Pest Plugin Testcontainers

eznix86/pest-plugin-testcontainers is a Laravel-focused Pest plugin that starts containers directly from your tests.

Why use this plugin?

• Test your own containers to ensure it runs smoothly with the expected behavior.
• Spin up services (Postgres, Redis, Meilisearch, MinIO, and more) in tests with minimal setup.
• Integrates with Laravel (database, cache, scout, storage) in one fluent chain.

Table of Contents

• Requirements
• Install
• Quick Start (Laravel + Pest)
• Function API
• Laravel Helpers
  • Database (asDatabase)
  • Cache (asCache)
  • Search (asSearch)
  • Storage (asStorage)
• Expectations
• API Reference
• Docker Comparison
• Local Development
• Troubleshooting
• Notes
• Credits

Requirements

• PHP 8.3+
• Docker running locally
• PestPHP v4

Install

composer require --dev eznix86/pest-plugin-testcontainers

The plugin autoloads itself and auto-registers the helper functions, expectations, and InteractsWithContainers trait for Pest tests.

Quick Start (Laravel + Pest)

1) Make Pest use your Laravel base test case

tests/Pest.php

<?php

use Tests\TestCase;

pest()->extend(TestCase::class)->in('Feature', 'Unit');

2) (Optional) Add the trait explicitly in your base test case

This is usually not required because the plugin auto-registers InteractsWithContainers for Pest tests.

tests/TestCase.php

<?php

namespace Tests;

use Eznix86\PestPluginTestContainers\InteractsWithContainers;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\TestCase as BaseTestCase;

abstract class TestCase extends BaseTestCase
{
    use InteractsWithContainers;
}

3) Write your first container test

it('starts nginx and exposes a mapped port', function () {
    $container = $this->container('nginx:alpine')
        ->ports([80])
        ->waitForHttp(path: '/', port: 80)
        ->start();

    expect($container->getGeneratedPortFor(80))->toBeInt();
});

Function API

You can use either style:

• Trait style: $this->container('image')->...->start()
• Function style: container('image')->...->start()

Function-style example:

use function Eznix86\PestPluginTestContainers\container;

it('starts nginx with the helper function', function () {
    $container = container('nginx:alpine')
        ->ports([80])
        ->waitForHttp(path: '/', port: 80)
        ->start();

    expect($container->getGeneratedPortFor(80))->toBeInt();
});

Note: the function helper must run inside an active Pest test. InteractsWithContainers is auto-registered by the plugin (or can be added manually).

Laravel Helpers

Specialized helpers are available for common Laravel services:

• postgres(?string $version = null)
• mysql(?string $version = null)
• mariadb(?string $version = null)
• redis(?string $version = null)
• typesense(?string $version = null)
• meilisearch(?string $version = null)
• minio(?string $version = null)

All specialized builders also support:

• ->image(string $image) to override the helper image

Database (asDatabase)

Use postgres(), mysql(), or mariadb() with asDatabase() to inject a dedicated Laravel database connection and set it as default. By default, the connection name is randomized per builder (testcontainer_xxx). If reuse('name') is enabled, the connection name matches the reuse name (including perWorker suffixes). You can read that name from $container->connectionName() after start().

use function Eznix86\PestPluginTestContainers\postgres;

it('uses postgres as laravel database', function () {
    $builder = postgres('16')
        ->credentials('app_user', 'secret-pass')
        ->asDatabase(); // random database name by default

    $container = $builder->start();
    $connection = $container->connectionName();

    expect(config('database.default'))->toBe($connection)
        ->and(config("database.connections.{$connection}.driver"))->toBe('pgsql')
        ->and(config("database.connections.{$connection}.port"))->toBe($container->mappedPort(5432));
});

Cache (asCache)

Use redis()->asCache() to configure Laravel cache against Redis in the test container. Use postgres()->asCache(), mysql()->asCache(), or mariadb()->asCache() to configure Laravel cache with the database store over the injected database connection.

use function Eznix86\PestPluginTestContainers\redis;

it('uses redis as laravel cache', function () {
    $builder = redis()->asCache();
    $container = $builder->start();
    $connection = $container->connectionName();

    expect(config('cache.default'))->toBe($connection)
        ->and(config("database.redis.{$connection}.port"))->toBe($container->mappedPort(6379));
});

Search (asSearch)

Use typesense() or meilisearch() with asSearch() to inject Scout config and set scout.driver.

use function Eznix86\PestPluginTestContainers\typesense;

it('uses typesense as laravel scout driver', function () {
    $container = typesense()
        ->passphrase('typesense-key')
        ->asSearch()
        ->start();

    expect(config('scout.driver'))->toBe('typesense')
        ->and(config('scout.typesense.port'))->toBe($container->mappedPort(8108));
});

Storage (asStorage)

Use minio()->asStorage() to inject an S3 disk and set it as default.

