Finder Laravel Package

Product Decisions This Supports

• File System Search & Discovery: Enables rapid implementation of file-based search functionality (e.g., log analysis, asset discovery, or configuration file validation) without reinventing the wheel.
• Roadmap Acceleration: Reduces development time for features requiring recursive directory traversal (e.g., static site generators, backup tools, or audit utilities).
• Build vs. Buy: Justifies buying (leveraging open-source) over building custom file-finding logic, especially for non-core features.
• Use Cases:
  • Developer Tools: CLI utilities for codebase analysis (e.g., "Find all deprecated API calls").
  • Content Management: Locate media assets or templates dynamically.
  • Security/Compliance: Scan for sensitive files (e.g., .env backups) in user uploads.
  • Data Migration: Identify files matching specific patterns for batch processing.

When to Consider This Package

• Adopt if:
  • Your PHP/Laravel app needs intuitive file/directory search (e.g., find()->filterByExtension('php')->sortByModificationTime()).
  • You prioritize maintainability over active development (discontinued but stable for legacy projects).
  • Your use case aligns with Nette’s design (e.g., filtering by name, size, modification time, or regex).
• Look Elsewhere if:
  • You need active maintenance or modern PHP 8.2+ features (consider symfony/finder or league/flysystem).
  • Your search requirements are database-driven (e.g., Elasticsearch) or involve remote filesystems (use Flysystem).
  • You’re building a public-facing library (NOASSERTION license is ambiguous; prefer MIT/BSD).

How to Pitch It (Stakeholders)

For Executives: "This package lets us ship file-search features (e.g., log analyzers or asset tools) in weeks instead of months by reusing battle-tested code. While discontinued, it’s stable for internal tools—reducing dev time without licensing risks. Ideal for one-off utilities where we’d otherwise spend cycles on custom scripts."

For Engineering: *"Nette/Finder provides a clean, fluent API for recursive file ops (e.g., Finder::create()->files()->name('*.test.php')). It’s lighter than Symfony’s version and integrates seamlessly with Laravel. Tradeoff: No new features, but perfect for:

• CLI tools (e.g., php artisan find:orphaned-migrations).
• Background jobs (e.g., scanning uploads for malware patterns).
• Legacy systems where we can’t upgrade dependencies. Proposal: Use it for [specific feature X], then migrate to Symfony/Finder if we hit limits."*