- What is richcongress/test-tools and what does it do?
- richcongress/test-tools is a Composer package that bundles a set of testing utilities for Laravel and PHP applications. It provides helpers and assertions aimed at common test scenarios, so you write less boilerplate and focus on the behavior under test. It is intended to be pulled into a project's development dependencies alongside your existing test suite. Check the repository README for the full list of available helpers.
- How do I install richcongress/test-tools in a Laravel application?
- Install it with Composer as a dev dependency by running composer require richcongress/test-tools --dev. Once installed, the helpers are available to your existing PHPUnit or Pest test suite. Review the README for any optional service provider registration or configuration publishing steps before writing your first test.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does richcongress/test-tools support?
- Version support is defined by the requirements declared in the package's composer.json, which Composer enforces at install time. Before upgrading Laravel or PHP, check the constraint in that file or the repository README to confirm compatibility. Pinning to a tagged release keeps your test tooling stable across framework upgrades.
- Should richcongress/test-tools be installed as a production dependency?
- No, it is a testing utility and belongs in require-dev. Installing it with the --dev flag means composer install --no-dev will exclude it from production builds. That keeps your deployment artifact lean and avoids shipping test-only code to servers.
- Does richcongress/test-tools work with Pest as well as PHPUnit?
- The package is designed around PHP test suites, and its helpers are generally plain PHP functions and assertions that can be called from either PHPUnit test classes or Pest test closures. If any helper depends on a specific test case base class, that will be documented in the README. Run a small test in your own suite to confirm it fits your chosen runner.
- What kind of helpers and assertions does richcongress/test-tools provide?
- It offers helpers and assertions that streamline recurring test scenarios, reducing the setup code you repeat across test files. The exact set of utilities grows with releases, so the repository README and source are the authoritative reference. Because the API is small, you can adopt individual helpers incrementally instead of rewriting an existing suite.
- Will richcongress/test-tools affect my application at runtime?
- Because it is installed as a dev dependency, it is not present when you deploy with composer install --no-dev. Even in local environments, the package only exposes test helpers and does not alter application behavior. If you register anything from it in a service provider, keep that registration limited to the testing environment.
- Do I need to configure or publish anything after installing richcongress/test-tools?
- Most testing utilities of this kind work out of the box once Composer has installed the package. If the bundle ships a configuration file or requires provider registration, the README will describe the publish command and the environment in which it should run. Keep any published config inside your test setup rather than production config directories.
- Can I use richcongress/test-tools outside of Laravel in a plain PHP project?
- The package is described as useful for both Laravel and PHP applications, so many helpers should work in a standalone PHPUnit setup. Some utilities may assume Laravel's test case or container, in which case they simply won't apply to a framework-free project. Verify the specific helpers you need against the source before committing to it.
- Is richcongress/test-tools actively maintained, and what are the alternatives?
- Check the repository's release tags and commit history on GitHub to gauge recent activity before adopting it in a long-lived project. Alternatives include Laravel's built-in testing helpers, Pest plugins, and established mocking libraries such as Mockery. Many teams use this bundle alongside those tools rather than replacing them, since it targets boilerplate reduction rather than full test framework features.