Package Boost Laravel Laravel Package

Getting Started

Add the package as a dev dependency in the package repository you are building — not in an application:

composer require --dev sandermuller/package-boost-laravel

It pulls package-boost-php and layers Laravel-specific material on top. Check composer.json bin and scripts, or the README, for the exact generator binary, then run it once to emit AGENTS.md, agents/skills/, and .mcp.json into the repository root. Commit all of it.

Read AGENTS.md first. The section that changes daily behavior is the Laravel Package Guidelines: there is no host application, the kernel boots only through Orchestra Testbench, and the agent must use vendor/bin/testbench instead of php artisan.

First use case worth testing: ask the agent to add a small feature. Watch whether it reaches for php artisan make:test and a tests/ fixture, or for vendor/bin/pest, src/, and workbench/. The second answer means the guidelines loaded.

The package is only meaningful when composer.json declares require.illuminate/* or require.laravel/framework. A framework-agnostic package gets nothing from the Laravel layer.

Implementation Patterns

Treat the emitted files as build output, not source. Regenerate when the dependency bumps, read the diff, commit it. The diff is your changelog of agent behavior.

Keep the two layers separate. foundation.md stays framework-agnostic; the Laravel file composes onto it. Do not merge them or copy Laravel rules into the foundation file.

Define composer test, composer analyse, and any style script. The Verification Before Completion guideline tells the agent to run the project's own commands, so an undefined command becomes a guess or a skipped check.

Point the agent at the package-local Boost commands when laravel/boost is a dev dependency:

vendor/bin/testbench boost:install
vendor/bin/testbench boost:mcp

The emitted .mcp.json should reference the Testbench binary, not php artisan. That is what makes MCP work in a repository with no artisan entry point.

A normal feature loop looks like this: the request activates the package-development skill, code lands under src/, fixtures land under workbench/, the agent runs Pest, and it reports the command output as evidence. For version-spanning work, activate cross-version-laravel-support before writing code. After a matrix cell fails, activate ci-matrix-troubleshooting.

For PHPStan, hand the raw error to the agent and expect it to separate runtime faults from static noise. A wrong argument type gets a failing test first; a missing return type does not.

Commit AGENTS.md and the skills directory so every contributor's agent reads the same rules. Review changes to those files the way you review code, because that is what they are.

The voice rules also make agent-written PR descriptions, commit messages, and issue text predictable. You can reject a commit message in review by pointing at the rule instead of arguing about style.

Gotchas and Tips

Do not stack this on top of Laravel Boost's default foundation. It replaces that foundation for package repositories. Two conflicting copies of "use php artisan make:*" and "create files manually under src/" will confuse the agent.

Without laravel/boost as a dev dependency, boost sync prints a warning and moves on. The MCP half of this package is then inert — expected, not broken.

.mcp.json uses vendor/bin/testbench, so a fresh clone needs composer install before the server starts. Commit the file, and document the install step.

Do not hand-edit generated files. Local additions belong in a file the generator does not own, or they disappear on the next sync.

The guidelines are advisory. An agent can still claim success without running anything. Add CI that runs the same Pest, PHPStan, and formatter commands. That is the backstop the "evidence before claims" rule assumes.

Pin the version. The package is young — a handful of stars, no dependents, one recent release. Read CHANGELOG.md before each bump.

Check require.illuminate/* before trusting version-specific API suggestions. The guideline says to check it first; the model may still reach for the newest framework method. Cover the declared floor with a prefer-lowest matrix cell so the claim is enforced rather than asserted.

Signed commits are a hard stop by design. If the GPG or SSH signing agent is locked, the agent surfaces the error instead of committing unsigned. Unlock the backend; do not look for a flag.

The AskUserQuestion pronoun rule applies only to agents that expose that tool. Copilot and other tools may read AGENTS.md alone and never load the skill files. Assume the rules that survive are the ones in AGENTS.md.

vendor/bin/testbench vendor:publish writes into workbench/, not into a host application's config/ or resources/. Do not let the agent plan a publish-then-commit workflow around application paths.