- What is Shipyard and how is it different from a plain Laravel install?
- Shipyard is a Laravel/PHP starter kit maintained under the Composer name wpwwhimself/shipyard. Instead of starting from a bare Laravel skeleton, it gives you a structured starting point that bundles sensible conventions and workflow tooling for organizing projects. The goal is to reduce boilerplate so you can move from initial setup to production with fewer manual decisions.
- How do I install wpwwhimself/shipyard with Composer?
- Shipyard is distributed as a Composer package, so you pull it into a Laravel project with composer require wpwwhimself/shipyard. Because starter kits often ship publishable config and scaffolding files, check the repository README at github.com/wpwwhimself/shipyard for the exact post-install steps. Running the package's install or publish command, if provided, will copy the conventions and tooling into your application.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does Shipyard support?
- Shipyard targets modern Laravel applications, and the authoritative version constraints live in the package's composer.json on the repository. Check that file for the required PHP version and the Laravel framework range before installing. If your project pins an older Laravel release, verify compatibility first to avoid dependency conflicts in Composer.
- Can I use Shipyard on an existing Laravel application instead of a new one?
- Shipyard is described as a starting point for new projects, so it is primarily intended for greenfield applications. Adding it to an existing codebase is possible only where its conventions do not clash with what you already have in place. Review the files it publishes before applying them to a live application, since the workflow tooling assumes its own project layout.
- Do I have to follow Shipyard's conventions, or can I customize them?
- The bundled conventions are opinionated defaults meant to save you decisions, not hard requirements. Once the files are published into your project they are plain Laravel code that you can edit, rename, or remove. Teams typically keep the structure that fits their workflow and adjust the rest to match their existing standards.
- How do I publish and edit Shipyard's configuration files?
- Laravel starter kits usually expose configuration through publishable assets that are copied into your application's config directory. Run the publish step documented in the Shipyard README, then edit the generated files directly. Keeping your customizations in the published copies makes future Composer updates predictable.
- Is Shipyard safe to use in a production Laravel application?
- Shipyard is scaffolding and workflow tooling rather than a runtime dependency, so what reaches production is the code you publish into your app. Review the published configuration, remove anything you do not need, and run your normal deployment checks. Since the package is maintained by an individual author, pin versions in composer.lock and audit changes before upgrading.
- How do I test an application scaffolded with Shipyard?
- Because the published files are ordinary Laravel code, your existing PHPUnit or Pest suite should cover them like any other application code. Write feature tests around the conventions and workflow pieces that affect behavior, not just the framework defaults. Include a clean-install test so you can confirm the scaffolding still works after Composer updates.
- Who maintains Shipyard and how actively is it updated?
- Shipyard is published by the individual developer wpwwhimself as a personal starter kit for Laravel projects. That means release cadence and long-term support depend on the maintainer's own needs, so check the commit history and open issues on GitHub before adopting it. For a critical project, plan to fork or vendor the package if you need guaranteed maintenance.
- What are good alternatives to Shipyard for Laravel project scaffolding?
- The most obvious alternatives are the official Laravel starter kits and the framework's own installer, which cover authentication, frontend scaffolding, and baseline tooling with large community support. Other community starter kits focus on specific stacks such as admin panels, APIs, or teams using particular testing and CI preferences. Shipyard is a reasonable fit when its bundled conventions match how your team already organizes projects.