Flaky Test Review

Priority Order

HIGH - Breaks tests unpredictably:

• No alias: or overload: mocks - breaks parallel tests
• No Http::sequence() in parallel - responses consumed unpredictably
• Cache cleared BEFORE mocking - cache wins over mocks
• createFromFormat() chains startOfDay() - preserves wall clock otherwise
• Fakes BEFORE factory creation - afterCreating hooks run immediately
• Passport::actingAs($user, ['scope']) includes scopes - 403 means missing scope

MEDIUM - Intermittent failures:

• Time frozen with startOfMinute() - use startOfSecond() only when needed
• Custom cleanup BEFORE parent::tearDown()
• partialMock() before shouldReceive() on facades
• Partial fakes: Bus::fake([SpecificJob::class]) - let others run

LOW - Silent bugs:

• assertSame(true, ...) not assertTrue() - catches boolean casts
• Money->isEqualTo() not assertEquals - float comparison issues

Quick Reference

For detailed patterns and examples:

• Time patterns: See [references/time-patterns.md](references/time-patterns.md)

- Freezing, createFromFormat trap, back-to-back records, DataProviders

• Mock patterns: See [references/mock-patterns.md](references/mock-patterns.md)

- Alias mocks, partialMock, container binding, partial fakes

• Isolation patterns: See [references/isolation-patterns.md](references/isolation-patterns.md)

- Storage::fake, observable events, Sushi models, tearDown order

• Assertion patterns: See [references/assertion-patterns.md](references/assertion-patterns.md)

- Boolean assertions, Money, timestamps, exceptions

Observable Events Risk

Validation

Run the pattern detector on your test file:

php .claude/skills/flaky-test-reviewer/scripts/validate.php path/to/YourTest.php

Verification

# Repeat test to catch intermittent failures
php artisan test --filter=TestName --repeat=100