Laravel Prompting Patterns

Use Laravel's vocabulary to get idiomatic code. Generic requests produce generic solutions that don't leverage the framework.

Database Operations

Generic

"Get all active users with their posts"

Laravel-Specific

"Query active users with eager-loaded posts using Eloquent:

User::where('active', true)
    ->with('posts')
    ->get();

Add a scope to User model: scopeActive($query)"

Relationships

"Set up a many-to-many relationship between Posts and Tags:

• Create post_tag pivot table migration
• Add belongsToMany in Post model
• Add belongsToMany in Tag model
• Use attach(), detach(), sync() for management"

Query Optimization

"Avoid N+1 on the posts index:

• Eager load author and category relationships
• Use withCount('comments') for comment totals
• Add database indexes on published_at and category_id"

Validation

Generic

"Validate the user input"

Laravel-Specific

"Create UserStoreRequest with validation rules:

public function rules(): array
{
    return [
        'email' => ['required', 'email', 'unique:users,email'],
        'password' => ['required', 'min:12', Password::defaults()],
        'name' => ['required', 'string', 'max:255'],
    ];
}

Add custom error messages in messages() method"

Complex Validation

"Validate order creation:

• Use Rule::exists('products', 'id') for product IDs
• Validate nested items array: items.*.quantity must be integer, min 1
• Use Rule::requiredIf() for conditional shipping address
• Add custom rule for inventory check: new HasSufficientStock"

API Endpoints

Generic

"Create an API for products"

Laravel-Specific

"Create RESTful product API:

• Resource controller: ProductController with apiResource routes
• Use ProductResource for response transformation
• Add ProductCollection for index endpoint with pagination
• Protect with Sanctum middleware: auth:sanctum
• Return 201 on create, 204 on delete
• Use ProductStoreRequest and ProductUpdateRequest for validation"

Pagination

"Paginate products API:

• Use Product::paginate(20) in controller
• Return with ProductResource::collection($products)
• Include meta: total, per_page, current_page, last_page
• Support ?page=2 query parameter"

Filtering

"Add filtering to products API:

• Accept ?category=electronics&min_price=100 query params
• Use when() for conditional queries
• Extract to ProductFilters class for reusability
• Document query params in API docs"

Background Processing

Generic

"Send email after user registers"

Laravel-Specific

"Dispatch SendWelcomeEmail job after registration:

SendWelcomeEmail::dispatch($user)
    ->onQueue('emails')
    ->delay(now()->addMinutes(5));

• Implement ShouldQueue interface
• Add $tries = 3 and $timeout = 30
• Handle failure in failed() method
• Tag job for Horizon: $tags = ['user:'.$user->id]"

Queue Configuration

"Configure queue for payment processing:

• Use redis connection for payments queue
• Set queue:work --queue=payments,default
• Add retry_after to 90 seconds in config
• Monitor with Horizon dashboard"

Job Chaining

"Process order with job chain:

Bus::chain([
    new ValidateInventory($order),
    new ChargePayment($order),
    new SendConfirmation($order),
])->dispatch();

If any job fails, chain stops. Handle in catch() callback."

Referencing Documentation

Effective References

"Implement according to Laravel's Eloquent Relationships docs"

"Follow Laravel's Form Request Validation pattern"

"Use Laravel's API Resource pattern for response transformation"

"Configure queues per Laravel Queue docs"

Pattern Catalog

Models & Eloquent:

• Relationships: hasMany, belongsTo, belongsToMany, morphMany
• Scopes: scopeActive, scopePublished
• Accessors/Mutators: get{Attribute}Attribute, set{Attribute}Attribute
• Casts: protected $casts = ['published_at' => 'datetime']

Validation:

• Form Requests: UserStoreRequest, ProductUpdateRequest
• Rules: required, unique:table,column, exists:table,column
• Custom Rules: new Uppercase, Rule::in(['admin', 'user'])

API:

• Resources: UserResource, ProductCollection
• Pagination: paginate(), simplePaginate(), cursorPaginate()
• Rate Limiting: throttle:60,1 middleware

Jobs & Queues:

• Jobs: ShouldQueue, dispatch(), dispatchSync()
• Chains: Bus::chain(), Bus::batch()
• Horizon: Tags, monitoring, failed job handling

Use Laravel's vocabulary. Get Laravel solutions.