- What is unicodeveloper/laravel-hackathon-starter used for?
- It is a hackathon and MVP boilerplate for Laravel web applications, bundling authentication with social logins, admin scaffolding, and payment integration. It is meant to be cloned as the starting point for a greenfield demo or side project, not imported into an existing application. It helps skip repetitive setup so you can ship a prototype faster.
- Can I install laravel-hackathon-starter with Composer?
- No, it is not a Composer library you add to an existing project. It is a full Laravel application skeleton that you clone or download and then configure as your own app. The repository has essentially no dependents because it is used as a template, not a dependency.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does laravel-hackathon-starter support?
- The scaffold is from the Laravel 5.1/5.2 era and its last release was in 2016. It expects an old stack such as PHP 7.0/7.1 and will not resolve cleanly on PHP 8.x or modern Laravel 10/11 without dependency surgery. Treat it as legacy pattern source rather than a current Laravel platform.
- Does laravel-hackathon-starter work with Laravel 10 or Laravel 11?
- No, not out of the box. Its dependencies, including old Socialite, Stripe SDK, Guzzle, Symfony, laravelcollective/html, and zizaco/entrust lines, predate modern Laravel and will likely conflict. You would need to rebuild the equivalent features in a current Laravel app with maintained packages.
- Is laravel-hackathon-starter safe for production?
- It inherits an end-of-life Laravel 5.2 and Symfony baseline, so there are no vendor security advisories or upstream fixes for the stack. Social login, payment, and email integrations have also changed since 2016 and may fail silently or require rewrites. It is only appropriate for a throwaway demo, not a system that will carry production data.
- What authentication and social login features are included?
- It bundles Laravel authentication plus Socialite-based OAuth login for social providers. Because OAuth provider scopes, redirect URIs, and API versions have changed since 2016, expect to update credentials and flows before any demo. For a modern app, use Laravel Breeze or Jetstream with current Socialite.
- How does laravel-hackathon-starter handle roles and permissions?
- It uses zizaco/entrust for role-based access control. Entrust is effectively unmaintained, and the widely adopted successor is spatie/laravel-permission. If you need RBAC in a new app, port the admin screens and use the maintained package instead.
- Can I use laravel-hackathon-starter as a reference for building an MVP?
- Yes, that is the recommended use. Read it for controller and view wiring patterns around multi-provider social login, admin user management, and checkout flows, then implement those pieces in a current Laravel app. Pair it with Breeze or Jetstream, Socialite, spatie/laravel-permission, and Cashier to get the same MVP surface on a supported stack.
- What payment and API integrations are bundled with laravel-hackathon-starter?
- The starter includes payment integration and popular API integrations intended for hackathon demos. The bundled Stripe and email provider code targets APIs from 2016, so Stripe API versions and Mandrill/Mailchimp Transactional endpoints will need updating. Verify each integration against current provider docs before relying on it.
- What are good alternatives to laravel-hackathon-starter for a modern Laravel MVP?
- Build on current Laravel with Breeze or Jetstream for auth, Socialite for OAuth, spatie/laravel-permission for roles, and Laravel Cashier for billing. Add Filament or a simple admin package for back-office CRUD. This gives you the same MVP capabilities without the end-of-life dependencies.