refactor-laravel_skill

Overview

This skill refactors PHP/Laravel code to improve maintainability, readability, and alignment with modern PHP 8.3+/8.4+ and Laravel 11+ practices. It converts legacy patterns into Actions, services, typed DTOs, and concise controllers while enforcing SOLID principles. The result is predictable, testable, and easier-to-evolve code.

How this skill works

I inspect controllers, models, form requests, services, and tests to find fat controllers, duplicated logic, missing type declarations, N+1 query risks, and legacy PHP constructs. Changes include extracting single-purpose Actions or Services, introducing typed constants, property hooks, virtual properties, readonly DTOs, and using Laravel features like scoped queries, eager loading, and FormRequest-to-DTO conversions. I also recommend and implement pest-style tests and event-based side effects where appropriate.

When to use it

• When controllers contain business logic or long methods
• When you see repeated code across controllers or models
• If there are missing type hints, untyped constants, or legacy getters/setters
• When eager loading is absent and N+1 queries might occur
• Before adding new features to fragile, hard-to-test code

Best practices

• Make controllers thin: delegate validation to FormRequests and logic to Actions/Services
• Apply SRP: split methods over 20–25 lines into focused helpers
• Use typed class constants, readonly DTOs, and property hooks where supported
• Move side effects to events/listeners and use Actions for orchestration
• Prefer query scopes and eager loading to avoid N+1; use collection helpers over manual loops

Example use cases

• Refactor a payments controller that validates, charges, updates inventory, and emails — split into StorePaymentRequest, ChargePaymentAction, and event listeners
• Convert duplicated query logic across controllers into an OrderRepository or Eloquent scopes with eager loading
• Migrate legacy getters/setters to property hooks and readonly value objects for immutability
• Introduce typed enums and casts for status fields and replace stringly-typed constants
• Replace long controller methods with single-action controllers and injected Actions for clearer routing and testing