Laravel Boost – AI Coding Starter Kit for Laravel Developers (2025)

Laravel Boost – The Complete AI Coding Starter Kit (2025 Guide)

Laravel Boost brings AI coding assistance directly into your Laravel projects.

Introduction – Why Laravel Needed an AI Coding Kit

Picture this: You’re deep into a Laravel project. The deadline is tight, and you’re juggling migrations, controllers, Livewire components, and API integrations. You fire up ChatGPT or Copilot for help… but the AI keeps:

• Giving outdated code snippets 🤦
• Missing Laravel-specific syntax
• Ignoring version differences (Laravel 9 vs 10 vs 12)
• Suggesting “magical” solutions that don’t actually run

Sound familiar?

This is exactly the problem Taylor Otwell and the Laravel team wanted to solve. During Laracon US 2025, they introduced Laravel Boost — a Composer package designed to make AI smarter about Laravel.

Instead of AI being a noisy assistant that “hallucinates,” Boost ensures AI works with Laravel’s official ecosystem, version-specific docs, curated guidelines, and even your local database & Tinker.

Think of it as:
👉 “Your AI assistant, now Laravel-aware.”

What Is Laravel Boost?

Laravel Boost is an AI coding starter kit for Laravel developers.
It’s a Composer package that bundles:

• A Laravel-specific MCP server (Model Context Protocol)
• A vectorized knowledge base of Laravel + ecosystem documentation
• AI guidelines maintained by the Laravel core team

Its goal: make AI helpful without replacing the developer.

In short: Boost gives AI the tools + context + rules it needs to actually produce useful, reliable, Laravel-ready code.

Why Laravel Built Boost?

Most generic AI coding tools don’t “know” Laravel deeply:

• They don’t check your database schema.
• They ignore Tinker commands.
• They hallucinate features that don’t exist.
• They mix up framework versions.

Laravel Boost fixes this by:

• Giving AI a direct API to your Laravel project
• Loading version-specific docs (no outdated advice)
• Providing official style guidelines

This way, instead of fighting AI, you can trust it to speed you up.

Core Features of Laravel Boost

1. Laravel-Specific MCP Server

Boost ships with a Laravel-specific Model Context Protocol (MCP) server.
This gives AI agents 15+ tools to interact with your Laravel app:

• Query your database schema
• Run Tinker code
• Search error logs
• Browse browser logs
• Access Laravel version-specific APIs

👉 Instead of guessing, AI actually checks your project context before answering.

2. Vectorized Documentation (Version-Specific)

Boost bundles 17,000+ vectorized documents covering the Laravel ecosystem:

• Core Laravel
• Inertia
• Livewire
• Filament
• Breeze
• Horizon

This means AI isn’t “scraping the web randomly.” It’s pulling answers from official, structured docs, tailored to your project’s Laravel version.

3. AI Coding Guidelines by Laravel

Boost generates AI guidelines:

• cursor.json (for Cursor IDE)
• junie.json
• copilot.json (for GitHub Copilot)
• claude.md

These aren’t random config files. They are curated by the Laravel team, version-aware, and updated with best practices.

Result?
Your AI assistant produces idiomatic, clean Laravel code — just like a senior Laravel dev would.

4. Interactive Installer

Boost includes an installer that:

• Installs MCP server
• Sets up AI guidelines
• Detects your IDE (VS Code, PHPStorm, Cursor)
• Configures everything automatically

👉 You don’t need to fiddle with configs. Just run the installer and you’re good.

5. Real-Time Error Debugging

AI can access your:

• Error logs
• Browser console logs

So if you hit a “white screen of death,” AI doesn’t hallucinate solutions — it actually reads the logs and tells you the fix.

6. Ecosystem-Aware Code Suggestions

Example:
You ask AI:

“Create a Deferred Vue component with Inertia v2.0”

Boost ensures AI reads Inertia v2.0 docs, not old v1 examples from 2021 blog posts.

