How to Install Laravel Pest Testing Framework

You can install the Laravel Pest testing framework either on an existing or new Laravel project. If you are new to Laravel, read how to install Laravel 8 on Ubuntu. However, either way, make sure at least that you are using PHP 7.3 or a newer version. If everything looks ok, open a terminal window and go to your Laravel 8 project directory.

cd /path/to/laravel-project

Then, install the Laravel Pest testing framework plugin by running the following command. We use the --dev flag to make it installed as a development package.

composer require pestphp/pest-plugin-laravel --dev

Once the installation is completed, run the following command. It will create a file called Pest.php in Laravel tests directory.

php artisan pest:install

After that, you can create Pest tests with the following command.

php artisan pest:test HomeTest

Mainly, there are two types of tests in Laravel called “Feature tests” and “Unit tests”. By default, the pest:test command creates feature tests. But instead, if you need to create a unit test, you can mention the --unit to the pest:test command like below.

php artisan pest:test TransactionTest --unit

Additionally, you can create Laravel Dusk tests as well. Mention the --dusk flag when you create the test with pest:test like below.

php artisan pest:test CartTest --dusk

However, if you are planning to run Laravel Dusk tests, you need to install it.