- What does dragon-code/laravel-ide-facades-helper do?
- It is a development-time utility that scans your Laravel facade classes and generates PHPDoc blocks describing the methods forwarded through __callStatic. Those docblocks let IDEs such as PhpStorm autocomplete facade calls and improve navigation. It does not change runtime behavior; it only writes helper documentation for your own facades.
- How do I install laravel-ide-facades-helper in a Laravel app?
- Add it as a Composer development dependency with composer require --dev dragon-code/laravel-ide-facades-helper. Then run the package's Artisan generation command to write the facade docblocks. Commit the generated output so teammates and CI get the same IDE metadata.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does laravel-ide-facades-helper support?
- Support is declared in the package's composer.json, so read the constraints at the tag you intend to use rather than assuming from the release date. The v1.8.0 release note is a bare comparison link and does not publish a PHP or Laravel support matrix. Confirm the declared constraints admit your Laravel and PHP baseline before adding it.
- Is laravel-ide-facades-helper safe to use in production?
- It is intended as a require-dev code-generation tool, not a runtime dependency. The package has no service-provider footprint in the request lifecycle and no container bindings that affect production behavior. Keep it out of production installs and commit only the generated PHPDoc artifacts your IDE needs.
- How is it different from barryvdh/laravel-ide-helper?
- barryvdh/laravel-ide-helper is the de facto standard and already emits facade information into _ide_helper.php. This package focuses narrowly on generating PHPDoc for your facade classes. Evaluate whether that narrower output adds anything your existing ide-helper generation and PhpStorm Laravel plugin do not already cover.
- How do I regenerate facade PHPDoc after changing a facade?
- Run the package's Artisan generation command again after you add or change facade methods. Commit the refreshed docblocks so the IDE metadata matches the code. Add a CI check that regenerates and compares the output to catch stale artifacts.
- Can stale generated facade docblocks break autocomplete?
- Yes. If a facade method is removed or renamed and the docblock is not regenerated, the IDE can confidently autocomplete methods that no longer exist. That generated-artifact drift is worse than having no docblock in some cases. Regenerate on facade changes and enforce a drift check in CI.
- Does laravel-ide-facades-helper work with PhpStorm?
- The package is designed to improve auto-completion in PhpStorm and other IDEs by writing accurate PHPDoc for facade classes. PhpStorm reads those docblocks and uses them for navigation and completion. You should still verify behavior in your project setup, especially if you rely on the Laravel plugin or static analysis tooling.
- Should I commit generated IDE facade helper files?
- Committing the generated docblocks is the usual workflow because it gives every developer and CI run the same IDE metadata. The tradeoff is that committed artifacts can drift, so pair commits with a CI regeneration check. Do not edit generated files by hand; change the facade and regenerate.
- Is dragon-code/laravel-ide-facades-helper actively maintained?
- A v1.8.0 tag has been published, but the public release note is only a comparison link with no changelog entries or support matrix. That is evidence of activity, not a characterized maintenance direction. Review the actual commit range and composer.json at the tag before treating the release as a compatibility signal.