Acting as a user

01 Sign in before the request

Chain it. The redirect and the saved team id both depend on who was signed in.

it('assigns the invoice to the signed-in team', function () {
    $user = User::factory()->create();

    $this->actingAs($user)
        ->post('/invoices', [
            'number' => 'INV-1042',
            'issued_on' => '2026-10-22',
        ])
        ->assertRedirect();

    $this->assertDatabaseHas('invoices', [
        'number' => 'INV-1042',
        'team_id' => $user->current_team_id,
    ]);
});

A guest is the absence of actingAs(), not a user with an empty name. The guest test is separate, and it asserts a redirect to login rather than a saved invoice.

actingAs($user) does not run the login controller. It does not check the password. The password check belongs in a test of the login form, not in every invoice test.

02 A guest test is the one that omits actingAs()

Do not build a user and then forget to sign them in if the test is about a member. Do not build a user at all if the test is about a guest. The guest request is the same post, without the chain.

it('does not store an invoice for a guest', function () {
    $this->post('/invoices', [
        'number' => 'INV-1042',
        'issued_on' => '2026-10-22',
    ])->assertRedirect('/login');

    $this->assertDatabaseCount('invoices', 0);
});

actingAs($user, 'web') is the explicit guard when a route uses a guard other than the default. These invoice routes use web. Passing the guard on every invoice test only repeats the default. A test of an API token uses the sanctum guard, and that test is not this one. The session guard is what the browser uses, so it is the guard these feature tests sign in with.