Laravel Dev Helpers Laravel Package

Getting Started

Minimal Setup

1. Installation

   composer require aanyszek/laravel-dev-helpers
   

   No publisher or configuration required—package auto-registers via Laravel's service provider.

2. First Use Case: Debugging Routes Add this to your routes/web.php or routes/api.php:

   use Aanyszek\DevHelpers\Facades\RouteHelper;
   
   RouteHelper::dumpRoutes(); // Dumps all registered routes to Tinker
   

   Run php artisan tinker and inspect the output.

3. Key Facades to Explore

   • RouteHelper – Route inspection/dumping.
   • RequestHelper – Request payload inspection.
   • ViewHelper – Blade view debugging.
   • ModelHelper – Eloquent model introspection.

Implementation Patterns

Workflow: Debugging a Route Issue

1. Identify the Route

   RouteHelper::dumpRoutes()->where('uri', 'admin/dashboard')->first();
   

2. Inspect Request Data

   use Aanyszek\DevHelpers\Facades\RequestHelper;
   
   RequestHelper::getRequestData(); // Returns array of all request data
   

3. Log to Tinker

   RouteHelper::logRoute('admin/dashboard'); // Logs route details to Tinker
   

Workflow: Blade View Debugging

1. Enable Debug Mode Add to AppServiceProvider:

   ViewHelper::enableDebugMode(); // Shows hidden Blade tags in dev
   

2. Inspect View Output

   ViewHelper::dumpView('dashboard'); // Dumps rendered view source
   

Integration Tips

• Middleware Debugging Use RequestHelper::getMiddleware() to inspect middleware stack for a request.
• Eloquent Debugging

  ModelHelper::inspectModel(User::class); // Shows relations, casts, etc.
  

• Tinker Shortcuts Alias facades in ~/.phpstormconfig/tinker_aliases.php:

  use Aanyszek\DevHelpers\Facades\{RouteHelper, RequestHelper};
  alias('rh', 'RouteHelper');
  alias('req', 'RequestHelper');
  

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

• Performance Impact Avoid using dumpRoutes() in production—it loads all routes into memory. Fix: Wrap in if (app()->environment('local')).

• Blade Debug Mode enableDebugMode() exposes hidden Blade tags (e.g., @debug) in production if not guarded. Fix: Disable in AppServiceProvider after debugging:

  if (app()->environment('local')) {
      ViewHelper::enableDebugMode();
  }
  

• Request Data Overhead getRequestData() includes sensitive data (e.g., passwords in POST). Fix: Filter output:

  $cleanData = RequestHelper::getRequestData(['password', 'api_token']);
  

Debugging Tips

• Route Not Found? Use RouteHelper::findRouteByName('name.here') to locate misnamed routes.
• Model Relationships

  ModelHelper::dumpRelations(User::find(1)); // Shows loaded/unloaded relations
  

• View Compilation Issues

  ViewHelper::clearCompiledViews(); // Force recompile Blade templates
  

Extension Points

• Custom Helpers Extend via service provider:

  public function register()
  {
      $this->app->singleton('custom.helper', function () {
          return new CustomHelper();
      });
  }
  

• Override Default Behavior Publish config (if added in future) or bind facades manually:

  RouteHelper::setRouteDumper(new CustomRouteDumper());