- How do I install and use the Quar QR code package in Laravel?
- Install it with composer require tuncaybahadir/quar; the package ships a Laravel service provider and facade, so discovery handles registration. You then call Quar::generate('your text') using tbQuar\Facades\Quar and echo the returned stringable object directly in a Blade template. Minimum requirements are PHP 8.2 and Laravel 10, and no config publishing step is shown in the docs for basic usage.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does tuncaybahadir/quar support?
- The README advertises Laravel 10, 11, 12, and 13 alongside PHP 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, and 8.5. Laravel 13 and PHP 8.5 are pre-release targets, so those claims are aspirational until a CI matrix proves them. For most applications the safe ground is Laravel 10 through 12 on PHP 8.2 to 8.4, which is also where the wrapper's upstream dependencies are well tested.
- Do I need the GD or Imagick PHP extension to generate QR codes with Quar?
- Yes, image rendering is rasterized through an image driver, so ext-gd is effectively required for PNG output, logo merges, and text captions. You will also need a writable storage path if you use the file output mode. The documentation does not clearly state whether Imagick can be substituted for GD or what happens when only one driver is installed, so verify that in your environment before deploying.
- How do I save a generated QR code to a file or return it as base64 in Laravel?
- Quar exposes two output modes: returning the raw bytes as a stringable object, which you can interpolate in Blade or encode to base64 yourself, and writing the image directly to a given path. Both styles fit naturally into an existing asset pipeline, whether you are streaming an invoice QR to the browser or storing a ticket image on disk. The README includes copy-paste examples for each method.
- How do I merge a logo or image in the middle of a QR code with Quar?
- Use the merge() method, which accepts a path, a ratio, and an absolute flag. One important caveat is documented in the README itself: a BaconQrCode defect corrupts output when a logo is merged without a margin, so always call margin(1) before merging. That is a workaround rather than a fix, and it is something your team needs to remember when refactoring generation code.
- Does Quar support SVG or vector output, or only PNG?
- Everything is rasterized through the underlying image driver, so Quar produces PNG images rather than SVG or EPS. That is fine for web display, invoices, tickets, and 2FA enrolment screens, but it is a weak fit for print workflows or any pipeline that requires true vector artifacts. If vector output matters, a package such as endroid/qr-code is the better starting point.
- Is Quar a drop-in replacement for simplesoftwareio/simple-qrcode?
- Not quite. It wraps BaconQrCode and simple-qrcode, so the mental model and method names are familiar, but the facade name, the eye versus eyeColor signatures, style($type, $smoothness), and merge($path, $ratio, absolute:) all differ. Migration is measured in hours rather than days, but each call site still needs review. Moving from endroid/qr-code would effectively be a rewrite of every call site.
- Does the Quar facade keep state between generate() calls in the same request?
- That is the key unknown to verify before adoption. Fluent builders behind a facade often accumulate options on a shared instance, which means a size(300) call could bleed into a later generation in the same request. Write a small test that generates two codes with different options back to back and confirms each output matches its own configuration.
- How do I customize QR size, version, margin, colors, and eye style in Quar?
- Quar exposes a fluent builder covering size, margin, format, color, eye, style, gradient, version, merge, withText, and generate. Version accepts any integer from 1 to 40, or the VERSION_1 through VERSION_40 constants on the facade, which lets you force a larger grid for more data capacity or better readability. The builder also supports Laravel's Conditionable trait, so when() clauses work as expected.
- Is Quar safe to use in production, and what are the alternatives?
- Provenance signals are thin: roughly 80 stars, zero dependents, a single maintainer, and no visible test suite or CI pipeline in the package metadata. For a library that produces scannable artifacts, the absence of decode-and-verify tests is the biggest quality unknown, so you would be an early production adopter. Safer alternatives are simplesoftwareio/simple-qrcode for a familiar API or endroid/qr-code for a larger community and vector output.