Laravel Scout Skill | Agent Skills

<objective> Covers Laravel Scout full-text search: the Searchable trait on Eloquent models, driver selection (Meilisearch, Algolia, database, collection), automatic index sync on model changes, the fluent search builder with filters, toSearchableArray() field control, queued indexing, and bulk import/reindexing. For semantic/vector similarity search on PostgreSQL, see laravel-vector-search instead — Scout stays the tool for keyword/full-text search. </objective>

Laravel Scout

Agent Workflow (MANDATORY)

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

fuse-ai-pilot:explore-codebase - Analyze existing model and search patterns
fuse-ai-pilot:research-expert - Verify Scout docs via Context7
mcp__context7__query-docs - Check search and indexing patterns

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

Overview

| Component | Purpose | |-----------|---------| | Searchable Trait | Makes Eloquent models searchable | | Search Drivers | Meilisearch, Algolia, database, collection | | Indexing | Automatic sync on model changes | | Search Builder | Fluent search API with filters |

Decision Guide: Search Driver

Which driver?
├── Production (recommended) → Meilisearch (fast, self-hosted, free)
├── Managed service → Algolia (hosted, pay per search)
├── Small dataset → database (no extra infra)
└── Testing → collection (in-memory, no engine)

Quick Setup

composer require laravel/scout
composer require meilisearch/meilisearch-php http-interop/http-factory-guzzle

SCOUT_DRIVER=meilisearch
MEILISEARCH_HOST=http://127.0.0.1:7700
MEILISEARCH_KEY=masterKey

$results = Article::search('laravel tutorial')->paginate(15);

Critical Rules

Use toSearchableArray() to control indexed data
Queue indexing with SCOUT_QUEUE=true for performance
Use searchable() for bulk import after setup
Pause indexing during seeders with Scout::withoutSyncing()

Reference Guide

| Need | Reference | |------|-----------| | Searchable trait, indexing, conditions | searchable.md | | Driver setup, Meilisearch, Algolia | drivers.md |

Best Practices

DO

Use Meilisearch for production (fast, typo-tolerant)
Queue indexing operations (SCOUT_QUEUE=true)
Limit indexed fields with toSearchableArray()

DON'T

Index sensitive data (passwords, tokens)
Forget to import existing records after setup
Use collection driver in production

Laravel 13 Notes

Native pgvector vector search

For semantic search (embeddings) on PostgreSQL, Laravel 13 exposes Schema::ensureVectorExtensionExists() and whereVectorSimilarTo(), covered by the dedicated [[laravel-vector-search]] skill. Scout remains relevant for full-text (Meilisearch/Algolia); for vector similarity, use pgvector directly without a Scout driver.

// Hybrid: Scout for full-text, pgvector for similarity
$keyword = Post::search($query)->get();
$semantic = Post::whereVectorSimilarTo('embedding', $embedding, minSimilarity: 0.4)->limit(10)->get();

Scout 11 (current 11.8, L13 compatible)

where() accepts comparison operators: User::search('*')->where('age', '>', 30)->get()
Custom engines: $builder->wheres becomes a list of ['field', 'operator', 'value']
Algolia uses filters (instead of numericFilters); scout:delete-all-indexes (Meilisearch) only deletes indexes with the SCOUT_PREFIX prefix

Agent Skills: Laravel Scout

Install this agent skill to your local

Skill Files