Deprecation Contracts Laravel Package

Product Decisions This Supports

• Enables consistent, versioned deprecation notices across libraries and applications, reducing unexpected breakages during upgrades
• Supports roadmap planning by providing clear signals to users about upcoming changes (e.g., "this feature will be removed in vX.Y")
• Reduces build vs buy tradeoffs by offering a standardized, low-overhead solution instead of reinventing deprecation logic
• Critical for open-source libraries where maintaining backward compatibility during transitions is essential for adoption

When to Consider This Package

• Adopt when building reusable PHP components (libraries/frameworks) where deprecating functionality is part of the release cycle
• Use when your project requires centralized deprecation tracking across multiple services or monorepos
• Consider if your error handling system (e.g., Symfony ErrorHandler) can capture and log deprecation notices for monitoring
• Avoid if your project has no plans to deprecate features, or if you're using a framework with built-in deprecation handling (e.g., Symfony components already integrate this)
• Skip if you lack the infrastructure to process silenced notices (e.g., no custom error handler setup)

How to Pitch It (Stakeholders)

Executives: "This package ensures smooth transitions for our customers by clearly signaling deprecated features in advance, reducing unexpected breakages and support costs. It’s a proven, zero-overhead solution that maintains trust in our product’s stability during upgrades."
Engineering: "A single, dependency-free function to standardize deprecation notices across our codebase. Integrates seamlessly with existing error handlers to log usage in prod, enabling proactive cleanup of legacy code. Minimal implementation effort with immediate visibility into deprecated feature usage."