Getting Started

Install with composer require softspring/time-ago-bundle. Note the name: this is a Symfony bundle, not a Laravel package. There is no ServiceProvider, no config/time-ago.php to publish, and no package discovery entry.
Look first at vendor/softspring/time-ago-bundle/README.md, then DependencyInjection/ (config tree + service wiring) and any Twig/ directory (the filter/extension is usually the public surface). Those three files tell you the entire usable API.
Before you install it in a Laravel app, check whether you need it at all. Laravel already ships Carbon, and $post->created_at->diffForHumans() produces the same "3 hours ago" output with locale support from app()->getLocale(). For most Laravel codebases this package is redundant.
First real use case: you have a Symfony app (or a Laravel app embedding Symfony components) and you want a translator-backed, template-level relative-time filter rather than calling Carbon in every view.

Implementation Patterns

Blade, the 90% case: {{ $post->created_at->diffForHumans() }}. Add ->diffForHumans(short: true) for "3h ago" style output.
Keep formatting out of views. Use an accessor (Attribute::make(get: fn () => $this->created_at->diffForHumans())) or a TimeAgo helper class, so you can change phrasing or locale in one place.
Never emit only the human string from a JSON API. Return created_at as ISO-8601 alongside created_at_human, otherwise clients can't sort or re-render.
Client-side hydration for anything long-lived. A server-rendered "2 minutes ago" is wrong the moment the page leaves the server. Pair it with an Alpine/Livewire ticker or <time datetime="..."> that JS rewrites, and keep the server string as the no-JS fallback.
If you do want the bundle's formatter in Laravel, wrap it: bind the bundle's formatter service in a small service provider and inject it, rather than calling static helpers. Decorate it if you need custom phrasing.
Testing: Carbon::setTestNow() before asserting on the string, and assert against a fixed locale (app()->setLocale('en')), otherwise tests break under a different default locale in CI.

v5.6.0 shipped an empty changelog body — the release notes are only a compare/v5.5.10...v5.6.0 link. Read the actual diff before bumping. Per semver it's a minor release (additive only), but nothing in the published notes confirms that; treat it as unverified.
No Laravel integration exists. Installing the bundle in a Laravel app gives you the classes but none of the wiring — nothing auto-registers. You'll be writing glue code, which is usually more than the package saves you.
Two locale sources collide. Carbon reads app()->getLocale(); the Symfony bundle reads the translator service. If both are in play you'll get inconsistent strings for the same timestamp.
Caching trap. Relative timestamps must never sit in a long-TTL cache or a full-page cache. Either shorten the TTL, cache only the absolute timestamp, or render the relative part on the client.
Timezones. Store UTC and call diffForHumans() on a Carbon instance already converted to the display timezone. diffForHumans() on a naive local string stored as UTC is silently off by the offset — a very common bug with "just now" labels.
Extension point: the formatter is a container service — decorate or alias it instead of forking the bundle. That survives minor upgrades like this one.
Pin the version. With no usable release notes, an exact constraint ("5.5.*") and a manual diff review is safer than floating on ^5.6 until you've confirmed the change set.