How does one load gate defines when testing a Laravel application? - php

Question

I'm writing tests for a Laravel application. In my AuthServiceProvider->boot(), I define a number of user abilities with $gate->define() based on a permissions table in my database.
Basically this:
foreach ($this->getPermissions() as $permission) {
$gate->define($permission->name, function ($user) use ($permission) {
return $user->hasPermission($permission->name);
});
}
In my tests I'm creating permissions on the fly, but the AuthServiceProvider has already booted up, which means I can't verify user permissions with #can, Gate, etc.
Is there a proper way to deal with this issue?

Answer 1

I know I'm a bit late for the party on this one, but still - I just had the same problem myself and hence this question doesn't have a comprehensive answer, here is my solution for the same issue (in Laravel 5.3):
I've got this in my app\Providers\AuthServiceProvider:
/**
* Register any authentication / authorization services.
*
* #param Gate $gate
*/
public function boot(Gate $gate)
{
$this->registerPolicies();
if (!app()->runningInConsole()) {
$this->definePermissions($gate);
}
}
/**
* #param Gate $gate
*/
private function definePermissions(Gate $gate)
{
$permissions = Permission::with('roles')->get();
foreach($permissions as $permission) {
$gate->define($permission->key, function($user) use ($permission) {
return $user->hasRole($permission->roles);
});
}
}
This takes care of the normal application flow when not testing and disables the premature policy registration when testing.
In my tests/TestCase.php file I have the following methods defined (note that Gate points to Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\Access\Gate):
/**
* Logs a user in with specified permission(s).
*
* #param $permissions
* #return mixed|null
*/
public function loginWithPermission($permissions)
{
$user = $this->userWithPermissions($permissions);
$this->definePermissions();
$this->actingAs($user);
return $user;
}
/**
* Create user with permissions.
*
* #param $permissions
* #param null $user
* #return mixed|null
*/
private function userWithPermissions($permissions, $user = null)
{
if(is_string($permissions)) {
$permission = factory(Permission::class)->create(['key'=>$permissions, 'label'=>ucwords(str_replace('_', ' ', $permissions))]);
if (!$user) {
$role = factory(Role::class)->create(['key'=>'role', 'label'=>'Site Role']);
$user = factory(User::class)->create();
$user->assignRole($role);
} else {
$role = $user->roles->first();
}
$role->givePermissionTo($permission);
} else {
foreach($permissions as $permission) {
$user = $this->userWithPermissions($permission, $user);
}
}
return $user;
}
/**
* Registers defined permissions.
*/
private function definePermissions()
{
$gate = $this->app->make(Gate::class);
$permissions = Permission::with('roles')->get();
foreach($permissions as $permission) {
$gate->define($permission->key, function($user) use ($permission) {
return $user->hasRole($permission->roles);
});
}
}
This enables me to use this in tests in multiple ways. Consider the use cases in my tests/integration/PermissionsTest.php file:
/** #test */
public function resource_is_only_visible_for_those_with_view_permission()
{
$this->loginWithPermission('view_users');
$this->visit(route('dashboard'))->seeLink('Users', route('users.index'));
$this->visit(route('users.index'))->assertResponseOk();
$this->actingAs(factory(User::class)->create());
$this->visit(route('dashboard'))->dontSeeLink('Users', route('users.index'));
$this->get(route('users.index'))->assertResponseStatus(403);
}
/** #test */
public function resource_action_is_only_visible_for_those_with_relevant_permissions()
{
$this->loginWithPermission(['view_users', 'edit_users']);
$this->visit(route('users.index'))->seeLink('Edit', route('users.edit', User::first()->id));
$this->loginWithPermission('view_users');
$this->visit(route('users.index'))->dontSeeLink('Edit', route('users.edit', User::first()->id));
}
This works just fine in all my tests. I hope it helps.

Answer 2

public function boot(GateContract $gate)
{
parent::registerPolicies($gate);
$gate->before(function($user, $ability) use ($gate){
return $user->hasPermission($ability);
});
}
I haven't extensively tested this, but it seems to work from my quick tests.

Answer 3

I'm not sure what the "proper" way (if there is one) to define a gate for testing. I couldn't find an answer for this after looking at the documentation and searching, but this seems to work in a pinch in Laravel 5.7:
Defining a gate in a model factory state:
$factory->state(App\User::class, 'employee', function () {
Gate::define('employee', function ($user) {
return true;
});
return [];
});
This test function will have both the 'employee' and the 'admin' gate applied since we are using the 'employee' state when creating the user:
/** #test */
public function an_admin_user_can_view_the_admin_page()
{
$user = factory('App\User')->state('employee')->make();
$this->actingAs($user);
Gate::define('admin', function ($user) {
return true;
});
$this->get('/admin')
->assertOk();
}
I know this is a really old question, but it was the top result in a search and hopefully can help someone.
Don't forget to use the Gate facade:
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Gate;

Answer 4

You could do something like this inside AuthServiceProvider
First import the necessary packages
use Illuminate\Auth\Access\Gate;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\Access\Gate as GateContract;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Support\Providers\AuthServiceProvider as ServiceProvider;
and then add this boot() method
public function boot(GateContract $gate)
{
parent::registerPolicies($gate);
$gate->define('update-post', function ($user, $post, $isModerator) {
// check if user id equals post user id or whatever
if ($user->id === $post->user->id) {
return true;
}
// you can define multiple ifs
if ($user->id === $category->user_id) {
return true;
}
if ($isModerator) {
return true;
}
return false;
});
// you can also define multiple gates
$gate->define('update-sub', function($user, $subreddit) {
if($user->id === $subreddit->user->id) {
return true;
}
return false;
});
And then in your controller you could do something like this
if (Gate::denies('update-post', [$post, $isModerator])) {
// do something
}