Lean Package Validator Laravel Package

Product Decisions This Supports

• Lean Package Development: Enables strict enforcement of minimal release artifacts (e.g., excluding dev files like .gitignore, .idea/, vendor/) to reduce package size and improve maintainability.
• CI/CD Integration: Supports automated validation in pipelines (via Composer scripts, GitHub Actions, or CLI) to prevent bloated releases.
• Build vs. Buy: Buy—avoids reinventing Git attribute validation logic while offering extensibility (custom glob patterns, presets for PHP/Python/Rust/etc.).
• Use Cases:
  • Open-source maintainers ensuring clean releases.
  • Enterprise teams standardizing package hygiene across repositories.
  • Compliance with "lean package" best practices (e.g., Packagist, Composer).

When to Consider This Package

• Adopt if:

  • Your PHP/Laravel packages include dev artifacts (e.g., IDE configs, test files) that should never ship in releases.
  • You need automated validation (e.g., pre-release checks in CI) to catch bloated packages early.
  • Your team lacks Git expertise but wants enforceable rules for .gitattributes.
  • You’re using Composer and want to integrate validation into composer validate or scripts.

• Look elsewhere if:

  • Your project uses non-Git version control (e.g., Mercurial).
  • You need fine-grained file-level permissions (e.g., per-user export rules).
  • Your team prefers manual reviews over automated enforcement.
  • You’re not using PHP/Python/Rust/JS/Go (though custom glob patterns mitigate this).

How to Pitch It (Stakeholders)

For Executives: "This tool automates the enforcement of 'lean' package releases—reducing artifact bloat by 30–50% in our PHP/Laravel projects. It integrates seamlessly with CI/CD (e.g., GitHub Actions) and prevents dev files from leaking into production releases, cutting maintenance overhead and improving security. Think of it as a 'lint' for your package structure—catching issues before they hit users."

For Engineering: *"The lean-package-validator (LPV) is a CLI/library that:

1. Validates .gitattributes against a preset of dev artifacts (e.g., .idea/, vendor/) or custom glob patterns.
2. Auto-generates .gitattributes if missing (with --create).
3. Integrates with Composer scripts (composer validate-gitattributes) or GitHub Actions.
4. Supports dry runs, diffs, and agentic outputs for CI pipelines. Example: Add this to your composer.json to block bloated releases:

{
  "scripts": {
    "validate-gitattributes": "lean-package-validator validate"
  }
}

Key benefit: Zero false positives—it’s deterministic and configurable for any language."*