tdd-with-pest

Tdd With Pest (Symfony)

Use when

• Driving a feature with RED-GREEN-REFACTOR in a project that runs Pest v4 (PHP 8.3+).
• Writing it() and expect() tests that need the Symfony kernel or an HTTP client.
• Converting existing PHPUnit class tests to Pest syntax with pest-plugin-drift.
• Adding a bug-reproducing test to a Pest suite before the fix.

Default workflow

1. Confirm PHP 8.3+ and Pest v4, then generate tests/Pest.php with ./vendor/bin/pest --init.
2. Bind the bridge classes in tests/Pest.php: uses(KernelTestCase::class, Factories::class, ResetDatabase::class)->in('Integration') and uses(WebTestCase::class, ...)->in('Functional').
3. RED: write an it() test with Foundry v2 factories, run ./vendor/bin/pest --filter and check it fails for the right reason.
4. GREEN: write the minimal code, then REFACTOR and re-run ./vendor/bin/pest.
5. Gate the suite with --parallel and --coverage --min=80.

Guardrails

• There is no official Symfony Pest plugin: never reference pestphp/pest-plugin-symfony, bind KernelTestCase or WebTestCase through uses().
• Foundry v2 factories return real objects: no ->object() call.
• Pest test files are anonymous, so use the Factories and ResetDatabase traits rather than the #[ResetDatabase] attribute.
• Chain related checks with expect()->and(); keep one concept per test.

Progressive disclosure

• Use this file for execution posture and risk controls.
• Open references when deep implementation details are needed.

Output contract

• The failing ./vendor/bin/pest output (RED), then the passing run.
• tests/Pest.php bindings added or changed.
• Test files changed and the commands executed.

References

• reference.md