UnitTest Attribute and More in Laravel 13.3.0

This release introduces a #[UnitTest] PHP attribute for skipping framework boot on individual test methods, variadic support for model attributes like #[Fillable] and #[Hidden], a new BatchStarted event in the job batching lifecycle, and more.

• New #[UnitTest] attribute to skip framework boot per test method
• Variadic args for #[Fillable], #[Appends], #[Hidden], and other model attributes
• New BatchStarted event for job batch lifecycle monitoring
• Memory usage shown in verbose queue worker output
• Security: install:broadcasting now passes --ignore-scripts to npm/pnpm

#What's New

##[UnitTest] Attribute

A new #[UnitTest] attribute lets you skip framework booting for individual test methods within a TestCase that extends Laravel's base test case. This is useful when most tests in a class need the container but a few are pure unit tests that don't.

Without it, every test in the class pays the cost of booting the full framework. With #[UnitTest], those specific methods run as bare PHPUnit tests — which can be an order of magnitude faster.

use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\Attributes\UnitTest;
 
class LocationServiceTest extends TestCase
{
    public function test_getCoordinates_resolves_address_for_us(): void
    {
        // needs the container
    }
 
    #[UnitTest]
    public function test_getState_returns_state_from_abbreviation(): void
    {
        // no framework boot needed
    }
}

Pull Request: #59432

#Variadic Model Attributes

Several Eloquent model attributes now accept variadic arguments. Previously, you had to pass an array; now you can pass each value as a separate argument:

// Before
#[Fillable(['first_name', 'last_name'])]
#[Hidden(['password', 'secret'])]
class User extends Model {}
 
// After
#[Fillable('first_name', 'last_name')]
#[Hidden('password', 'secret')]
class User extends Model {}

Passing a single array is still supported, so there are no breaking changes.

Pull Request: #59421

#BatchStarted Event

A new BatchStarted event fires when the first job in a batch is processed (whether it succeeds or fails). This fills in a gap in the batch lifecycle:

• BatchDispatched — jobs are queued, no worker has touched them yet
• BatchStarted — first job has been processed
• BatchFinished — all jobs are done (or cancelled)
• BatchCanceled — batch was cancelled

This makes it possible to distinguish between a batch that's been queued and one that's actively being worked, which is useful for progress monitoring and UI updates.

Pull Request: #59458

#Memory Usage in Verbose Queue Worker Output

When running the queue worker with -v, each processed job now includes current memory usage alongside the existing timing information:

# Before
2026-04-01 09:45:39 App\Jobs\ProcessReport 121599597 database reports 110.57ms DONE
 
# After
2026-04-01 09:45:39 App\Jobs\ProcessReport 121599597 database reports 44.58ms 132.5MB DONE

The memory reading uses the same logic as the worker's internal memoryExceeded check, so it gives you a direct view of how close a job is pushing toward the --memory limit.

Pull Request: #59379

#Other Fixes and Improvements

Queue & Workers:

• Forward releaseOnTerminationSignals through schedule groups (#59357)
• Added LostConnection to WorkerStopReason (#59370)
• Fixed dependency injection of faked queueing dispatcher (#59378)
• Cached getLockForPopping() result in DatabaseQueue (#59435)
• Enum support added to QueueManager connection methods (#59389)
• Enum support added to LogManager channel and driver methods (#59391)

Scheduling:

• Fixed sub-minute scheduling skips at minute boundaries (#59331)

Models & Database:

• Fixed incrementEach/decrementEach to scope to the model instance (#59376)
• Fixed MorphTo eager load matching when ownerKey is null and the result key is a non-primitive (#59394)
• CollectedBy attribute now follows inheritance (#59419)
• Stringable objects can now be returned from casts() (#59479)
• Fixed macros with static closures (#59414)

HTTP & Requests:

• Added ->file() method to $request->safe() for accessing validated file inputs (#59396)
• Pass request to afterResponse callback (#59410)

URI:

• Added isNotEmpty() method to the Uri class (#59408)
• Added withoutFragment() method to the Uri class (#59413)
• Fixed URI fragment preservation when decoding query strings (#59481)

Testing:

• Added assertHasNoAttachments() to Mailable (#59443)
• Added driver() method to MailFake (#59448)

Collections:

• Collection methods are now compatible with extended subclass constructors (#59455)

Schema:

• MariaDbSchemaState now uses mysql --version for client detection instead of mariadb --version (#59360)

Security:

• The install:broadcasting command now passes --ignore-scripts to npm/pnpm when installing packages, preventing lifecycle scripts from running during installation (#59485)

Upgrade Notes

No breaking changes are expected for typical applications. Review the full changelog for complete details when upgrading.

References

• Official Changelog
• Full Comparison
• GitHub Release