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Genealogy Laravel Package
modularsoftware/genealogy
A Laravel package for genealogy applications, with Eloquent models, migrations, and relationships for people, families, events, places, and sources. Build family trees, ancestry records, and research workflows with a clean, extensible API designed to fit into existing Laravel projects.
Full genealogy and family tree building application using Laravel 13, PHP 8.5, Filament 5 and Livewire 4
Frequently asked questions about Genealogy
- How do I install modularsoftware/genealogy in a Laravel project?
- Install it with composer require modularsoftware/genealogy and then run the migrations shipped with the repository. Be aware that despite the Composer packaging this behaves like a full Laravel application rather than a drop-in library: there is no documented service provider, facade, or publishable config to wire into an existing app. For most teams the practical path is to clone or fork the repository, install its dependencies, and run it as a standalone genealogy site. If you need only the domain layer, plan to extract the Eloquent models and GEDCOM services rather than simply requiring the package.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does this genealogy package support?
- Always read the hard constraints in the repository's composer.json before committing, because the project has been archived and its constraints are frozen. The TPM review observed a Laravel 10 and PHP 8.2 era codebase with a last release in July 2023, so expect an upgrade spike before running it on Laravel 11 or 12. Note that Laravel 10 left security support in early 2025 and PHP 8.2's security window closes in December 2026, so a fork starts behind on patch cadence. Test the framework upgrade early: if locked third-party packages block it, extraction of the domain layer becomes the only viable option.
- Is this a Laravel package I can composer require into an existing application?
- Technically yes, but architecturally it is a Laravel application codebase, not a composable library. There is no documented service provider, facade, or published configuration, so integration is really a fork-or-extract decision rather than dependency adoption. It fits well if you are building a genealogy product and want a head start on the domain layer. It does not fit if you just need family-tree primitives inside an unrelated Laravel app.
- What Eloquent models and relationships does it provide for family trees?
- The package ships Eloquent models, migrations, and relationships for people, families, events, places, and sources, plus media and GEDCOM import/export workflows. The intent is to let you build family trees, ancestry records, and research workflows through a clean, extensible API. Before relying on it, confirm whether relationships are properly normalized or stored as JSON blobs, since that decision affects query performance and data integrity. Check which GEDCOM version the schema actually models and whether INDI, FAMC, and FAMS links are first-class.
- Does modularsoftware/genealogy support GEDCOM import and export?
- The overview lists GEDCOM import and export among the package's capabilities, but round-trip correctness is not verified by star count and deserves its own test suite. Seed the app with a public GEDCOM file of around 10k individuals and export it again, then diff the output for date ranges, name variants, SOUR and NOTE citations, and family link integrity. GEDCOM 7 support is unlikely to arrive given the archived state of the repository. Treat GEDCOM handling as the highest-value part of the codebase to validate and possibly keep when extracting.
- Is this genealogy package still maintained and safe to use in production?
- The repository is archived and the last release was July 2023, so there are no upstream security patches, framework upgrades, or GEDCOM spec updates. A 194-star project also implies a very small contributor base, meaning any bug you hit is yours to fix. The MIT license removes legal friction and permits commercial forks and closed-source derivatives, so the blockers are lifecycle rather than legality. Pin to the archived commit for evaluation and budget for ongoing maintenance if you adopt it.
- How does it handle authorization and multi-tenant family trees?
- The available documentation does not describe per-tree or multi-tenant authorization, so assume single-tenant behavior until you verify it in the code. Genealogy data is inherently personal data about living individuals, which makes GDPR and CCPA requirements such as redaction of living persons, deletion, and export a first-class concern. Audit the policies and gates before exposing the app to real users. If multi-tenancy matters, expect to add per-tree scoping and access control yourself.
- How does it perform on large family trees with deep ancestry traversal?
- Ancestor and descendant traversal is recursive and degrades on deep or wide trees, and the codebase is unproven at scale. Check whether recursion happens in SQL with recursive CTEs or in PHP, because that determines whether you can optimize with indexes or must restructure. Benchmark with a public GEDCOM containing 10k to 50k individuals before committing. If your standard database is PostgreSQL rather than MySQL, verify portability early.
- Can I use it with Filament and Livewire, or does it expose an API?
- The overview advertises Filament and Livewire for the admin and UI layer, but the archived codebase and its frozen composer.json determine what you actually get, so verify the installed versions rather than relying on the description. There is no documented REST or JSON API layer, which suggests server-rendered Blade views are the primary interface. If your product needs a headless or mobile client, plan to build the API yourself on top of the Eloquent models. That is another argument for extracting the domain layer instead of adopting the whole application.
- What are the alternatives and migration paths if I only need genealogy primitives in Laravel?
- There are three paths in descending order of lifecycle safety: use the repository as a reference or spec source and build your own domain layer, fork and extract just the models and GEDCOM import/export services while discarding the UI, or adopt the full application and upgrade Laravel yourself. The reference path is the default because it preserves architectural freedom and avoids inheriting an abandoned dependency tree, while extraction is worth it when you need speed on the hardest 20 percent such as parsing and relationship modeling. A full fork only makes sense if you are shipping a standalone genealogy site and the existing UI is a fit.
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