Spatie Laravel & PHP Guidelines

Overview

Apply Spatie's Laravel and PHP guidelines to keep code style consistent and Laravel-native.

When to Activate

• Activate this skill for any Laravel or PHP coding work, even if the user does not explicitly mention Spatie.
• Activate this skill when asked to generate, edit, format, refactor, review, or align Laravel/PHP code.
• Activate this skill when working on .php or .blade.php files, routes, controllers, models, config, validation, migrations, or tests.

Scope

• In scope: .php, .blade.php, Laravel conventions (routes, controllers, config, validation, migrations, tests).
• Out of scope: JS/TS, CSS, infrastructure, database schema design, non-Laravel frameworks.

Workflow

1. Identify the artifact (controller, route, config, model, Blade, test, etc.).
2. Read references/spatie-laravel-php-guidelines.md and focus on the relevant sections.
3. Apply the core Laravel principle first, then PHP standards, then section-specific rules.
4. If a rule conflicts with existing project conventions, follow Laravel conventions and keep changes consistent.

Core Rules (Summary)

• Follow Laravel conventions first.
• Follow PSR-1, PSR-2, and PSR-12.
• Prefer typed properties and explicit return types (including void).
• Use short nullable syntax like ?string.
• Use constructor property promotion when all properties can be promoted.
• One trait per line with separate use statements.
• Prefer early returns and avoid else when possible.
• Always use curly braces for control structures.
• Use string interpolation over concatenation.
• Happy path last: handle error conditions first.

Do and Don't

Do:

• Use kebab-case URLs, camelCase route names, and camelCase route parameters.
• Use tuple notation for routes: [Controller::class, 'method'].
• Use plural resource names for controllers (PostsController).
• Use array notation for validation rules.
• Use config() helper and avoid env() outside config files.
• Add service configs to config/services.php, not new files.
• Use __() for translations instead of @lang.
• Use PascalCase for enum values.

Don't:

• Add docblocks when full type hints already exist.
• Use fully qualified classnames in docblocks.
• Use final or readonly by default.
• Use else when early returns work.
• Add spaces after Blade control structures.
• Write down methods in migrations, only up methods.

Examples

// Happy path last with early returns
if (! $user) {
    return null;
}

if (! $user->isActive()) {
    return null;
}

// Process active user...

// Short ternary
$name = $isFoo ? 'foo' : 'bar';

// Constructor property promotion
class MyClass {
    public function __construct(
        protected string $firstArgument,
        protected string $secondArgument,
    ) {}
}

@if($condition)
    Something
@endif

References

• references/spatie-laravel-php-guidelines.md