Installation

Install the plugin as a development dependency from your CakePHP application's root:

composer require --dev dereuromark/cakephp-test-helper

Composer checks the supported PHP and CakePHP versions. See the version map for other CakePHP branches.

Load the plugin only while debug is enabled:

bin/cake plugin load TestHelper --only-debug

Keep existing plugin registrations instead of adding a duplicate. This registration enables the plugin's routes under /test-helper. The package is development-only and must not be loaded unconditionally after composer install --no-dev.

Continue with Getting started to open the dashboard and try a route lookup. Application authentication middleware may require you to sign in first; the plugin's own controller base does not inherit AppController callbacks.

Optional tools

Feature	Application dependency or capability
Generate tests and fixtures	cakephp/bake, loaded for CLI use
Run browser-selected tests	A compatible PHPUnit installation and permission for the web PHP process to launch CLI PHP
Coverage reports	Xdebug or PCOV enabled for CLI PHP
Migration and schema comparison	cakephp/migrations, the database driver, and a configured connection
Text diffs in migration comparison and recommended plugin classes	sebastian/diff

Development dependencies from this repository are not automatically installed in consuming applications. Install the packages needed by your selected tools, for example:

composer require --dev cakephp/bake cakephp/migrations sebastian/diff

Register Bake and Migrations as appropriate for the application, preserving other config/plugins.php entries. Their development-only registrations must be optional or restricted to debug mode so a production installation without those packages can boot.

The backend executes tests as the web-server user. That process needs access to the test files, configured database, and report output directory. Install PHPUnit using the application's own test setup rather than assuming the plugin supplies it.

CLI use outside development

If you deliberately need CLI functionality in an environment installed without development dependencies, install TestHelper as a regular dependency and register it with ['routes' => false]. This keeps its web backend disabled. Do not expose developer routes as part of that registration.