Using Factories for Test Data

Model factories generate realistic, randomized test data quickly, replacing tedious hand-written fixtures with a single reusable definition per model.

Defining a Factory

class PostFactory extends Factory
{
    public function definition(): array
    {
        return [
            'title' => fake()->sentence(),
            'body' => fake()->paragraphs(3, true),
            'user_id' => User::factory(),
        ];
    }
}

Using a Factory in Tests

$post = Post::factory()->create();
$posts = Post::factory()->count(5)->create();

Factory States

States let a factory produce variations, such as a published or draft post, without duplicating the whole definition.

public function published(): Factory
{
    return $this->state(fn (array $attributes) => [
        'published_at' => now(),
    ]);
}

Post::factory()->published()->create();

With solid testing tools in place, the course now turns to the wider Laravel ecosystem — starting with how packages are installed and managed via Composer.