7. Rate Limiting & Advanced Features

Boost helps AI write production-ready code:

• Per-second rate limiting in AppServiceProvider
• Test generation included
• Aligned with Laravel’s official best practices

Benefits of Laravel Boost

Benefit	Why It Matters
Fewer hallucinations	AI uses official docs & your app context
Version-aware help	No more outdated snippets
Smarter debugging	AI reads logs, DB, schema
Consistent style	Laravel guidelines built-in
Faster onboarding	New devs get AI trained on Laravel instantly
IDE integration	Works with VS Code, PHPStorm, Cursor

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Laravel Boost Installation Guide

Before jumping into the commands, here’s a quick video walkthrough by the Laravel News team that explains Laravel Boost features and shows how to install it step by step:

📺 Video Credit: This introduction to Laravel Boost is created by Laravel News on YouTube.

Step 1: Install via Composer

composer require laravel/boost --dev

Step 2: Run the Installer

php artisan boost:install

This sets up:

• MCP server
• IDE guidelines
• AI configs

Step 3: Connect to Your IDE

• Cursor / VS Code / PHPStorm → add guidelines from .boost/ directory
• GitHub Copilot → reads copilot.json automatically

Step 4: Start Using

• Open your IDE
• Ask AI coding questions
• Boost tools kick in

First 7 Days with Laravel Boost

• Day 1: Install Boost + explore generated config files
• Day 2: Ask AI to query DB schema via MCP
• Day 3: Debug a fake error using error-logs tool
• Day 4: Test Inertia + Livewire suggestions
• Day 5: Explore Boost guidelines in Cursor
• Day 6: Generate tests with Boost’s style rules
• Day 7: Run a full coding session relying on Boost

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Real-World Demo Scenarios

1. Creating a Contact via Factory
   AI introspects models, queries DB, and generates a Contact::factory()->create() line correctly.
2. Debugging a White Screen
   AI fetches error logs → identifies typo in controller → suggests fix.
3. Adding Deferred Vue Component
   AI reads Inertia v2 docs → produces exact code snippet.
4. Rate Limiting
   AI adds rate limiting in AppServiceProvider with matching test case.

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Advanced Use Cases

• Auto-document your codebase
• Generate Pest tests aligned with Laravel
• Teach junior devs Laravel conventions via AI
• Speed up prototyping without losing quality

Laravel Boost vs Other AI Tools

Feature	Laravel Boost	GitHub Copilot	ChatGPT
Laravel context	✅ Deep	❌ None	❌ Limited
DB/Tinker access	✅	❌	❌
Version-specific docs	✅	❌	❌
IDE guidelines	✅ Curated	❌	❌
Debugging logs	✅	❌	❌
Open source	✅	❌ Proprietary	❌ Proprietary

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Forgetting to connect IDE to .boost guidelines
• Assuming Boost writes perfect code → still review!
• Mixing outdated Laravel docs with Boost suggestions
• Overloading AI with vague prompts (be precise)

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FAQ

Q: Is Laravel Boost free?
Yes, it’s open source.

Q: Does it replace Copilot or ChatGPT?
No — it makes them smarter about Laravel.

Q: Which IDEs are supported?
VS Code, Cursor, PHPStorm (more coming).

Q: Will Boost slow my project?
No, it runs as a local dev dependency.

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Glossary

• MCP Server: Middleware connecting AI to your Laravel project.
• Vectorized Docs: Documentation stored in a format AI can query efficiently.
• Guidelines: Config files that teach AI how to “think Laravel.”
• Tinker: Laravel’s REPL for running PHP interactively.

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Conclusion – Why Use Laravel Boost

Laravel Boost is not about AI replacing you.
It’s about AI working with you:

• Smarter suggestions
• Fewer hallucinations
• Version-aware help
• Cleaner Laravel-style code

If you’re a Laravel developer in 2025, Boost is worth installing on Day 1 of every new project.

👉 Get started with Laravel Boost on GitHub

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