Implementing Factories

Overview

Factories extend a custom EloquentFactory base class that calls Model::new() instead of new Model(). This ensures domain events are registered even during test and seed data creation. Factories are co-located with their entities in the Domain layer.

EloquentFactory Base Class

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\Shared\Infrastructure\Persistence;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\Factory;

abstract class EloquentFactory extends Factory
{
    protected function newModel(array $attributes = [])
    {
        return $this->modelName()::new($attributes);
    }
}

Overrides newModel() to route through the entity's static ::new() constructor, which registers the Created domain event. Without this, factory-created entities would skip event registration.

Placement: app/Shared/Infrastructure/Persistence/EloquentFactory.php

Factory Implementation

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\CustomerRelationshipManagement\Contacts\Domain\Factories;

use App\CustomerRelationshipManagement\Contacts\Domain\Contact;
use App\Shared\Infrastructure\Persistence\EloquentFactory;

class ContactFactory extends EloquentFactory
{
    protected $model = Contact::class;

    public function definition(): array
    {
        return [
            'first_name' => $this->faker->firstName(),
            'last_name' => $this->faker->lastName(),
            'email' => $this->faker->unique()->safeEmail(),
            'phone' => $this->faker->phoneNumber(),
        ];
    }
}

With State Methods

class VisaFactory extends EloquentFactory
{
    protected $model = Visa::class;

    public function definition(): array
    {
        return [
            'applicant_id' => Contact::factory(),
            'subclass' => VisaSubclass::StudentVisa,
            'submitted_at' => now(),
        ];
    }

    public function granted(): static
    {
        return $this->state(fn (array $attributes) => [
            'status' => 'granted',
            'granted_at' => now(),
        ]);
    }

    public function expired(): static
    {
        return $this->state(fn (array $attributes) => [
            'status' => 'expired',
            'expired_at' => now()->subMonth(),
        ]);
    }
}

Entity Integration

Entities override newFactory() to point to the co-located factory:

class Contact extends Model
{
    use HasDomainEvents;
    use HasFactory;

    protected static function newFactory(): ContactFactory
    {
        return ContactFactory::new();
    }
}

This allows Contact::factory() to resolve the domain-level factory instead of Laravel's default database/factories/ location.

Placement

Two conventions exist across codebases:

Prefer Domain co-location — factories describe how to build valid domain entities, making them a Domain concern.

Common Mistakes

Pre-flight Checklist

• Factory extends EloquentFactory (not Illuminate\...\Factory)?
• $model property set to the entity class?
• definition() returns valid attribute array?
• Entity overrides newFactory() to return the co-located factory?
• Factory placed in {Module}/Domain/Factories/?
• State methods use $this->state() for scenario variations?

Laravel Reference

This skill uses Laravel-specific features. Consult the official Laravel documentation (via Context7 or web search) for details on:

• Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\Factory — base factory class
• Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\HasFactory — trait enabling Model::factory()
• definition() — defining default model attributes
• state() — defining factory state variations
• afterCreating() — post-creation hooks for relationship setup
• Faker\Generator — fake data generation via $this->faker