phpspec

SpecBDD framework for designing and testing PHP code

TLDR

Run all specifications in the project

$ phpspec run

Generate a new specification for a class

$ phpspec describe "[App\\Calculator]"

Run a single spec file

$ phpspec run [spec/App/CalculatorSpec.php]

Use a specific output formatter (pretty, progress, junit, dot, tap, html)

$ phpspec run --format [pretty]

Run without prompting to auto-generate missing classes/methods

$ phpspec run --no-interaction

Stop on the first failure

$ phpspec run --stop-on-failure

Show full backtraces for verbose debugging

$ phpspec run -vvv

SYNOPSIS

phpspec command [arguments] [options]

phpspec is a SpecBDD (Specification Behaviour-Driven Development) tool for PHP. Rather than verifying existing implementations like a traditional unit test runner, it drives the design of objects: you write a spec describing how a class should behave, run phpspec, and it offers to scaffold the missing class, methods, and return statements for you.Specs are plain PHP classes that extend PhpSpec\\ObjectBehavior. Each `it*` / `its*` method is a single example. Collaborators are described as type-hinted parameters and phpspec automatically supplies prophecy-based test doubles for them.Configuration lives in `phpspec.yml` (or `phpspec.yml.dist`) at the project root and controls suites, bootstrap files, formatters, and matchers/extensions. PhpSpec is intentionally narrower than PHPUnit — it focuses on isolated, design-first object specs and pairs naturally with a higher-level acceptance tool such as Behat.

PARAMETERS

-c, --config FILE

Use a specific configuration file (default: phpspec.yml or phpspec.yml.dist).

-f, --format NAME

Output formatter: progress (default), pretty, junit, dot, tap, html.

--stop-on-failure

Halt the run as soon as a spec fails.

--fake

Make generated dummy methods return realistic fake data.

-n, --no-interaction

Do not ask any interactive questions; assume defaults.

-v / -vv / -vvv

Increase verbosity. -vvv prints exception traces.

--ansi / --no-ansi

Force or disable ANSI color output.

-q, --quiet

Suppress all output.

-V, --version

Display the phpspec version.

CONFIGURATION

phpspec.yml

Project configuration: declares suites, namespaces, source directories, formatter, and extensions.

COMMANDS

run [spec]

Run all specs (or a single spec file/class) and offer to generate missing code interactively.

describe CLASS

Create a new spec file for the given fully qualified class name.

help [command]

Show help for a specific command.

list

List all available commands.

CAVEATS

PhpSpec is not a drop-in replacement for PHPUnit — it cannot test static methods, final classes (without extensions), or exercise framework-level integration. Generated code is intentionally minimal; you are expected to fill in the real implementation after scaffolding.

HISTORY

PhpSpec was started in 2007 by Marcello Duarte and rewritten as PhpSpec 2 in 2014 with help from Konstantin Kudryashov and the Behat community. It is maintained on GitHub under the `phpspec` organisation and is installable via Composer.