Double Colon Syntax for PHPUnit

PHPUnit doesn't natively support the file::method syntax commonly used in other testing frameworks, such as pytest (pytest test_file.py::test_method). However, I found that AI assistants frequently suggest this syntax and even strongly believe this syntax is a thing (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude), which is bonkers.

So it was always frustrating to see how an assistant generates a command using this syntax and fails, day after day, wasting time, tokens, context window, and my attention. Not anymore.

Now everyone can run individual test methods using the familiar file::method syntax:

vendor/bin/phpunit tests/ExampleTest.php::testItWorks

But before...

Installation

composer require --dev sanmai/phpunit-double-colon-syntax

That's it! No configuration needed. Works with PHPUnit 6 and above.

Usage

It works with multiple methods:

vendor/bin/phpunit tests/ExampleTest.php::test_one tests/ExampleTest.php::test_two

It does not work with --filter: you have to choose this or that syntax, not both.

How It Works

Uses Composer's autoloader to intercept and transform arguments before PHPUnit starts. The file::method syntax becomes file --filter method automatically. It targets specifically vendor/bin/phpunit and ignores everything else.