Laravel Dusk is a tool for testing front-end interactions. It is based on ChromeDriver and supports automated browser operations in PHP. 1. It uses real browser sessions to simulate user behavior and is suitable for testing JavaScript functions; 2. The installation is completed through Composer and Artisan commands, and ChromeDriver is automatically configured; 3. The test cases inherit DuskTestCase, which can be run in interface or headless mode; 4. When writing tests, you can access pages, fill in forms, click buttons and assert the results; 5. Provide debugging skills such as explicit waiting, screenshots, multi-browser testing, etc.; 6. Supports quick login and clean up sessions to improve testing efficiency.

If you're looking to test front-end interactions in a Laravel app without leaving the comfort of PHP, Laravel Dusk is your go-to tool. It provides a simple but powerful way to automatic browser actions and simulate real user behavior — all within your Laravel environment.

What Laravel Dusk Actually Does

Laravel Dusk is built on top of ChromeDriver and uses real browser sessions to interact with your application. Unlike traditional HTTP-based testing tools that only check responses or status codes, Dusk actually opens a browser window (or runs headlessly), loads pages, clicks buttons, fills forms, and verifies content — just like a real user would.

This makes it ideal for testing JavaScript-heavy features like AJAX calls, dynamic form validation, or single-page app behaviors where DOM changes happen after page load.

Setting Up Dusk in Your Laravel Project

Before diving into writing tests, make sure Dusk is installed:

 composer requires --dev laravel/dusk

Then run the install command:

 php artisan dusk:install

This creates a DuskTestCase.php base class and a Browser directory inside your tests folder. All your browser tests should extend this base class.

You don't need any separate Selenium server — Dusk handles launching Chrome via Chromedriver automatically.

A few things to note:

• Tests are written as regular PHPUnit tests.
• You can run them using php artisan dusk .
• By default, they open a real browser window unless configured otherwise.

Writing Your First Browser Test

Let's say you want to test if a login form works correctly. Here's how a basic Dusk test might look:

 public function test_user_can_login(): void
{
    $this->browse(function (Browser $browser) {
        $browser->visit('/login')
                ->type('email', 'test@example.com')
                ->type('password', 'password')
                ->press('Login')
                ->assertPathIs('/dashboard');
    });
}

What's happening here:

• The browser visits the /login page.
• Types into input fields using their name attributes.
• Presses the "Login" button.
• Asserts that the current URL path is now /dashboard .

Each step maps directly to what a real user would do. This makes it easy to debug when something fails — just watch the browser session play out.

Tip: If you're running tests locally and want to see what's going on, remove the --headless flag from the Dusk driver options in your DuskTestCase .

Tips for Better Dusk Testing

Here are some practical tips based on common pain points:

• Use selectors wisely : Prefer unique IDs over CSS classes or XPath. For example:

   ->click('#submit-button')

• Wait for elements : Don't assume everything loads instantly. Use explicit waits:

   ->waitFor('.success-message')

• Run in headless mode on CI : For faster execution in pipelines, keep browsers hidden: Add '--headless' to the driverOptions() method in DuskTestCase .

• Use multiple browsers in one test (for multi-user scenarios):

   $this->browse(function (Browser $browser1, Browser $browser2) {
      // do stuff with both
  });

• Screenshots help debugging :

   ->screenshot('login_page_before_submit')

These small adjustments can save hours of frustration when dealing with flaky tests.

Handling Authentication in Dusk Tests

Manually logging in every time gets repetitive. Laravel gives you a shortcut:

 $browser->loginAs(User::find(1));

This logs in the specified user without needing to fill out a form. Useful for tests that start from an authenticated state.

Alternatively, if you're testing login flow itself, then manually typing credentials make sense.

Just remember: always clean up after tests if needed. You can use logout() to reset the session.

That's the core of working with Laravel Dusk. It's not magic, but it does make browser automation feel native in Laravel projects.

The above is the detailed content of Performing Browser Automation and Testing with Laravel Dusk. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!