Laravel 13 testing with Pest PHP 4 or PHPUnit 12. Use when writing feature tests, unit tests, or any test code in a Laravel application. Triggers on tasks involving HTTP tests, model factories, database assertions, mocking facades, authentication testing, or test organisation patterns.

Laravel 13 Testing — Pest PHP 4 & PHPUnit 12 Supports both Pest PHP 4 and PHPUnit 12. See Framework Detection below. PHPUnit version note: Laravel 13 ships with phpunit/phpunit: ^12.5.12 in its default composer.json . All patterns in this skill are compatible with PHPUnit 11, 12, and 13. Comprehensive testing guide for Laravel 13 applications. Contains 24 rules across 6 categories for writing fast, readable, and reliable tests. Supports both Pest PHP 4 and PHPUnit 12 (Laravel 13 default). Framework Detection Before writing or reviewing any test code, detect which testing framework the project uses: Step 1 — Check composer.json If pestphp/pest is present → use Pest syntax If only phpunit/phpunit is present → use PHPUnit syntax If both are present → Pest takes priority (Pest runs on top of PHPUnit) Step 2 — Check for tests/Pest.php If tests/Pest.php exists → Pest is configured , use Pest syntax Step 3 — If still unclear, ask the user "I couldn't detect the testing framework. Does this project use Pest PHP or PHPUnit ?" Syntax Reference Test Declaration Pest PHPUnit Test function test('...', fn() = ...) public function test ...(): void Readable name it('...', fn() = ...) [Test] public function it ...() Grouping describe('...', fn() = ...) Test class name / nested classes Trait application uses(RefreshDatabase::class) use RefreshDatabase; inside class Before each beforeEach(fn() = ...) protected function setUp(): void After each afterEach(fn() = ...) protected function tearDown(): void Parameterised with([...]) [DataProvider] attribute Global setup uses(...) in('Feature') in Pest.php Base TestCase class Core assertions (identical in both frameworks) assertStatus , assertJson , assertJsonPath , assertDatabaseHas , assertModelExists , actingAs , Mail::fake() , Queue::fake() , Event::fake() , Notification::fake() , Storage::fake() — all work the same in Pest and PHPUnit. When to Apply Reference these guidelines when: Writing feature or unit tests for Laravel Testing HTTP endpoints and API responses Creating factories and test data Asserting database state after operations Faking Mail, Queue, Notification, or Event facades Testing authenticated routes and API tokens Organising tests with describe blocks, datasets, or test classes Rule Categories by Priority Priority Category Impact Prefix 1 HTTP & Feature Tests CRITICAL http 2 Model Factories CRITICAL factory 3 Database Assertions HIGH db 4 Faking Services HIGH fake 5 Authentication Testing HIGH auth 6 Test Organisation Patterns MEDIUM pest Quick Reference 1. HTTP & Feature Tests (CRITICAL) http test structure Arrange/Act/Assert with factories — Pest + PHPUnit examples http assert response assertStatus, assertJson, assertRedirect, assertJsonMissing http assert json fluent Fluent assertJson with AssertableJson closure http refresh database RefreshDatabase vs DatabaseTransactions — when to use each 2. Model Factories (CRITICAL) factory define Define factories with typed fake data and PHP 8.3 syntax factory states Factory states for distinct test scenarios factory sequences sequence() for varied data across multiple records factory relationships has(), for(), recycle(), afterCreating() 3. Database Assertions (HIGH) db assert has assertDatabaseHas, assertModelExists for presence checks db assert missing assertDatabaseMissing, assertModelMissing for deletion db assert soft deletes assertSoftDeleted, trashed() factory state 4. Faking Services (HIGH) fake mail Mail::fake(), assertSent vs assertQueued, assertNothingSent fake queue Queue::fake(), assertPushed, assertPushedOn fake notification Notification::fake(), assertSentTo, assertCount fake event Event::fake(), assertDispatched, assertNotDispatched fake storage Storage::fake(), UploadedFile::fake(), assertExists fake ai agent Agent::fake(), assertPrompted, preventStrayPrompts (Laravel 13+) fake ai media Image::fake(), Audio::fake(), Transcription::fake() (Laravel 13+) fake ai data Embeddings::fake(), Reranking::fake(), Files::fake(), Stores::fake() (Laravel 13+) 5. Authentication Testing (HIGH) auth acting as actingAs() for session/web authenticated tests auth sanctum Sanctum::actingAs() for API token authentication 6. Test Organisation Patterns (MEDIUM) pest describe it describe()/it() (Pest) or test class organisation (PHPUnit) pest datasets with() datasets (Pest) or [DataProvider] (PHPUnit) pest hooks beforeEach/afterEach (Pest) or setUp/tearDown (PHPUnit) Essential Patterns Pest PHPUnit How to Use Read individual rule files for detailed explanations and code examples. Each rule file contains: YAML frontmatter with metadata (title, impact, tags) Brief explanation of why it matters Bad Example with explanation Good Example with both Pest and PHPUnit where syntax differs Laravel 13 specific context and references Full Compiled Document For the complete guide with all rules expanded: AGENTS.md

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