laravel-specialist

What this skill does

# Laravel Specialist

## Overview

Design, build, and maintain production-grade Laravel applications following the framework's conventions and best practices. This skill covers the full Laravel ecosystem: Eloquent ORM with advanced relationship patterns, Blade templating and Livewire interactivity, queue and event systems, middleware pipelines, service providers, Pest testing at every layer, and Artisan tooling for migrations, seeders, and factories.

Apply this skill whenever Laravel is the application framework, whether greenfield or brownfield.

## Multi-Phase Process

### Phase 1: Context Discovery

1. Identify Laravel version (`composer.json` -> `laravel/framework`)
2. Scan `config/` for enabled packages and custom configuration
3. Map existing models, relationships, and migration history
4. Review `routes/` for API, web, console, and channel definitions
5. Catalog installed first-party packages (Sanctum, Horizon, Telescope, Pulse, Pennant, Scout, Cashier)
6. Check for Livewire, Inertia, or Blade-only frontend stack

> **STOP — Do NOT begin architecture review without knowing the Laravel version and installed packages.**

### Documentation Verification Protocol

**[HARD-GATE]** When uncertain about any Laravel API — verify, don't guess. Use `mcp__context7__resolve-library-id` then `mcp__context7__query-docs` (preferred). Fallback: fetch from `https://github.com/laravel/docs`. For Livewire, Pest, Inertia — resolve each via context7 separately. Returned docs override memorized knowledge.

### Phase 2: Architecture Review

1. Verify directory structure follows Laravel conventions (see section below)
2. Assess service provider registrations and deferred loading
3. Review middleware stack ordering and grouping
4. Evaluate queue connection configuration and worker topology
5. Check caching strategy (config, route, view, application-level)

> **STOP — Do NOT begin implementation until architecture gaps are documented.**

### Phase 3: Implementation

1. Write migrations first — schema is the source of truth
2. Build Eloquent models with relationships, scopes, casts, and accessors
3. Implement business logic in dedicated Action or Service classes
4. Create controllers (single-action or resourceful) bound to routes
5. Add Form Requests for validation, Policies for authorization
6. Wire events, listeners, and jobs for asynchronous workflows

> **STOP — Do NOT skip Form Requests and Policies. Inline validation and authorization are anti-patterns.**

### Phase 4: Testing

1. Unit tests for isolated logic (Actions, Value Objects, Casts)
2. Feature tests for HTTP endpoints and middleware behavior
3. Browser tests with Laravel Dusk for critical user flows
4. Database assertions with `assertDatabaseHas`, `assertSoftDeleted`
5. Queue and event fakes for side-effect verification

> **STOP — Do NOT proceed to optimization without passing tests at all layers.**

### Phase 5: Optimization

1. Apply eager loading to eliminate N+1 queries
2. Cache expensive computations and config/route/view
3. Index frequently-queried columns; use `EXPLAIN` to verify
4. Profile with Telescope or Debugbar in development
5. Configure Horizon for production queue monitoring

## Eloquent Patterns

### Relationships

| Relationship | Method | Inverse | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-to-One | `hasOne` | `belongsTo` | User -> Profile |
| One-to-Many | `hasMany` | `belongsTo` | Post -> Comments |
| Many-to-Many | `belongsToMany` | `belongsToMany` | User <-> Roles (pivot) |
| Has-Many-Through | `hasManyThrough` | — | Country -> Posts (through Users) |
| Polymorphic | `morphMany` / `morphTo` | `morphTo` | Comments on Posts and Videos |
| Many-to-Many Polymorphic | `morphToMany` | `morphedByMany` | Tags on Posts and Videos |

### Scopes

```php
// Local scope — reusable query constraint
public function scopeActive(Builder $query): Builder
{
    return $query->where('status', 'active');
}

// Usage: User::active()->where('role', 'admin')->get();

// Global scope — applied to all queries on the model
protected static function booted(): void
{
    static::addGlobalScope('published', function (Builder $builder) {
        $builder->whereNotNull('published_at');
    });
}
```

