->count(3)->for($user)->create();

    $response = actingAs($user)->getJson('/api/projects');

    $response->assertOk();
    $response->assertJsonStructure(['success', 'data', 'error', 'meta']);
});

Factories and States

• Use factories for test data
• Define states for edge cases (archived, admin, trial)

$user = User::factory()->state(['role' => 'admin'])->create();

Database Testing

• Use RefreshDatabase for clean state
• Keep tests isolated and deterministic
• Prefer assertDatabaseHas over manual queries

Persistence Test Example

use App\Models\Project;
use Illuminate