Laravel States Laravel Package

Product Decisions This Supports

• Adopt for modeling state machines on Eloquent models (e.g., order status, user lifecycle) to centralize transition logic and reduce scattered status checks.
• Roadmap: use for new features requiring workflows; avoid for simple boolean flags or one-off status columns.
• Build vs buy: buy (use package) when you need standard state machine patterns (valid transitions, guards, history); build custom only for highly specialized or performance-critical needs.
• Use cases: order fulfillment, subscription billing, content moderation, multi-step approval processes.

When to Consider This Package

• Consider when you have Eloquent models with well-defined states and transitions, and want enforcement of valid transitions, logging, and querying by state.
• Look elsewhere if you need complex workflow engines (e.g., BPMN), distributed sagas, or if your team prefers explicit custom logic without a package dependency.
• Evaluate v2.0.1: the removal of a broken, always-erroring method ($model->states()->transition()) signals active maintenance and API cleanup. Ensure your code uses the correct API $model->{type}->transition() before upgrading; no working code is affected.

How to Pitch It (Stakeholders)

• Executives: reduces bugs and inconsistencies in status-driven features; low-risk dependency with active maintenance (v2.0.1 fixes a non-functional API).
• Engineering: standardizes state transitions, provides a clean API ($model->{type}->transition()), and avoids reinventing state machine logic. The patch release removes a confusing broken method, so upgrading is safe and improves clarity. No breaking changes for working code.