laravel-conventions

Laravel Coding Conventions (Laravel 11+ / PHP 8.3+)

Reference skill for modern Laravel coding standards and PHP 8.3+ best practices.

Architecture Pattern

Controller -> FormRequest -> Action/Service -> Model

• Controllers: Thin, single-responsibility. Invoke actions or services, return API resources
• Actions: Single-purpose classes for discrete operations (e.g., CreateUser, ProcessPayment)
• Services: Coordinate multiple actions or complex business logic
• Models: Eloquent models with relationships, scopes, casts, and accessors/mutators
• DTOs: Readonly data transfer objects for passing structured data between layers

PHP 8.3+ Features to Use

declare(strict_types=1);

// Readonly classes for DTOs
readonly class CreateUserData {
    public function __construct(
        public string $name,
        public string $email,
        public ?string $phone = null,
    ) {}
}

// Enums instead of constants
enum UserStatus: string {
    case Active = 'active';
    case Suspended = 'suspended';
    case Pending = 'pending';
}

// First-class callable syntax
$users->map($this->transformUser(...));

// Named arguments for clarity
Cache::put(key: $cacheKey, value: $data, ttl: 3600);

// Match expressions over switch
$label = match($status) {
    UserStatus::Active => 'Active User',
    UserStatus::Suspended => 'Account Suspended',
    default => 'Unknown',
};

Naming Conventions

Type	Convention	Example
Classes	PascalCase	UserService
Methods	camelCase	getUserById
Properties/Variables	camelCase	$userData
Constants	UPPER_SNAKE_CASE	MAX_RETRIES
Database tables	plural, snake_case	user_accounts
Database columns	snake_case	created_at
Routes	kebab-case	/user-profiles
Config keys	snake_case	cache.default_ttl
Enums	PascalCase	UserStatus::Active

Code Style

• PSR-12 compliance, enforced via Laravel Pint
• declare(strict_types=1) at the top of every PHP file
• Single quotes for strings (unless interpolation needed)
• Short array syntax [] with trailing commas
• Type declarations on all parameters, return types, and properties
• No mixed type unless absolutely necessary
• Constructor property promotion where appropriate