Agent Skills: Laravel 13 PHP Attributes

Laravel 13 PHP Attributes

Agent Workflow (MANDATORY)

Before ANY implementation, spawn 3 agents in parallel, one Agent call each with a name:

1. fuse-ai-pilot:explore-codebase - Scan existing models/jobs/controllers for legacy protected $fillable / $hidden / $connection properties to convert
2. fuse-ai-pilot:research-expert - Verify Laravel 13 release notes for attribute coverage and edge cases
3. mcp__context7__query-docs - Pull authoritative examples from laravel.com/docs/13.x

After implementation, run fuse-ai-pilot:sniper for validation.

Overview

| Category | Attributes | |---------|-------------| | Eloquent | #[Table] #[Connection] #[Fillable] #[Hidden] #[Visible] #[Guarded] #[Unguarded] #[Appends] #[Touches] #[WithoutTimestamps] #[WithoutIncrementing] #[DateFormat] #[Refreshes] (13.33+) — no #[Casts] (use casts()) | | Queue / Job | #[Connection] #[Queue] #[Tries] #[Timeout] #[Backoff] #[MaxExceptions] #[FailOnTimeout] #[UniqueFor] #[DeleteWhenMissingModels] #[Delay] (13.4+) #[DebounceFor] (13.6+) | | Console | #[Signature] #[Description] | | Controllers | #[Middleware] #[Authorize] #[WithoutMiddleware] (13.20+) — namespace Illuminate\Routing\Attributes\Controllers | | Validation | #[RedirectTo] #[RedirectToRoute] #[ErrorBag] #[StopOnFirstFailure] #[FailOnUnknownFields] — namespace Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Attributes | | API Resources | #[Collects] #[PreserveKeys] | | Factories / Testing | #[UseModel] (factories) · #[Seed] #[Seeder] #[UnitTest] (test classes, Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\Attributes) | | Container | #[BindWhen] (13.22+, PHP 8.5) and the contextual attributes (#[Config], #[Auth], ...) |

Critical Rules

1. NEVER mix attributes and legacy properties - #[Fillable(['name'])] + protected $fillable = [...] causes Laravel to ignore the attribute silently
2. Class-level for Eloquent / Job - Eloquent and queue attributes apply to the class; controller #[Middleware] / #[Authorize] also work on public action methods
3. Single source of truth - Choose attributes OR properties per class; refactor in one pass to avoid drift
4. Inheritance is additive - Child class attributes merge with parent attributes; redeclare to override
5. Import the right namespace - Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Attributes\* for Eloquent, Illuminate\Queue\Attributes\* for Jobs

Architecture

app/
├── Models/
│   └── User.php              # #[Table] #[Fillable] #[Hidden] #[Appends]
├── Jobs/
│   └── ProcessPodcast.php    # #[Connection] #[Queue] #[Tries] #[Backoff]
├── Console/Commands/
│   └── SendEmails.php        # #[Signature] #[Description]
├── Http/
│   ├── Controllers/
│   │   └── PostController.php # #[Middleware] #[Authorize]
│   └── Resources/
│       └── PostCollection.php # #[Collects] #[PreserveKeys]
└── Http/Requests/
    └── StoreUserRequest.php   # #[RedirectTo] #[StopOnFirstFailure]

→ See Model-with-attributes.php.md for full example

Reference Guide

| Topic | Reference | When to Consult | |-------|-----------|-----------------| | Eloquent models | eloquent.md | Migrating $fillable / $hidden / $table / $connection | | Queue jobs | queue.md | Replacing $tries / $timeout / $backoff properties | | Console commands | console.md | Refactoring $signature / $description properties | | Controllers | controllers.md | Moving middleware/authorize from constructors | | Validation | validation.md | FormRequest redirect + early-stop config | | API Resources | api-resources.md | Collection wrapping and key preservation | | Factories / Seeders | factories-seeders.md | Factory model binding and test seeding |

Templates

| Template | When to Use | |----------|-------------| | Model-with-attributes.php.md | Net new Eloquent model | | Job-with-attributes.php.md | Net new queue Job |

Quick Reference

Eloquent model

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Attributes\{Table, Fillable, Hidden, Appends};

#[Table('flights')]
#[Fillable(['name', 'origin'])]
#[Hidden(['password'])]
#[Appends(['is_admin'])]
class Flight extends Model {}

Queue job

use Illuminate\Queue\Attributes\{Connection, Queue, Tries, Backoff};

#[Connection('redis')]
#[Queue('podcasts')]
#[Tries(5)]
#[Backoff([10, 30, 60])]
class ProcessPodcast implements ShouldQueue {}

→ See Job-with-attributes.php.md for complete example

Best Practices

DO

• Convert one class at a time and run tests between commits
• Keep attribute imports grouped at the top via PHP 8.1 grouped use syntax
• Use #[Fillable] for mass-assigned models and #[Unguarded] only on trusted internal models
• Combine #[Connection] + #[Queue] on Jobs to centralize routing intent

DON'T

• Don't mix #[Fillable(['x'])] with protected $fillable = ['y'] - the property silently wins on some setups, the attribute on others
• Don't place Eloquent/Job attributes on methods - they target the class only
• Don't put #[Authorize] on a controller action without an underlying Policy (auto-discovered, Gate::policy() in AppServiceProvider, or #[UsePolicy] on the model)
• Don't forget to drop the legacy $tries, $backoff, $timeout properties after adding the attributes - duplication is a red flag for code review