laravel

Laravel Skill

Comprehensive assistance with Laravel 12.x development, including routing, Eloquent ORM, migrations, authentication, API development, and modern PHP patterns.

When to Use This Skill

This skill should be triggered when:

Building Laravel applications or APIs
Working with Eloquent models, relationships, and queries
Setting up authentication, authorization, or API tokens
Creating database migrations, seeders, or factories
Implementing middleware, service providers, or events
Using Laravel's built-in features (queues, cache, validation, etc.)
Troubleshooting Laravel errors or performance issues
Following Laravel best practices and conventions
Implementing RESTful APIs with Laravel Sanctum or Passport
Working with Laravel Mix, Vite, or frontend assets

Quick Reference

Basic Routing

// Basic routes
Route::get('/users', [UserController::class, 'index']);
Route::post('/users', [UserController::class, 'store']);

// Route parameters
Route::get('/users/{id}', function ($id) {
    return User::find($id);
});

// Named routes
Route::get('/profile', ProfileController::class)->name('profile');

// Route groups with middleware
Route::middleware(['auth'])->group(function () {
    Route::get('/dashboard', [DashboardController::class, 'index']);
    Route::resource('posts', PostController::class);
});

Eloquent Model Basics

// Define a model with relationships
namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\HasMany;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\BelongsTo;

class Post extends Model
{
    protected $fillable = ['title', 'content', 'user_id'];

    protected $casts = [
        'published_at' => 'datetime',
    ];

    public function user(): BelongsTo
    {
        return $this->belongsTo(User::class);
    }

    public function comments(): HasMany
    {
        return $this->hasMany(Comment::class);
    }
}

Database Migrations

// Create a migration
use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;

return new class extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        Schema::create('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
            $table->id();
            $table->foreignId('user_id')->constrained()->cascadeOnDelete();
            $table->string('title');
            $table->text('content');
            $table->timestamp('published_at')->nullable();
            $table->timestamps();

            $table->index(['user_id', 'published_at']);
        });
    }

    public function down(): void
    {
        Schema::dropIfExists('posts');
    }
};

Form Validation

// Controller validation
public function store(Request $request)
{
    $validated = $request->validate([
        'title' => 'required|max:255',
        'content' => 'required',
        'email' => 'required|email|unique:users',
        'tags' => 'array|min:1',
        'tags.*' => 'string|max:50',
    ]);

    return Post::create($validated);
}

// Form Request validation
namespace App\Http\Requests;

use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\FormRequest;

class StorePostRequest extends FormRequest
{
    public function rules(): array
    {
        return [
            'title' => 'required|max:255',
            'content' => 'required|min:100',
        ];
    }
}

Eloquent Query Builder

// Common query patterns
// Eager loading to avoid N+1 queries
$posts = Post::with(['user', 'comments'])
    ->where('published_at', '<=', now())
    ->orderBy('published_at', 'desc')
    ->paginate(15);

// Conditional queries
$query = Post::query();

if ($request->has('search')) {
    $query->where('title', 'like', "%{$request->search}%");
}

if ($request->has('author')) {
    $query->whereHas('user', function ($q) use ($request) {
        $q->where('name', $request->author);
    });
}

$posts = $query->get();

API Resource Controllers

namespace App\Http\Controllers\Api;

use App\Models\Post;
use App\Http\Resources\PostResource;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class PostController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        return PostResource::collection(
            Post::with('user')->latest()->paginate()
        );
    }

    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        $post = Post::create($request->validated());

        return new PostResource($post);
    }

    public function show(Post $post)
    {
        return new PostResource($post->load('user', 'comments'));
    }

    public function update(Request $request, Post $post)
    {
        $post->update($request->validated());

        return new PostResource($post);
    }
}

API Resources (Transformers)

namespace App\Http\Resources;

use Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\JsonResource;

class PostResource extends JsonResource
{
    public function toArray($request): array
    {
        return [
            'id' => $this->id,
            'title' => $this->title,
            'slug' => $this->slug,
            'excerpt' => $this->excerpt,
            'content' => $this->when($request->routeIs('posts.show'), $this->content),
            'author' => new UserResource($this->whenLoaded('user')),
            'comments_count' => $this->when($this->comments_count, $this->comments_count),
            'published_at' => $this->published_at?->toISOString(),
            'created_at' => $this->created_at->toISOString(),
        ];
    }
}

Authentication with Sanctum

// API token authentication setup
// In config/sanctum.php - configure stateful domains

// Issue tokens
use Laravel\Sanctum\HasApiTokens;

class User extends Authenticatable
{
    use HasApiTokens;
}

// Login endpoint
public function login(Request $request)
{
    $credentials = $request->validate([
        'email' => 'required|email',
        'password' => 'required',
    ]);

    if (!Auth::attempt($credentials)) {
        return response()->json(['message' => 'Invalid credentials'], 401);
    }

    $token = $request->user()->createToken('api-token')->plainTextToken;

    return response()->json(['token' => $token]);
}

// Protect routes
Route::middleware('auth:sanctum')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/user', fn(Request $r) => $r->user());
});

Jobs and Queues

// Create a job
namespace App\Jobs;

use Illuminate\Bus\Queueable;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldQueue;
use Illuminate\Queue\InteractsWithQueue;

class ProcessVideo implements ShouldQueue
{
    use InteractsWithQueue, Queueable;

    public function __construct(
        public Video $video
    ) {}

    public function handle(): void
    {
        // Process the video
        $this->video->process();
    }
}

// Dispatch jobs
ProcessVideo::dispatch($video);
ProcessVideo::dispatch($video)->onQueue('videos')->delay(now()->addMinutes(5));

