Phpunit Double Colon Syntax Laravel Package
sanmai/phpunit-double-colon-syntax
Run individual PHPUnit test methods with the familiar file::method syntax (like pytest). This dev package rewrites args via Composer autoload so vendor/bin/phpunit tests/FooTest.php::testBar becomes file + --filter automatically. Supports multiple methods; PHPUnit 6+.
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.
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