Laravel Dusk Parallel

Run your Laravel Dusk browser tests in parallel — multiple ChromeDriver instances, one CI runner, faster feedback.

This package is currently in beta. It may not work, so give it a try and create an issue if something is broken - a failing test would be fantastic!

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Why parallel Dusk tests?

Dusk tests are slow by nature: each test launches a real browser, navigates to a page, and waits for it to render. A suite of 20–30 tests can easily take several minutes when run sequentially.

The common workaround is splitting tests across multiple CI runners — but that means paying for extra parallel jobs. This package takes a different approach: it runs multiple ChromeDriver instances on the same runner, splitting your test suite across them automatically. You get the speed of parallelism without the added infrastructure cost.

Requirements

• PHP 8.1+
• Laravel 10+
• Laravel Dusk 8+
• ParaTest (brianium/paratest)

Installation

composer require --dev jackbayliss/laravel-dusk-parallel
composer require --dev brianium/paratest

Setup

1. Start ChromeDriver instances

You need one ChromeDriver instance per parallel process. By default the package assigns ports starting from 9515. Start a few more than you intend to use, as ParaTest's token assignment can vary by environment:

chromedriver --port=9515 &
chromedriver --port=9516 &
chromedriver --port=9517 &
chromedriver --port=9518 &

2. Run your tests

php artisan dusk:parallel

By default this uses 2 parallel processes. Pass --processes to change it:

php artisan dusk:parallel --processes=4

Configuration

Changing the base port

If port 9515 is already in use, set DUSK_DRIVER_BASE_PORT in your .env:

DUSK_DRIVER_BASE_PORT=9600

Worker processes will use ports 9600, 9601, etc. Remember to start ChromeDriver on those ports.

Using a remote WebDriver

For Selenium Grid, BrowserStack, or any other remote WebDriver, set DUSK_DRIVER_URL and the port logic is bypassed entirely:

DUSK_DRIVER_URL=http://selenium-grid:4444

Customising Chrome options

Extend the package's TestCase in your tests/DuskTestCase.php and override the driver() method:

use JackBayliss\DuskParallel\ParallelDriver;
use JackBayliss\DuskParallel\TestCase as ParallelTestCase;

abstract class DuskTestCase extends ParallelTestCase
{
    protected function driver(): RemoteWebDriver
    {
        $options = (new ChromeOptions)->addArguments([
            '--headless=new',
            '--no-sandbox',
            '--disable-dev-shm-usage',
        ]);

        return RemoteWebDriver::create(
            ParallelDriver::resolveDriverUrl(),
            DesiredCapabilities::chrome()->setCapability(
                ChromeOptions::CAPABILITY,
                $options
            )
        );
    }
}

Extending the package's TestCase is optional — it works with a standard Laravel Dusk setup out of the box.

CI — GitHub Actions

- name: Start ChromeDriver instances
  run: |
    chromedriver --port=9515 &
    chromedriver --port=9516 &
    chromedriver --port=9517 &
    chromedriver --port=9518 &
    sleep 2

- name: Run Dusk tests
  run: php artisan dusk:parallel --processes=2

All ChromeDriver instances run on the same runner, so there is no additional CI cost compared to running Dusk sequentially.

How it works

ParaTest splits your test suite across multiple worker processes. Each worker receives a TEST_TOKEN environment variable (0, 1, 2 …) which the package uses to:

1. Route that worker's ChromeDriver to a unique port (basePort + TEST_TOKEN).
2. Set a dusk_db_token cookie on the browser so every HTTP request is handled by the correct per-worker test database.

Each worker gets a fully independent browser session and database — all within a single CI job.

Available commands

Script	Description
composer test	Run the test suite
composer lint	Fix code style with Pint
composer analyse	Static analysis with PHPStan

Example project

See dusk-parallel-demo for a working Laravel application with passing parallel Dusk tests and a complete GitHub Actions workflow.

License

MIT