JSON Field Assertions in Laravel Tests

[idehen-divine]

Description

When testing database assertions with assertDatabaseHas(), JSON fields may cause failures if the attribute is not explicitly cast in the model.

Root Cause

Laravel stores JSON as a string in the database, leading to double-encoded values. This causes assertDatabaseHas() to fail because it expects an exact match, but the stored value is formatted differently.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Run php artisan test.
2. The test fails because the JSON field is stored as a string but asserted as an object.

Expected Behavior

• The test should pass because the inserted record matches the expected values, including JSON fields.

Actual Behavior

• The test fails because Laravel stores JSON fields as strings (double-encoded JSON), causing assertDatabaseHas() to look for a mismatched format.

Screenshots

Issue:

Fix

Explicitly cast the JSON field in the model to ensure proper data handling:

protected $casts = [
    'variables' => 'array',
];

Fixed Code Example:

Tasks

• Add proper casting for JSON fields in the model.
• Re-run tests to verify assertDatabaseHas() passes.
• Document this issue for future reference.

Testing

• Write unit tests to confirm JSON fields are stored and retrieved correctly.
• Ensure assertDatabaseHas() works correctly with JSON attributes.
• Validate that the issue no longer occurs after applying the fix.