Install Laravel

Create Laravel 13 applications from official starter kits, curated community kits, or Composer create-project kits. Keep the flow guided: inspect the environment, ask only for missing decisions, then run the smallest command set.

Quick Start

1. Confirm the app name and target path. Refuse to install into a non-empty unrelated directory unless explicitly confirmed.
2. Check prerequisites: php -v, composer --version, laravel --version, Herd/Herd MCP availability, and either node/npm or bun.
3. Install/update the Laravel installer when missing or stale: composer global require laravel/installer.
4. Create only Laravel 13 projects; after install, verify composer.json requires laravel/framework ^13.
5. If the selected database is not SQLite, create both <app_database> and <app_database>_testing before running any installer command; prefer Herd MCP when Herd is installed.
6. For official kits, run laravel new <app-name> and answer the installer prompts from the user's choices.
7. For community kits, run laravel new <app-name> --using=<vendor/package> only after confirming Laravel 13 support.
8. For Composer kits, run the documented composer create-project ... command and setup command.
9. Install Laravel Boost, update app metadata, run matching frontend build commands, then optionally create the remote repo.

Guided Decisions

Ask for these only when missing:

• App name, path, starter kit, auth option, teams support, database, package manager, migrations, and dev server startup.
• Whether to install nunomaduro/essentials and nunomaduro/pao by default for this app.
• Whether to create a remote repository; if yes, ask for GitHub or GitLab, owner namespace, repo visibility, and whether a new org/group is needed.

For non-SQLite databases, derive a safe database name from the app name unless the user provides one. If Herd and its MCP server are available, use Herd MCP; otherwise follow references/databases.md before installer prompts or migrations can run.

Starter Kits

• Official kits: blank Laravel, React, Vue, Svelte, and Livewire via laravel new <app-name>.
• Community kits: Packagist projects via laravel new <app-name> --using=<vendor/package>.
• Composer kits: packages that document composer create-project, including Nuno Maduro's strict starter kits.
• See references/starter-kits.md for the curated catalog, selection rules, and Nuno kit notes.

Post-Install Standardization

Always install Laravel Boost:

sh
composer require laravel/boost --dev
php artisan boost:install

If the user opts in, install Nuno packages:

sh
composer require nunomaduro/essentials
composer require nunomaduro/pao --dev

Update composer.json and README.md to match the app: project name, description, stack, setup commands, dev commands, test commands, repository URL when known, and chosen optional packages. Do not stage secrets.

Repository Creation

Repository creation is optional and only happens after the app exists.

• Default to an existing personal account, GitHub organization, or GitLab group.
• GitHub organizations must already be created before repo creation; stop and tell the user to create it first if it does not exist.
• Create a new GitLab group only when explicitly requested and supported by the environment.
• Default visibility to private unless public or internal is requested.
• Run git status --short before staging and create the initial commit after install artifacts exist.

GitHub:

sh
gh repo create <owner>/<repo> --private --source=. --remote=origin --push

Before using an org owner, confirm the GitHub organization already exists and the user has permission to create repos in it.

GitLab:

sh
glab repo create <group-or-user>/<repo> --private --remoteName origin

Use a full namespace path or --group <group> for existing groups. On GitLab.com, top-level groups must be created in the UI; self-managed instances may allow the Groups API.

References

• Laravel 13 installation: https://laravel.com/docs/13.x/installation
• Laravel 13 starter kits: https://laravel.com/docs/13.x/starter-kits
• Laravel Boost: https://laravel.com/docs/13.x/boost
• Database fallbacks: references/databases.md
• GitHub CLI repo creation: https://cli.github.com/manual/gh_repo_create
• GitLab CLI repo creation: https://docs.gitlab.com/cli/repo/create/
• GitLab Groups API: https://docs.gitlab.com/api/groups/