### Accessors, Mutators, and Casts

```php
// Attribute accessor/mutator (Laravel 11+ syntax)
protected function fullName(): Attribute
{
    return Attribute::make(
        get: fn () => "{$this->first_name} {$this->last_name}",
    );
}

// Custom cast
protected function casts(): array
{
    return [
        'options'    => AsCollection::class,
        'address'    => AddressCast::class,
        'status'     => OrderStatus::class,  // Backed enum
        'metadata'   => 'array',
        'is_active'  => 'boolean',
        'amount'     => MoneyCast::class,
    ];
}
```

### Query Optimization with Eager Loading

```php
// BAD — N+1 problem: 1 query for posts + N queries for authors
$posts = Post::all();
foreach ($posts as $post) {
    echo $post->author->name;  // Triggers lazy load each iteration
}

// GOOD — Eager load: 2 queries total
$posts = Post::with('author')->get();

// Nested eager loading
$posts = Post::with(['author', 'comments.user'])->get();

// Constrained eager loading
$posts = Post::with(['comments' => function ($query) {
    $query->where('approved', true)->latest()->limit(5);
}])->get();

// Prevent lazy loading in development
Model::preventLazyLoading(! app()->isProduction());
```

## Blade Templates and Livewire Components

### Blade Conventions
- Layouts: `resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php` using `@yield` / `@section` or component-based `<x-app-layout>`
- Components: `resources/views/components/` — anonymous or class-based
- Partials: `@include('partials.sidebar')` for reusable fragments
- Use `{{ }}` for escaped output, `{!! !!}` only when HTML is explicitly trusted
- Prefer Blade directives (`@auth`, `@can`, `@env`) over raw PHP conditionals

### Livewire Patterns

```php
// Full-page Livewire component (Livewire 3+)
#[Layout('layouts.app')]
#[Title('Dashboard')]
class Dashboard extends Component
{
    public string $search = '';

    #[Computed]
    public function users(): LengthAwarePaginator
    {
        return User::where('name', 'like', "%{$this->search}%")->paginate(15);
    }

    public function render(): View
    {
        return view('livewire.dashboard');
    }
}
```

### Frontend Stack Decision Table

| Decision | Choose Livewire | Choose Inertia |
|---|---|---|
| Existing Blade codebase | Yes | No |
| SPA-like experience required | Partial (with wire:navigate) | Yes |
| Team has Vue/React expertise | No | Yes |
| Server-side rendering priority | Yes | Depends on adapter |
| Real-time reactivity | Yes (polling, streams) | Requires Echo setup |
| SEO-critical pages | Either works | Either works (SSR adapter) |

## Queue, Job, and Event Patterns

### Job Design

```php
class ProcessInvoice implements ShouldQueue
{
    use Dispatchable, InteractsWithQueue, Queueable, SerializesModels;

    public int $tries = 3;
    public int $backoff = 60;
    public int $timeout = 120;
    public string $queue = 'invoices';

    public function __construct(public readonly Invoice $invoice) {}

    public function handle(PdfGenerator $generator): void
    {
        $generator->generate($this->invoice);
    }

    public function failed(Throwable $exception): void
    {
        // Notify admin, log to error tracker
    }
}
```

### Event / Listener Pattern

```php
// Dispatch event
OrderPlaced::dispatch($order);

// Listener (queued)
class SendOrderConfirmation implements ShouldQueue
{
    public function handle(OrderPlaced $event): void
    {
        Mail::to($event->order->user)->send(new OrderConfirmationMail($event->order));
    }
}
```

### Sync vs Async Decision Table

| Task | Queued | Synchronous |
|---|---|---|
| Sending emails / notifications | Yes | Never in request cycle |
| PDF generation | Yes | Only if < 2s and user waits |
| Payment processing | Depends — webhook-driven preferred | If