laravel-11-12-app-guidelines

Laravel 11/12 App Guidelines

Overview

Apply a consistent workflow for Laravel 11/12 apps with optional frontend stacks, Dockerized commands, and Laravel Boost tooling.

This skill owns version-specific Laravel implementation guidance, not the whole task lifecycle. Keep routine testing, documentation, Docker command execution, and UI reuse as supporting work. Return routing control to project-development-mindset if debugging, test strategy, local container topology, UI concept work, or deployment becomes the primary concern.

Run this skill in the main conversation. Do not spawn subagents, agent teams, or delegated parallel workers unless the user explicitly approves the proposed count and scope after being told that doing so can increase usage. Ask again before expanding an approved scope.

Quick Start

• Read repository instructions first: AGENTS.md. If docs/ exists, read docs/README.md and relevant module docs before decisions.
• Detect installed versions, the stack, and command locations; do not guess.
• Use Laravel Boost search-docs for version-matched ecosystem guidance; use official versioned Laravel or package documentation if Boost is unavailable.
• Follow repo conventions for naming, UI language, docs-first policies, and existing component patterns.

Stack Detection

• Check composer.json, composer.lock, package.json, frontend lockfiles, bootstrap/app.php, docker-compose.*, and config/* to confirm:
  • Docker Compose/Sail vs host commands
  • API-only vs full-stack
  • Frontend framework (Inertia with React, Vue, or Svelte; Livewire; Blade)
  • Auth (Fortify, Sanctum, Passport, custom)

Laravel 11/12 Core Conventions

• When the application uses the modern Laravel 11/12 skeleton, configure middleware, exceptions, and routes in bootstrap/app.php; register service providers in bootstrap/providers.php; define closure commands and schedules in routes/console.php. Preserve a supported upgraded structure unless the task requires reorganizing it.
• Prefer Eloquent models and relationships for domain-oriented work. Use the query builder or bound raw expressions when bulk or complex queries are clearer; never interpolate untrusted SQL.
• Use Form Request classes for reusable or non-trivial validation and authorization. Inline validation is acceptable for a small one-off flow when it matches repository conventions.
• Prefer named routes and route() for URL generation.
• When modifying an existing column with change(), restate every modifier that must be retained because omitted modifiers are dropped.
• Ask before destructive database operations (e.g., reset/rollback/fresh).