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Laravel Boost Guidelines
The Laravel Boost guidelines are specifically curated by Laravel maintainers for this application. These guidelines should be followed closely to enhance the user's satisfaction building Laravel applications.
Foundational Context
This application is a Laravel application and its main Laravel ecosystems package & versions are below. You are an expert with them all. Ensure you abide by these specific packages & versions.
- php - 8.4.6
- inertiajs/inertia-laravel (INERTIA) - v2
- laravel/fortify (FORTIFY) - v1
- laravel/framework (LARAVEL) - v12
- laravel/prompts (PROMPTS) - v0
- laravel/sanctum (SANCTUM) - v4
- laravel/scout (SCOUT) - v10
- tightenco/ziggy (ZIGGY) - v2
- laravel/mcp (MCP) - v0
- laravel/pint (PINT) - v1
- laravel/sail (SAIL) - v1
- pestphp/pest (PEST) - v3
- phpunit/phpunit (PHPUNIT) - v11
- @inertiajs/vue3 (INERTIA) - v2
- tailwindcss (TAILWINDCSS) - v3
- vue (VUE) - v3
Conventions
- You must follow all existing code conventions used in this application. When creating or editing a file, check sibling files for the correct structure, approach, naming.
- Use descriptive names for variables and methods. For example,
isRegisteredForDiscounts, notdiscount(). - Check for existing components to reuse before writing a new one.
Verification Scripts
- Do not create verification scripts or tinker when tests cover that functionality and prove it works. Unit and feature tests are more important.
Application Structure & Architecture
- Stick to existing directory structure - don't create new base folders without approval.
- Do not change the application's dependencies without approval.
Frontend Bundling
- If the user doesn't see a frontend change reflected in the UI, it could mean they need to run
npm run build,npm run dev, orcomposer run dev. Ask them.
Replies
- Be concise in your explanations - focus on what's important rather than explaining obvious details.
Documentation Files
- You must only create documentation files if explicitly requested by the user.
=== boost rules ===
Laravel Boost
- Laravel Boost is an MCP server that comes with powerful tools designed specifically for this application. Use them.
Artisan
- Use the
list-artisan-commandstool when you need to call an Artisan command to double check the available parameters.
URLs
- Whenever you share a project URL with the user you should use the
get-absolute-urltool to ensure you're using the correct scheme, domain / IP, and port.
Tinker / Debugging
- You should use the
tinkertool when you need to execute PHP to debug code or query Eloquent models directly. - Use the
database-querytool when you only need to read from the database.
Reading Browser Logs With the browser-logs Tool
- You can read browser logs, errors, and exceptions using the
browser-logstool from Boost. - Only recent browser logs will be useful - ignore old logs.
Searching Documentation (Critically Important)
- Boost comes with a powerful
search-docstool you should use before any other approaches. This tool automatically passes a list of installed packages and their versions to the remote Boost API, so it returns only version-specific documentation specific for the user's circumstance. You should pass an array of packages to filter on if you know you need docs for particular packages. - The 'search-docs' tool is perfect for all Laravel related packages, including Laravel, Inertia, Livewire, Filament, Tailwind, Pest, Nova, Nightwatch, etc.
- You must use this tool to search for Laravel-ecosystem documentation before falling back to other approaches.
- Search the documentation before making code changes to ensure we are taking the correct approach.
- Use multiple, broad, simple, topic based queries to start. For example:
['rate limiting', 'routing rate limiting', 'routing']. - Do not add package names to queries - package information is already shared. For example, use
test resource table, notfilament 4 test resource table.
Available Search Syntax
- You can and should pass multiple queries at once. The most relevant results will be returned first.
- Simple Word Searches with auto-stemming - query=authentication - finds 'authenticate' and 'auth'
- Multiple Words (AND Logic) - query=rate limit - finds knowledge containing both "rate" AND "limit"
- Quoted Phrases (Exact Position) - query="infinite scroll" - Words must be adjacent and in that order
- Mixed Queries - query=middleware "rate limit" - "middleware" AND exact phrase "rate limit"
- Multiple Queries - queries=["authentication", "middleware"] - ANY of these terms
=== php rules ===
PHP
- Always use curly braces for control structures, even if it has one line.
Constructors
- Use PHP 8 constructor property promotion in
__construct().- public function __construct(public GitHub $github) { }
- Do not allow empty
__construct()methods with zero parameters.
Type Declarations
- Always use explicit return type declarations for methods and functions.
- Use appropriate PHP type hints for method parameters.
Comments
- Prefer PHPDoc blocks over comments. Never use comments within the code itself unless there is something very complex going on.
PHPDoc Blocks
- Add useful array shape type definitions for arrays when appropriate.
Enums
- Typically, keys in an Enum should be TitleCase. For example:
FavoritePerson,BestLake,Monthly.
=== inertia-laravel/core rules ===
Inertia Core
- Inertia.js components should be placed in the
resources/js/Pagesdirectory unless specified differently in the JS bundler (vite.config.js). - Use
Inertia::render()for server-side routing instead of traditional Blade views. - Use
search-docsfor accurate guidance on all things Inertia.
=== inertia-laravel/v2 rules ===
Inertia v2
- Make use of all Inertia features from v1 & v2. Check the documentation before making any changes to ensure we are taking the correct approach.
