Laravel API Skill for Claude

A comprehensive Claude skill for building production-grade Laravel REST APIs with clean architecture, type safety, and Laravel best practices.

🎯 What This Skill Does

This skill guides Claude in building Laravel REST APIs using opinionated architecture patterns combined with Laravel's official code quality standards. It implements:

• Stateless Design - No hidden dependencies, explicit data flow
• Boundary-First Architecture - Clear separation of HTTP, business logic, and data layers
• Resource-Scoped Organization - Routes and controllers organized by resource
• Version Discipline - Namespace-based versioning with HTTP Sunset headers
• Type Safety - Strict types, return type declarations, PSR-12 compliance
• Code Quality - Laravel simplifier patterns for maintainable code

📦 Installation

Option 1: Claude.ai / Claude App

1. Download laravel-api.skill
2. Open Claude.ai or Claude app → Settings → Skills
3. Click "Add Skill" or "Import Skill"
4. Upload the laravel-api.skill file
5. Start building Laravel APIs!

Option 2: Claude Code Plugin

If you're using Claude Code, you can install via the marketplace:

/plugin marketplace add juststeveking/laravel-api-skill
/plugin install laravel-api@juststeveking

🚀 Quick Start

Once installed, simply tell Claude what you want to build:

Build a Laravel API for managing tasks with CRUD operations

Create a Laravel API endpoint for user authentication with JWT

Review and refactor this Laravel controller to follow best practices

The skill automatically triggers when you mention Laravel API development.

🏗️ Architecture Patterns

Core Components

Models - Simple data access with ULIDs

final class Task extends Model
{
    use HasFactory;
    use HasUlids;
}

Controllers - Invokable, single responsibility

final readonly class StoreController
{
    public function __invoke(StoreTaskRequest $request): JsonResponse
    {
        $task = $this->createTask->handle($request->payload());
        return new JsonDataResponse($task, 201);
    }
}

Form Requests - Validation + DTO transformation

final class StoreTaskRequest extends FormRequest
{
    public function payload(): StoreTaskPayload
    {
        return new StoreTaskPayload(/* ... */);
    }
}

Actions - Single-purpose business logic

final readonly class CreateTask
{
    public function handle(StoreTaskPayload $payload): Task
    {
        return Task::create($payload->toArray());
    }
}

DTOs - Explicit data transfer

final readonly class StoreTaskPayload
{
    public function __construct(
        public string $title,
        public ?string $description,
    ) {}
}

Project Structure

app/
├── Actions/
│   └── Tasks/
│       └── CreateTask.php
├── Http/
│   ├── Controllers/
│   │   └── Tasks/
│   │       └── V1/
│   │           └── StoreController.php
│   ├── Requests/
│   │   └── Tasks/
│   │       └── V1/
│   │           └── StoreTaskRequest.php
│   ├── Payloads/
│   │   └── Tasks/
│   │       └── StoreTaskPayload.php
│   └── Responses/
│       ├── JsonDataResponse.php
│       └── JsonErrorResponse.php
└── Models/
    └── Task.php

routes/
└── api/
    ├── routes.php
    └── tasks.php

📚 What's Included

SKILL.md

Main skill file with:

• Quick start workflow
• Core architecture principles
• Code quality standards
• Step-by-step component creation
• API versioning patterns
• Authentication setup

References

• architecture.md - Comprehensive architectural patterns and principles
• code-examples.md - Complete working examples for every component
• code-quality.md - Laravel best practices, refactoring patterns, PSR-12 standards

Templates

Ready-to-use scaffolding templates:

• Controller.php
• FormRequest.php
• Payload.php
• Action.php
• Model.php

✨ Key Features

Type Safety

All code uses declare(strict_types=1) and explicit return types:

public function handle(StoreTaskPayload $payload): Task

Match Expressions

Replace nested ternaries with readable match expressions:

$status = match (true) {
    $task->completed_at && $task->verified => 'verified',
    $task->completed_at => 'completed',
    default => 'pending',
};

Consistent Responses

Standardized JSON responses using Responsable classes:

// Success
return new JsonDataResponse(data: $task, status: 201);

// Error (Problem+JSON RFC 7807)
return new JsonErrorResponse(errors: [...], status: 422);

Versioned Endpoints

Namespace-based versioning with deprecation warnings:

Route::middleware(['auth:api', 'http.sunset:2025-12-31'])->group(function () {
    Route::get('/tasks', V1\IndexController::class);
});

🎓 Learning Resources

The skill includes comprehensive guides on:

• PSR

...