Service Container and Dependency Injection

// Bind services in AppServiceProvider
use App\Services\PaymentService;

public function register(): void
{
    $this->app->singleton(PaymentService::class, function ($app) {
        return new PaymentService(
            config('services.stripe.secret')
        );
    });
}

// Use dependency injection in controllers
public function __construct(
    protected PaymentService $payment
) {}

public function charge(Request $request)
{
    return $this->payment->charge(
        $request->user(),
        $request->amount
    );
}

Reference Files

This skill includes comprehensive documentation in references/:

other.md - Laravel 12.x installation guide and core documentation

Use the reference files for detailed information about:

Installation and configuration
Framework architecture and concepts
Advanced features and packages
Deployment and optimization

Key Concepts

MVC Architecture

Laravel follows the Model-View-Controller pattern:

Models: Eloquent ORM classes representing database tables
Views: Blade templates for rendering HTML
Controllers: Handle HTTP requests and return responses

Eloquent ORM

Laravel's powerful database abstraction layer:

Active Record pattern: Each model instance represents a database row
Relationships: belongsTo, hasMany, belongsToMany, morphMany, etc.
Query Builder: Fluent interface for building SQL queries
Eager Loading: Prevent N+1 query problems with with()

Routing

Define application endpoints:

Route methods: get, post, put, patch, delete
Route parameters: Required {id} and optional {id?}
Route groups: Share middleware, prefixes, namespaces
Resource routes: Auto-generate RESTful routes

Middleware

Filter HTTP requests:

Built-in: auth, throttle, verified, signed
Custom: Create your own request/response filters
Global: Apply to all routes
Route-specific: Apply to specific routes or groups

Service Container

Laravel's dependency injection container:

Automatic resolution: Type-hint dependencies in constructors
Binding: Register class implementations
Singletons: Share single instance across requests

Artisan Commands

Laravel's CLI tool:

php artisan make:model Post -mcr  # Create model, migration, controller, resource
php artisan migrate               # Run migrations
php artisan db:seed              # Seed database
php artisan queue:work           # Process queue jobs
php artisan optimize:clear       # Clear all caches

Working with This Skill

For Beginners

Start with:

Installation: Set up Laravel using Composer
Routing: Learn basic route definitions in routes/web.php
Controllers: Create controllers with php artisan make:controller
Models: Understand Eloquent basics and relationships
Migrations: Define database schema with migrations
Blade Templates: Create views with Laravel's templating engine

For Intermediate Users

Focus on:

Form Requests: Validation and authorization in dedicated classes
API Resources: Transform models for JSON responses
Authentication: Implement with Laravel Breeze or Sanctum
Relationships: Master eager loading and complex relationships
Queues: Offload time-consuming tasks to background jobs
Events & Listeners: Decouple application logic

For Advanced Users

Explore:

Service Providers: Register application services
Custom Middleware: Create reusable request filters
Package Development: Build reusable Laravel packages
Testing: Write feature and unit tests with PHPUnit
Performance: Optimize queries, caching, and response times
Deployment: CI/CD pipelines and production optimization

Navigation Tips

Check Quick Reference for common code patterns
Reference the official docs at https://laravel.com/docs/12.x
Use php artisan route:list to view all registered routes
Use php artisan tinker for interactive debugging
Enable query logging to debug database performance

Common Patterns

Repository Pattern

interface PostRepositoryInterface
{
    public function all();
    public function find(int $id);
    public function create(array $data);
}

class PostRepository implements PostRepositoryInterface
{
    public function all()
    {
        return Post::with('user')->latest()->get();
    }

    public function find(int $id)
    {
        return Post::with('user', 'comments')->findOrFail($id);
    }
}

Action Classes (Single Responsibility)

class CreatePost
{
    public function execute(array $data): Post
    {
        return DB::transaction(function () use ($data) {
            $post = Post::create($data);
            $post->tags()->attach($data['tag_ids']);
            event(new PostCreated($post));
            return $post;
        });
    }
}

Query Scopes

class Post extends Model
{
    public function scopePublished($query)
    {
        return $query->where('published_at', '<=', now());
    }

    public function scopeByAuthor($query, User $user)
    {
        return $query->where('user_id', $user->id);
    }
}

// Usage
Post::published()->byAuthor($user)->get();

Resources

Official Documentation

Laravel Docs: https://laravel.com/docs/12.x
API Reference: https://laravel.com/api/12.x
Laracasts: https://laracasts.com (video tutorials)

Community

Laravel News: https://laravel-news.com
Laravel Forums: https://laracasts.com/discuss
GitHub: https://github.com/laravel/laravel

Tools

Laravel Telescope: Debugging and monitoring
Laravel Horizon: Queue monitoring
Laravel Debugbar: Development debugging
Laravel IDE Helper: IDE autocompletion

Best Practices

Use Form Requests: Separate validation logic from controllers
Eager Load Relationships: Avoid N+1 query problems
Use Resource Controllers: Follow RESTful conventions
Type Hints: Leverage PHP type declarations for better IDE support
Database Transactions: Wrap related database operations
Queue Jobs: Offload slow operations to background workers
Cache Queries: Cache expensive database queries
API Resources: Transform data consistently for APIs
Events: Decouple application logic with events and listeners
Tests: Write tests for critical application logic

Notes

Laravel 12.x requires PHP 8.2 or higher
Uses Composer for dependency management
Includes Vite for asset compilation (replaces Laravel Mix)
Supports multiple database systems (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, SQL Server)
Built-in support for queues, cache, sessions, and file storage
Excellent ecosystem with first-party packages (Sanctum, Horizon, Telescope, etc.)