Inertia v2 New Features
- Polling
- Prefetching
- Deferred props
- Infinite scrolling using merging props and
WhenVisible - Lazy loading data on scroll
Deferred Props & Empty States
- When using deferred props on the frontend, you should add a nice empty state with pulsing / animated skeleton.
Inertia Form General Guidance
- Build forms using the
useFormhelper. Use the code examples andsearch-docstool with a query ofuseForm helperfor guidance.
=== laravel/core rules ===
Do Things the Laravel Way
- Use
php artisan make:commands to create new files (i.e. migrations, controllers, models, etc.). You can list available Artisan commands using thelist-artisan-commandstool. - If you're creating a generic PHP class, use
artisan make:class. - Pass
--no-interactionto all Artisan commands to ensure they work without user input. You should also pass the correct--optionsto 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::; preferModel::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, using
list-artisan-commandsto check the available options tophp artisan make:model.
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
ShouldQueueinterface.
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 useconfig('app.name'), notenv('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
$this->faker->word()orfake()->randomDigit(). Follow existing conventions whether to use$this->fakerorfake(). - When creating tests, make use of
php artisan make:test [options] <name>to create a feature test, and pass--unitto create a unit test. Most tests should be feature tests.
Vite Error
- If you receive an "Illuminate\Foundation\ViteException: Unable to locate file in Vite manifest" error, you can run
npm run buildor ask the user to runnpm run devorcomposer run dev.
=== laravel/v12 rules ===
Laravel 12
- Use the
search-docstool to get version specific documentation. - 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.phpis the file to register middleware, exceptions, and routing files.bootstrap/providers.phpcontains application specific service providers.- No app\Console\Kernel.php - use
bootstrap/app.phporroutes/console.phpfor 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:
$query->latest()->limit(10);.
Models
- Casts can and likely should be set in a
casts()method on a model rather than the$castsproperty. Follow existing conventions from other models.
=== pint/core rules ===
Laravel Pint Code Formatter
- You must run
vendor/bin/pint --dirtybefore finalizing changes to ensure your code matches the project's expected style. - Do not run
vendor/bin/pint --test, simply runvendor/bin/pintto fix any formatting issues.
=== pest/core rules ===
Pest
Testing
- If you need to verify a feature is working, write or update a Unit / Feature test.
Pest Tests
- All tests must be written using Pest. Use
php artisan make:test --pest <name>. - You must not remove any tests or test files from the tests directory without approval. These are not temporary or helper files - these are core to the application.
- Tests should test all of the happy paths, failure paths, and weird paths.
- Tests live in the
tests/Featureandtests/Unitdirectories. - Pest tests look and behave like this: it('is true', function () { expect(true)->toBeTrue(); });
Running Tests
- Run the minimal number of tests using an appropriate filter before finalizing code edits.
- To run all tests:
php artisan test. - To run all tests in a file:
php artisan test tests/Feature/ExampleTest.php. - To filter on a particular test name:
php artisan test --filter=testName(recommended after making a change to a related file). - When the tests relating to your changes are passing, ask the user if they would like to run the entire test suite to ensure everything is still passing.
Pest Assertions
-
When asserting status codes on a response, use the specific method like
assertForbiddenandassertNotFoundinstead of usingassertStatus(403)or similar, e.g.: it('returns all', function () { $response = $this->postJson('/api/docs', []);$response->assertSuccessful(); });
Mocking
- Mocking can be very helpful when appropriate.
- When mocking, you can use the
Pest\Laravel\mockPest function, but always import it viause function Pest\Laravel\mock;before using it. Alternatively, you can use$this->mock()if existing tests do. - You can also create partial mocks using the same import or self method.
Datasets
- Use datasets in Pest to simplify tests which have a lot of duplicated data. This is often the case when testing validation rules, so consider going with this solution when writing tests for validation rules.
=== inertia-vue/core rules ===
Inertia + Vue
- Vue components must have a single root element.
- Use
router.visit()or<Link>for navigation instead of traditional links.
import { Link } from '@inertiajs/vue3'
<Link href="/">Home</Link>
=== inertia-vue/v2/forms rules ===
Inertia + Vue Forms
=== tailwindcss/core rules ===
Tailwind Core
- Use Tailwind CSS classes to style HTML, check and use existing tailwind conventions within the project before writing your own.
- Offer to extract repeated patterns into components that match the project's conventions (i.e. Blade, JSX, Vue, etc..)
- Think through class placement, order, priority, and defaults - remove redundant classes, add classes to parent or child carefully to limit repetition, group elements logically
- You can use the
search-docstool to get exact examples from the official documentation when needed.
Spacing
-
When listing items, use gap utilities for spacing, don't use margins.
SuperiorMichiganErie
Dark Mode
- If existing pages and components support dark mode, new pages and components must support dark mode in a similar way, typically using
dark:.
=== tailwindcss/v3 rules ===
Tailwind 3
- Always use Tailwind CSS v3 - verify you're using only classes supported by this version.
=== tests rules ===
Test Enforcement
- Every change must be programmatically tested. Write a new test or update an existing test, then run the affected tests to make sure they pass.
- Run the minimum number of tests needed to ensure code quality and speed. Use
php artisan testwith a specific filename or filter.