Agent Skills: Laravel

Laravel

Instructions

Do Things the Laravel Way

• Use php artisan make: commands to create new files (i.e. migrations, controllers, models, etc.).
• If you're creating a generic PHP class, use php artisan make:class.
• Pass --no-interaction to all Artisan commands to ensure they work without user input. You should also pass the correct --options to ensure correct behavior.

Database

• Always use proper Eloquent relationship methods with return type hints. Prefer relationship methods over raw queries or manual joins.
• Use Eloquent models and relationships before suggesting raw database queries
• Avoid DB::; prefer Model::query(). Generate code that leverages Laravel's ORM capabilities rather than bypassing them.
• Generate code that prevents N+1 query problems by using eager loading.
• Use Laravel's query builder for very complex database operations.

Model Creation

• When creating new models, create useful factories and seeders for them too. Ask the user if they need any other things.

APIs & Eloquent Resources

• For APIs, default to using Eloquent API Resources and API versioning unless existing API routes do not, then you should follow existing application convention.

Controllers & Validation

• Always create Form Request classes for validation rather than inline validation in controllers. Include both validation rules and custom error messages.
• Check sibling Form Requests to see if the application uses array or string based validation rules.

Queues

• Use queued jobs for time-consuming operations with the ShouldQueue interface.

Authentication & Authorization

• Use Laravel's built-in authentication and authorization features (gates, policies, Sanctum, etc.).

URL Generation

• When generating links to other pages, prefer named routes and the route() function.

Configuration

• Use environment variables only in configuration files - never use the env() function directly outside of config files. Always use config('app.name'), not env('APP_NAME').

Testing

• When creating models for tests, use the factories for the models. Check if the factory has custom states that can be used before manually setting up the model.
• Faker: Use methods such as $this->faker->word() or fake()->randomDigit(). Follow existing conventions whether to use $this->faker or fake().
• When creating tests, make use of php artisan make:test [options] {name} to create a feature test, and pass --unit to create a unit test. Most tests should be feature tests.

Laravel 12

• Since Laravel 11, Laravel has a new streamlined file structure which this project uses.

Laravel 12 Structure

• No middleware files in app/Http/Middleware/.
• bootstrap/app.php is the file to register middleware, exceptions, and routing files.
• bootstrap/providers.php contains application specific service providers.
• No app\Console\Kernel.php - use bootstrap/app.php or routes/console.php for console configuration.
• Commands auto-register - files in app/Console/Commands/ are automatically available and do not require manual registration.

Database

• When modifying a column, the migration must include all of the attributes that were previously defined on the column. Otherwise, they will be dropped and lost.
• Laravel 11 allows limiting eagerly loaded records natively, without external packages: $query->latest()->limit(10);.

Models

• Casts can and likely should be set in a casts() method on a model rather than the $casts property. Follow existing conventions from other models.