Pest Adds withHost for Browser Testing Subdomains in Laravel

Pest's browser testing plugin now supports subdomain testing in Laravel applications through a new withHost() method, addressing a longstanding limitation for developers building multi-tenant and workspace applications.

#The Problem

Previously, the test server was coded to 127.0.0.1, making it impossible to test subdomain-based routing patterns. This was particularly challenging for applications using Laravel's domain routing:

Route::domain('{tenant}.localhost')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/dashboard', function (string $tenant) {
        return view('dashboard', ['tenant' => $tenant]);
    });
});

Without the ability to specify a host, browser tests couldn't properly match these routes.

#The Solution

The new withHost() method allows you to specify the hostname for your tests in two ways.

Configure it per test:

it('shows the tenant dashboard', function () {
    $page = visit('/dashboard')->withHost('acme.localhost');
    $page->assertSee('Welcome to Acme');
});

Or set it globally in your Pest.php file:

pest()->browser()->withHost('acme.localhost');

#Practical Use Cases

This feature is particularly useful for:

• Laravel Sail environments: Point tests to your Sail hostname like laravel.test or subdomain variants
• Multi-tenant isolation testing: Verify that each tenant only sees their own data by visiting different subdomains in sequence
• Workspace-based applications: Test subdomain routing logic for team or organization-based apps

#Getting Started

Update the Pest browser plugin to get access to the new feature:

composer update pestphp/pest-plugin-browser

Read more about this feature in Nuno Maduro's full article.