Laravel TDD Workflow

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