Getting Started

This release (1.0.4) is a PHP 8.0 compatibility update. Before upgrading, confirm your runtime is PHP 8.0+ with php -v and check composer.json for the package's php constraint.
Install or upgrade with composer require vendor/package:^1.0.4 (or composer update vendor/package if already installed).
First place to look: the package's composer.json (PHP/Laravel constraints), its service provider, and any published config file (php artisan vendor:publish).
First use case: run a minimal smoke test after upgrading — boot the app (php artisan about), run the package's test suite if available, and exercise one primary API call or facade method. Because the release notes are terse, treat 1.0.4 as a compatibility patch and verify behavior rather than assuming new features.

Implementation Patterns

Upgrade workflow: pin to ^1.0.4, run composer update, then php artisan config:clear and php artisan cache:clear before testing. Check for deprecation notices with APP_DEBUG=true and error_reporting(E_ALL).
CI matrix: test on PHP 8.0 and 8.1 (and your supported Laravel versions) to catch version-specific regressions. Add composer validate --strict to CI.
Container integration: resolve the package through Laravel's container rather than instantiating directly; bind interfaces in a service provider if the package exposes contracts. This keeps you insulated from internal changes in patch releases.
Config overrides: publish config and override via .env-driven values rather than editing vendor files. Use config('package.key') in your own code so upgrades don't clobber customizations.
PHP 8.0 idioms: where the package exposes extension points (custom drivers, macros, callbacks), you can safely use constructor property promotion, named arguments, and match expressions in your own implementations.
Facade usage: if the package ships a facade, prefer it for terse calls in controllers and inject the underlying class in services/jobs for testability.

Terse release notes: "update for php 8.0" gives no detail. Review the actual diff or changelog before deploying; a patch bump can still contain subtle signature changes.
PHP 8.0 deprecations to watch: optional parameters before required ones, passing null to non-nullable internal parameters, and curly-brace array/string offsets. These often surface only at runtime, so run your full test suite.
Composer platform masking: setting "platform": {"php": "8.0"} in composer.json can hide real environment mismatches. Verify on the actual target runtime.
Laravel version coupling: confirm the package's supported Laravel range; a PHP 8.0 update may have also bumped minimum Laravel, which can break older apps.
Cache after upgrade: stale config and package-discovery caches are a common cause of "it worked yesterday" failures. Run php artisan optimize:clear.
Debugging: enable query/event logging (Telescope or Log::debug) around package entry points; check storage/logs/laravel.log for deprecation warnings that don't throw exceptions.
Extension points: prefer published config, container bindings, and documented macros over subclassing internals — internal classes are the most likely to change in future patch releases.