- What is mike4git/chain-bundle and how does it implement chain of responsibility in Laravel?
- chain-bundle is a lightweight Composer package that provides a generic way to create a chain of potentially responsible handlers, where each handler can either delegate to the next step or finish the task. You compose handlers into an ordered, reusable sequential workflow and pass a request through each step, which is the classic chain-of-responsibility pattern. It is intended for framework-based PHP applications where you want processing logic to stay modular and easy to extend. The 1.0.0 release ships with a one-sentence description, so read the source before depending on any specific behavior.
- How do I install mike4git/chain-bundle with Composer?
- Install it with composer require mike4git/chain-bundle, ideally pinning the exact version such as 1.0.0 in your composer.json while you evaluate it. If the package ships a service provider, Laravel package auto-discovery should register it, but the release notes do not confirm this, so verify whether any manual provider registration is needed. Commit the lock file so the resolved version is reproducible across environments.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does mike4git/chain-bundle support?
- The 1.0.0 release does not publish a Laravel version constraint or a documented PHP version floor in its release notes. The practical approach is to pin the exact package version and run its test suite against the Laravel and PHP versions you actually run in production before writing any integration code. If you need a formal support matrix for a long-lived project, ask the maintainer directly rather than assuming compatibility.
- How is chain-bundle different from Laravel's built-in Pipeline class?
- Laravel already ships Illuminate\Pipeline, which passes a payload through an array of pipe classes and is the mechanism behind HTTP middleware. It is unresolved whether chain-bundle wraps that primitive or reimplements chaining independently, and that distinction determines whether the package adds real value. If it turns out to be a thin wrapper, using Illuminate\Pipeline directly removes a dependency. If it adds explicit ordering semantics, reusable chain definitions, or handler contracts, it may justify its place.
- How do I register handlers and control the order they run in?
- You define handler classes and compose them into a chain, with each handler deciding whether to delegate to the next step or finish processing. The published documentation does not state whether ordering lives in configuration, in code, or in attributes, so confirm that from the source before designing around it. A safe pattern is to keep the ordering in your own configuration and wrap the vendor package behind an internal HandlerChain interface, so the sequence stays explicit and the package remains swappable.
- What happens when a handler throws an exception or stops the chain early?
- Short-circuit, collect, and propagate behaviors are not documented in the 1.0.0 release, so treat exception handling as unverified until you test it. Write characterization tests that assert what happens when a handler returns early, returns null, or throws, because chain defects often show up as silently skipped or misordered business logic rather than a loud crash. Decide explicitly whether your application wants fail-fast propagation or aggregated error collection, and enforce that at your adapter layer if the package does not.
- Is mike4git/chain-bundle production-ready, and does it have tests and CI?
- It is a 1.0.0 first release with no changelog history, no stated support policy, and no documented CI badge or test coverage in the release text. That makes the technical risk high not because the code is bad but because the evidence base is empty. Treat it as an early-stage dependency and limit it to a non-critical seam while you assess maintenance activity and source quality.
- How do I test a handler chain built with chain-bundle?
- Substitute stub or spy handlers so you can assert both the order of execution and whether later handlers are skipped when one finishes the task. Add characterization tests around ordering, early termination, and exception behavior before adopting the package, since those are the behaviors most likely to change or be undocumented. Keep the chain behind an interface you control so tests can target your contract rather than vendor internals.
- Can I use chain-bundle for queued jobs and HTTP middleware?
- The chaining concept applies to HTTP middleware, queued job pipelines, and domain command processing, so several integration points are plausible. The recommended starting point is a single low-risk seam, such as a non-critical queued job pipeline or an internal reporting flow. Avoid beginning with request middleware, where misordered or skipped handlers have the widest blast radius and are hardest to detect.
- What are the alternatives to mike4git/chain-bundle?
- The most obvious alternatives are Laravel's own Illuminate\Pipeline, native HTTP middleware for request-scoped concerns, or a small in-house handler chain contract of your own. Because this is greenfield adoption rather than a migration, there is no cutover cost and rollback is simply removing the dependency. Adopting behind an internal HandlerChain interface keeps any of those replacements a one-file change.