AI-assisted testing in Laravel: faster PHPUnit/Pest stubs, same bar for coverage
Using AI to draft feature and unit tests in Laravel while keeping assertions, factories, and database state under human control.
AI is excellent at generating test skeletons: happy path, unauthorized user, empty collection, invalid date range. It is mediocre at knowing your domain invariants unless you paste them in the spec.
I use agents to propose test lists, then I edit factories and assertions myself. Database transactions and RefreshDatabase stay standard; I do not mock the entire world when an integration test is cheaper.
The goal is not more tests — it is faster iteration on the tests that matter. Critical paths (auth, payments, reports) get explicit cases; AI fills the long tail of boring cases.
CI must stay green before merge. AI that skips running tests is worse than no AI.