Run the setup script (downloads WordPress + the WP test suite into the repo, and creates the test DB if needed):

npm run test:setup:php

Defaults used by test:setup:php:

• DB Name: code_snippets_phpunit
• DB User: root
• DB Password: (empty)
• DB Host: 127.0.0.1
• WP Version: latest

Override defaults via env vars (example):

WP_PHPUNIT_DB_NAME=wp_phpunit_test \
WP_PHPUNIT_DB_USER=root \
WP_PHPUNIT_DB_PASS=root \
WP_PHPUNIT_DB_HOST=127.0.0.1 \
WP_PHPUNIT_WP_VERSION=latest \
npm run test:setup:php

Run all tests:

npm run test:php

Run tests with detailed output:

npm run test:php:watch

Or run PHPUnit directly:

WP_TESTS_DIR=./.wp-tests-lib WP_DEVELOP_DIR=./.wp-core src/vendor/bin/phpunit -c phpunit.xml

The test:setup:php script will:

1. Download WordPress core to ./.wp-core/
2. Download the WordPress test library to ./.wp-tests-lib/
3. Create a test database (if it doesn't exist)
4. Generate ./.wp-tests-lib/wp-tests-config.php

Run npm run test:setup:php to download the WordPress test suite.

Verify your database credentials and that MySQL is running.

Make sure the install script is executable:

chmod +x tests/install-wp-tests.sh

The WordPress test suite download uses svn export. Install Subversion if you don't already have it.

Tests should be placed in tests/phpunit/ with the naming pattern test-*.php.

Example test:

<?php
namespace Code_Snippets\Tests;

class My_Test extends TestCase {

    public function test_something() {
        $this->assertTrue( true );
    }
}

• Keep tests isolated: create your own fixtures and clean up after each test where possible.
• Prefer plugin APIs (save_snippet, delete_snippet, etc.) over direct SQL so behavior matches runtime (and keeps flat-file mode in sync).
• Avoid depending on UI strings/markup in PHPUnit tests—assert on behavior, data, and registered WP objects (e.g. WP_Admin_Bar nodes).

Prereqs:

• Docker (required for wp-env)
• Node.js/npm

Install JS deps:

npm ci

Install Playwright browsers (once):

npx playwright install

Start the WordPress environment:

npm run wp-env:start

Optional (recommended when switching branches / after failures): reset the WP env:

npm run wp-env:clean
npm run wp-env:start

Prepare the environment for E2E (cleans stale flat-file artifacts, ensures plugin active, etc.):

npm run test:setup:playwright

Run everything:

npm run test:playwright

Run a single project:

npm run test:playwright -- --project=chromium-db-snippets

Run the file-based snippets project (includes flat-file setup):

npm run test:playwright -- --project=chromium-file-based-snippets

Run with HTML reporter but don’t auto-open the report:

PW_TEST_HTML_REPORT_OPEN=never npm run test:playwright

• Traces are saved under test-results/ on failures. View one with:

npx playwright show-trace test-results/**/trace.zip

Guidelines / caveats:

• Prefer resilient locators (getByRole, getByLabel, stable ids) over fragile CSS selectors.
• Use wpCli() for setup/fixtures when possible (fast + deterministic).
• Always clean up created snippets/pages (prefer the helper methods so file-based mode stays in sync).
• Avoid leaking global state between tests (e.g. Safe Mode, mu-plugins, settings toggles).
• Keep per-test timeouts explicit only when needed (and use constants rather than magic numbers).