Laravel Conventions

Use this when writing or changing Laravel application code.

The framework-specific guidance below cites Laravel's first-party documentation in SOURCES.md (LARAVEL-ROUTING-CONTROLLERS-01, LARAVEL-ELOQUENT-01, LARAVEL-AUTHORIZATION-01, LARAVEL-MIGRATIONS-01, LARAVEL-QUEUES-01, LARAVEL-RELEASES-01).

Defaults

• Inspect existing routes, models, config, tests, and installed Laravel version before choosing a pattern; match established project conventions where they are sound.
• Eloquent over raw SQL unless the query is too complex for the ORM.
• Form Request classes for all validation; never inline validate in controllers.
• config('key') instead of env('KEY') outside config files.
• Queue jobs (ShouldQueue) for anything slow, external, or async.
• Keep controllers thin; introduce service classes only when the project's existing structure or real complexity warrants them.
• Use named routes and route helpers for application links and redirects.
• Check the installed Laravel major version before applying framework structure or API guidance; Laravel 10, 11, 12, and 13 are not interchangeable. Laravel 13 requires PHP 8.3+, standardizes on the streamlined bootstrap and config structure introduced in Laravel 11/12, and follows Laravel's annual major release cycle (LARAVEL-RELEASES-01). Check composer show laravel/framework | grep versions before writing version-dependent code.

Models