Pest Testing 3

When to Apply

Activate this skill when:

•Creating new tests (unit or feature)
•Modifying existing tests
•Debugging test failures
•Working with datasets, mocking, or test organization
•Writing architecture tests

Documentation

Use search-docs for detailed Pest 3 patterns and documentation.

Basic Usage

Creating Tests

All tests must be written using Pest. Use php artisan make:test --pest {name}.

Test Organization

•Tests live in the tests/Feature and tests/Unit directories.
•Do NOT remove tests without approval - these are core application code.
•Test happy paths, failure paths, and edge cases.

Basic Test Structure

<code-snippet name="Basic Pest Test Example" lang="php">

it('is true', function () { expect(true)->toBeTrue(); });

</code-snippet>

Running Tests

•Run minimal tests with filter before finalizing: php artisan test --compact --filter=testName.
•Run all tests: php artisan test --compact.
•Run file: php artisan test --compact tests/Feature/ExampleTest.php.

Assertions

Use specific assertions (assertSuccessful(), assertNotFound()) instead of assertStatus():

<code-snippet name="Pest Response Assertion" lang="php">

it('returns all', function () { $this->postJson('/api/docs', [])->assertSuccessful(); });

</code-snippet>

Use	Instead of
`assertSuccessful()`	`assertStatus(200)`
`assertNotFound()`	`assertStatus(404)`
`assertForbidden()`	`assertStatus(403)`

Mocking

Import mock function before use: use function Pest\Laravel\mock;

Datasets

Use datasets for repetitive tests (validation rules, etc.):

<code-snippet name="Pest Dataset Example" lang="php">

it('has emails', function (string $email) { expect($email)->not->toBeEmpty(); })->with([ 'james' => 'james@laravel.com', 'taylor' => 'taylor@laravel.com', ]);

</code-snippet>

Pest 3 Features

Architecture Testing

Pest 3 includes architecture testing to enforce code conventions:

<code-snippet name="Architecture Test Example" lang="php">

arch('controllers') ->expect('App\Http\Controllers') ->toExtendNothing() ->toHaveSuffix('Controller');

arch('models') ->expect('App\Models') ->toExtend('Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model');

arch('no debugging') ->expect(['dd', 'dump', 'ray']) ->not->toBeUsed();

</code-snippet>

Type Coverage

Pest 3 provides improved type coverage analysis. Run with --type-coverage flag.

Common Pitfalls

•Not importing use function Pest\Laravel\mock; before using mock
•Using assertStatus(200) instead of assertSuccessful()
•Forgetting datasets for repetitive validation tests
•Deleting tests without approval