- What is awcodes/hydro used for?
- Hydro is a command-line tool by awcodes that scaffolds a Filament plugin package locally, so you can start plugin development without cloning Filament's GitHub Plugin Skeleton. It is aimed at Laravel developers building Filament plugins. It is a build-time developer tool, not a runtime library.
- How do I install Hydro for Laravel and Filament plugin development?
- Install it as a global Composer CLI for trial use, or add it as a require-dev dependency in a plugin-development repo. Because it scaffolds packages rather than serving app requests, it does not need to be installed in deployed Laravel applications. Check the repository README for the exact Composer command and supported PHP version.
- Does Hydro work with Filament v3 and current Laravel versions?
- Compatibility is not clearly established from the available context: the last release was March 2023, which predates Filament v3 plugin conventions, and there is no adoption signal to confirm current support. Treat support for current Filament, Laravel, and PHP as something to verify in a time-boxed spike. Generate a representative plugin and run it through your existing CI before standardizing.
- Is Hydro a runtime dependency for production Laravel apps?
- No. Hydro is a build-time CLI for plugin scaffolding and should live in Composer's global layer or a require-dev scope, not in production applications. It adds no service provider, request path, schema, queue, or storage footprint to deployed Laravel apps. That keeps production runtime and security risk negligible.
- How does Hydro compare to Filament's Plugin Skeleton?
- Filament's Plugin Skeleton is the upstream GitHub-based starting point; Hydro aims to replace that step by generating a plugin locally from the command line. The trade-off is convenience versus provenance: the skeleton is maintained with Filament, while Hydro is a small third-party package with stale release signals. Many teams should keep the skeleton as a fallback and pilot Hydro only if plugin scaffolding is frequent.
- Can I customize the generated plugin namespace and structure?
- The tool generates a plugin scaffold, but the available context does not document which stubs, namespaces, or conventions it emits. Before adopting it, generate one plugin and diff the output against your internal naming, namespace, and test conventions. If it diverges, you can fork and adjust the stubs, subject to the repository's license.
- What are the maintenance and support risks of using Hydro?
- Hydro has low adoption, a single maintainer, zero dependents, and a last release in March 2023, so abandonment should be treated as the base case. The main risk is delivery drift: generated conventions may be stale and CLI constraints may break on newer PHP or Composer. Mitigate with lockfiles, an internal Composer mirror, a fork readiness plan, and a documented fallback to the Filament Plugin Skeleton.
- How should I test a plugin scaffolded with Hydro in CI?
- Generate a plugin in a sandbox, then run it through your existing lint, static analysis, test, and CI pipelines exactly as you would a skeleton-based plugin. Compare the generated package against your baseline and record any gaps. Do not make Hydro a committed dependency until the scaffold passes CI and matches internal conventions.
- Can I use Hydro in a team or agency workflow?
- It fits teams that build Filament plugins repeatedly, such as a platform team owning an internal plugin suite or an agency scaffolding client plugins. It is low value for teams that create zero or one plugin per year, because the manual skeleton step is not a recurring tax. A zero-blast-radius pilot is cheap because it can be installed globally without touching project dependency graphs.
- What are alternatives to Hydro for scaffolding Filament plugins?
- The primary alternative is Filament's official GitHub Plugin Skeleton, which stays aligned with Filament conventions. You can also maintain an internal scaffold template or fork Hydro and adapt its stubs to your standards. For most teams, the skeleton plus internal documentation is the safer default unless plugin cadence is high.