Laravel Otp Laravel Package

Getting Started

1. Install and verify auto-discovery.

   composer require signaturetech/laravel-otp
   

   The package is small enough that Laravel's package auto-discovery should register its service provider and facade. Before writing any code, open vendor/signaturetech/laravel-otp/ and read three things in order:

   • composer.json → look at the extra.laravel block to confirm what gets registered (provider, facade alias, config tag).
   • src/ → identify the main class (typically Otp, OtpService, or a trait) and whether it uses the cache, a database table, or both.
   • README.md → the exact method names, since a "super simple" package often exposes only generate() and validate().

2. Publish config if a tag exists.

   php artisan vendor:publish --tag=otp-config
   

   If no tag is listed in the README, check the provider's boot() method — a tag-less publishes() call means you'll need to guess the tag or copy the config manually. Set expiry (seconds/minutes) and the cache store explicitly rather than relying on the default.

3. First use case: phone or email verification at registration. The most common flow is a two-step signup — collect the identifier, generate and send an OTP, then validate on the next request. Start with the smallest viable flow in a controller or FormRequest and expand from there:

   use SignatureTech\Otp\Facades\Otp; // verify the actual namespace in src/
   
   $code = Otp::generate($request->phone);
   // send $code via SMS/notification
   

4. Sanity check the storage backend on day one. If it's cache-backed, run php artisan tinker and inspect the key after generating an OTP (Cache::get(...) or redis-cli KEYS '*otp*'). If it's DB-backed, check for a published migration. Knowing where the OTP lives determines how you debug everything else.

Implementation Patterns

Wrap the package behind your own service. Given the package's single-purpose scope, avoid sprinkling Otp::generate() across controllers. Create a thin OtpService / VerificationCode class that owns generation, sending (Notification or Mail), rate limiting, and invalidation. This gives you one place to swap the library out later and one place to add logic the package doesn't cover (e.g., attempt counters).

Generation + send flow. Keep generation synchronous but dispatch the delivery (SMS/Mail) via a queued Notification. Cache the code with a TTL that matches your config expiry, and key it on a normalized identifier:

$code = Otp::generate($identifier); // returns the code to send
$user->notify(new SendOtpNotification($code));

Normalize the identifier (lowercase email, strip phone formatting) before passing it in, since the package almost certainly keys the stored value directly.

Validation with attempt limits. A validate call returns a boolean; wrap it so failed attempts are counted in the cache and the identifier is locked out after N failures. The package won't do this for you.

if (! Otp::validate($identifier, $request->code)) {
    Cache::increment("otp:attempts:{$identifier}");
    // throw validation error
}

Invalidate on success. If the package doesn't delete the code after a successful validate (check the source — many don't), call Cache::forget() or whatever forget/consume method exists. Otherwise a replayed code works until TTL expiry.

Testing. Freeze time with $this->travelTo() or Carbon::setTestNow() around expiry assertions, and use Cache::flush() in setUp() (or per-test) so OTPs don't leak between tests. If the package exposes a facade, Otp::shouldReceive(...) makes it easy to stub in feature tests where you don't want to exercise the real generation.

Integration tips.

• Use it inside a FormRequest::validate or a custom rule (OtpCodeRule) so both API and web controllers share the same verification semantics.
• For passwordless login, generate an OTP tied to the user's identifier and treat a successful validate as issuing a session / Sanctum token — don't reuse the OTP itself as a credential.
• Pair generation with a RateLimiter::attempt() keyed on IP + identifier so a bad actor can't spam SMS costs.

Gotchas and Tips

• Cache store is the whole game. If the package uses Cache::put() with the default driver, your OTPs vanish on php artisan cache:clear and behave differently between file, array, and redis. Pin the store in the published config (or via Cache::store('redis') inside your wrapper) so dev and prod match.
• Config caching breaks unpublished configs. If you rely on the package's config file but never published it, php artisan config:cache in CI/prod will silently fall back to vendor defaults. Publish and commit the config.
• Key collisions. If you generate OTPs for both email and phone for the same user, the underlying key may clash unless the package namespaces by type. Prefix your identifier (e.g., email:[email protected]) before passing it in to avoid one overwriting the other.
• No built-in rate limiting or attempt counting. This is the most likely gap. Add both in your wrapper — a naive validate() loop is a brute-force oracle since OTPs are short numeric codes.
• Read the source, don't trust the README. At 18 stars and a 0.15 score, the package is minimal and possibly lightly maintained (last release mid-2025). Confirm: does validate() delete on success? Does generate() overwrite or return the existing code? Is comparison hash_equals or ===? These answers change your wrapper's behavior materially.
• Debugging checklist when validation "just fails": dump the cache key (otp:* in Redis), confirm the identifier was normalized identically in generate and validate, check expiry units (seconds vs minutes is a classic bug), and confirm TTL hasn't elapsed due to timezone/now() drift.
• Extension points. If the package's validate() is too rigid, bind your own implementation against its interface (if one exists) or — realistically for a package this small — fork the ~100 lines into app/Support/Otp.php and own it. That's often cheaper than waiting on a vendor.
• Don't use it for high-assurance flows without hardening. TOTP vs. random numeric, SMS-replay, and SIM-swap are outside this package's scope. Treat it as a code-gen/validate primitive, not a full verification system.