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Storage;
use function Eznix86\PestPluginTestContainers\minio;

it('uses minio as laravel storage', function () {
    $builder = minio()->credentials('storage_user', 'storage_pass')->asStorage();
    $container = $builder->start();

    Storage::disk($container->connectionName())->put('hello.txt', 'ok');

    expect('hello.txt')->toBeInStorage();
    expect('missing.txt')->toNotBeInStorage();
});

Expectations

$container->expect(...) supports container-focused assertions:

• $container->expect('echo hello')->toRunSuccessfully()->toContain('hello')
• $container->expect('/tmp/file')->toExist()->toBeReadable()->toNotExist()
• $container->expect('app started')->toBeInLogs()

Global storage expectations (useful with minio()->asStorage()):

• expect('path/to/file')->toBeInStorage()
• expect('path/to/file')->toNotBeInStorage()

API Reference

Builder methods available before start():

// container(...)
    ->ports(array $ports)
    ->env(array $env)
    ->labels(array $labels)
    ->volume(string $sourcePath, string $containerPath)
    ->reuse(string $name, bool $perWorker = false)
    ->command(array $command)
    ->healthcheck(array $command)
    ->waitForLog(string $message, bool $regex = false, int $timeoutSeconds = 30, int $pollIntervalMilliseconds = 500)
    ->waitForHttp(
        string $path = '/',
        ?int $port = null,
        int $expectedStatusCode = 200,
        Testcontainers\Container\HttpMethod|string $method = Testcontainers\Container\HttpMethod::GET,
        bool $https = false,
        bool $allowInsecure = false,
        int $timeoutSeconds = 30,
        int $pollIntervalMilliseconds = 500,
        int $readTimeoutMilliseconds = 1000,
        array $headers = [],
    )
    ->waitForPort(?int $port = null, int $timeoutSeconds = 30, int $pollIntervalMilliseconds = 500)
    ->waitForCommand(array $command, int $timeoutSeconds = 30, int $pollIntervalMilliseconds = 500)
    ->start()

Specialized helper methods:

// postgres(), mysql(), mariadb()
    ->credentials(string $username, string $password)
    ->asDatabase(?string $databaseName = null)
    ->asCache()
    ->asQueue(?string $connection = null)

// redis()
    ->passphrase(string $phrase)
    ->asCache()
    ->asQueue(?string $connection = null)

// typesense(), meilisearch()
    ->passphrase(string $phrase)
    ->asSearch()

// minio()
    ->credentials(string $username, string $password)
    ->asStorage(?string $disk = null)

// all specialized builders
    ->reuse(string $name, bool $perWorker = false)
    ->image(string $image)

Port mapping notes:

• ports([80]) picks a free host port automatically.
• ports([80 => 8080]) maps container 80 to host 8080.

Expectation methods available from $container->expect(...):

// $container->expect(...)
    ->toExist()
    ->toNotExist()
    ->toBeDirectory()
    ->toBeReadable()
    ->toRunSuccessfully()
    ->toFail()
    ->toContain(string $needle)
    ->toBeInLogs()

Started container helpers:

// $container
    ->connectionName() // nullable string, set when started from specialized builders
    ->host()
    ->mappedPort(int $containerPort)
    ->getGeneratedPortFor(int $containerPort)
    ->logs() // sanitized logs
    ->rawLogs() // raw Docker stream output
    ->exec(array $command) // returns ExecResult with sanitized output
    ->execRaw(array $command) // returns ExecResult with raw output

Docker Comparison

docker run --rm \
  -p 8080:80 \
  -v "$(pwd)/tests/Fixtures/nginx/index.html:/usr/share/nginx/html/index.html" \
  --health-cmd="test -f /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html" \
  nginx:alpine

Equivalent test setup:

$container = $this->container('nginx:alpine')
    ->ports([80 => 8080])
    ->volume(base_path('tests/Fixtures/nginx/index.html'), '/usr/share/nginx/html/index.html')
    ->healthcheck(['sh', '-lc', 'test -f /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html'])
    ->start();

Local Development

From the project root:

composer install
composer test

Troubleshooting

• Docker is not running: start Docker Desktop (or your Docker daemon) and rerun tests.
• Container startup timeout: add an explicit wait strategy (waitForLog, waitForHttp, waitForPort, or waitForCommand) and increase timeout values.
• Port conflicts: prefer dynamic host ports (ports([80])) over fixed host mappings (ports([80 => 8080])).
• Parallel test collisions: for reusable containers in parallel runs, use ->reuse('name', perWorker: true).

Notes

• Started containers are tracked per test class and cleaned up during Laravel teardown.
• ->reuse('name', perWorker: false) attaches to a running container with that Docker name when available, and keeps it running across test teardown.
• ->reuse('name', perWorker: true) appends a worker token suffix in parallel runs so each worker gets its own reusable container name.
• Connection naming follows the same rule: randomized by default, reuse name when ->reuse(...) is configured.

Credits

• Testcontainers PHP