Snapshots Plugin

Overview

The Snapshots Plugin for Pest adds snapshot testing capabilities to Pest.

Source code: github.com/spatie/pest-plugin-snapshots

Snapshot tests are a very useful tool whenever you want to make sure things don't change unexpectedly. Find more about snapshot testing here: sebastiandedeyne.com/a-package-for-snapshot-testing-in-phpunit/

Installation

Install the Snapshots Plugin via the Composer package manager:

1composer require spatie/pest-plugin-snapshots --dev

Available functions

assertMatchesSnapshot()

The assertMatchesSnapshot() function asserts the given string matches the existing snapshot.

1use function Spatie\Snapshots\assertMatchesSnapshot;
2use function Pest\Laravel\get;
3
4it('renders correctly', function () {
5    $html = get('/')->getContent();
6
7    assertMatchesSnapshot($html);
8});

If you’re working with specific data like JSON or XML, you’re better off using a dedicated assertMatchesJsonSnapshot or assertMatchesXmlSnapshot method, which will save snapshots as .json or .xml files, and provide a better diff when the snapshot doesn’t match:

  • assertMatchesSnapshot()
  • assertMatchesFileHashSnapshot()
  • assertMatchesFileSnapshot()
  • assertMatchesHtmlSnapshot()
  • assertMatchesJsonSnapshot()
  • assertMatchesObjectSnapshot()
  • assertMatchesTextSnapshot()
  • assertMatchesXmlSnapshot()
  • assertMatchesYamlSnapshot()

Note that, by default, snapshots are stored in a tests/__snapshots__ directory.

Also, when you expect a changed value, you may need to run the -d --update-snapshots flag to update the existing snapshots:

1./vendor/bin/pest -d --update-snapshots

Next section: Watch Plugin →