Console Tests
Laravel provides a fluent API for testing Artisan commands, including interactive prompts and command output.
This page follows Laravel’s latest console testing APIs, including expectsSearch for Laravel Prompts search interactions.
Introduction
Use the test runner’s artisan method to execute a command and chain expectations:
test('question command', function () {
$this->artisan('question')
->expectsQuestion('What is your name?', 'Taylor Otwell')
->expectsQuestion('Which language do you prefer?', 'PHP')
->expectsOutput('Your name is Taylor Otwell and you prefer PHP.')
->doesntExpectOutput('Your name is Taylor Otwell and you prefer Ruby.')
->assertExitCode(0);
});
public function test_question_command(): void
{
$this->artisan('question')
->expectsQuestion('What is your name?', 'Taylor Otwell')
->expectsQuestion('Which language do you prefer?', 'PHP')
->expectsOutput('Your name is Taylor Otwell and you prefer PHP.')
->doesntExpectOutput('Your name is Taylor Otwell and you prefer Ruby.')
->assertExitCode(0);
}
Success / Failure Expectations
Use exit-status assertions to verify whether a command succeeded or failed:
$this->artisan('inspire')->assertExitCode(0);
$this->artisan('inspire')->assertSuccessful();
$this->artisan('inspire')->assertFailed();
$this->artisan('example')
->expectsQuestion('What is your name?', 'Taylor Otwell')
->expectsSearch('What is your name?', search: 'Tay', answers: [
'Taylor Otwell',
'Taylor Swift',
'Darian Taylor',
], answer: 'Taylor Otwell')
->assertExitCode(0);
Output expectations
Use output assertions to verify exact strings, partial strings, and table rendering:
$this->artisan('users:all')
->expectsOutput('The expected output')
->doesntExpectOutput('Unexpected output')
->expectsOutputToContain('expected')
->expectsTable([
'ID',
'Email',
], [
[1, '[email protected]'],
[2, '[email protected]'],
])
->assertExitCode(0);
Confirmation Expectations
For yes/no prompts, use expectsConfirmation:
$this->artisan('module:import')
->expectsConfirmation('Do you really wish to run this command?', 'no')
->assertExitCode(1);
Console Events
By default, CommandStarting and CommandFinished are not dispatched during tests.
Use WithConsoleEvents when you need to assert console event behavior:
<?php
namespace Tests\Feature;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\WithConsoleEvents;
use Tests\TestCase;
class ConsoleEventTest extends TestCase
{
use WithConsoleEvents;
}
Use WithConsoleEvents only in tests that require event assertions, so normal tests stay faster.
