Zed for Laravel - Complete Editor Setup in One Command

Baptiste Bouillot — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 13:34:40 +0000

Setting up a code editor for Laravel development can be time-consuming. After switching to Zed - the lightning-fast editor from Atom's creators - I spent weeks configuring it perfectly for Laravel.

Today, I'm open-sourcing that configuration as Zed for Laravel - a one-command installer that sets up everything you need.

🤔 What's Zed?

If you haven't heard of Zed yet, it's a high-performance code editor built in Rust with:

⚡ Blazing fast performance - noticeably faster than VS Code
🤝 Built-in multiplayer - collaborate like in Google Docs
🎯 Minimal & focused - less bloat, more productivity
🆓 Free & open-source

Perfect for Laravel development once properly configured.

🎯 The Problem

When I first tried Zed for Laravel, I hit several roadblocks:

Laravel Pint wouldn't format on save
No Laravel snippets out of the box
Blade syntax needed configuration
Artisan commands required manual terminal work
Extensions had to be found and installed individually

Each issue took hours to solve. So I packaged all solutions into a single installer.

✨ Features

🎨 Dual Theme System

Choose your visual experience during installation:

Default (One Dark)

Clean, familiar colors
Standard syntax highlighting
Great for getting started

Catppuccin blur (Custom)

30+ syntax overrides optimized for PHP/Laravel
Bold keywords for quick scanning
Italic types for elegant distinction
Bright green functions (Laravel helpers pop!)
Reduced eye strain for long sessions

📝 130+ Smart Snippets

PHP Snippets (50+)

// route + Tab
Route::get('uri', [Controller::class, 'method'])->name('name');

// model + Tab
class ModelName extends Model
{
    use HasFactory;
    protected $fillable = ['name'];
}

// hasMany + Tab
public function posts()
{
    return $this->hasMany(Post::class);
}

// request + Tab
class StoreUserRequest extends FormRequest
{
    public function rules(): array
    {
        return ['field' => 'required|string|max:255'];
    }
}

Full list: controllers, models, migrations, factories, tests, policies, jobs, events, listeners, middleware, seeders, and more.

Blade Snippets (40+)

<!-- @foreach + Tab -->
@foreach ($items as $item)
    {{ $item->name }}
@endforeach

<!-- component + Tab -->
<x-alert :type="success">
    Message here
</x-alert>

<!-- @auth + Tab -->
@auth
    <p>Welcome, {{ auth()->user()->name }}</p>
@endauth

All Blade directives included: @if, @forelse, @switch, @extends, @section, @include, @can, @error, and more.

Livewire 3 Snippets (30+)

// livewire-component + Tab
class ComponentName extends Component
{
    public $property;

    public function render()
    {
        return view('livewire.component-name');
    }
}

// livewire-validate + Tab
#[Validate('required|string|max:255')]
public string $email = '';

// livewire-on + Tab
#[On('user-updated')]
public function handleUserUpdate($userId)
{
    // Handle event
}

Full Livewire 3 support with properties, lifecycle hooks, events, wire directives, computed properties, and forms.

⚡ Laravel Pint Integration

Automatic code formatting on every save. The kit uses a reliable bash wrapper:

{
  "formatter": {
    "external": {
      "command": "bash",
      "arguments": [
        "-c",
        "cat > {buffer_path} && ./vendor/bin/pint --quiet {buffer_path} && cat {buffer_path}"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Respects your project's pint.json configuration and Laravel coding standards.

🔧 25 Artisan Tasks

Press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + T to access:

Development:

Artisan Serve
Artisan Tinker
Artisan Route List
Artisan Queue Work

Database:

Artisan Migrate
Artisan Migrate Fresh (with seeding)
Artisan Migrate Rollback

Testing:

PHPUnit (all tests)
PHPUnit (current file)
PHPUnit (parallel)
PHPUnit (with coverage)
Pest (all tests)

Code Quality:

Pint Format (all files)
Pint Format (dirty files only)
Pint Test (check without formatting)

Frontend:

NPM Dev (Vite)
NPM Build (production)

Dependencies:

Composer Install
Composer Update
Composer Dump Autoload

🔌 Auto-Installing Extensions

Four essential extensions install automatically on first launch:

PHP - Full language server support
Laravel Blade - Template syntax highlighting
Env - .env file syntax support
Tailwind CSS - IntelliSense for Tailwind classes

No manual searching or clicking required.

⌨️ Optimized Keybindings

Laravel-friendly keyboard shortcuts:

Shortcut	Action
`Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + I`	Format with Pint
`Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + T`	Run Artisan task
`Cmd/Ctrl + T`	Toggle terminal
`Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P`	Command palette
`Cmd/Ctrl + B`	Toggle sidebar

All familiar shortcuts that feel natural.

🚀 Installation

Quick Install

macOS / Linux:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/croustibat/zed-for-laravel/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/croustibat/zed-for-laravel/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

What Happens

✅ Backs up your existing Zed configuration
🎨 Prompts you to choose a theme (Default or Dracula Pro)
📋 Installs all configuration files
📝 Installs 130+ snippets
⚡ Configures Laravel Pint
🔧 Sets up Artisan tasks
🔌 Queues extensions for auto-install

Time: ~30 seconds

Restart Zed and you're ready to code!

Manual Installation

Prefer doing it manually? Full instructions in the installation guide.

📖 Complete Documentation

The kit includes comprehensive guides:

Installation Guide - Quick start and troubleshooting
Features Overview - Detailed feature breakdown
Configuration Guide - Customization options
Extensions Guide - Managing extensions
Theme Guide - Theme comparison and customization

💡 Why I Built This

After years with VS Code, I wanted something faster. Zed's performance is incredible, but the Laravel setup was fragmented across GitHub issues, forums, and documentation.

I wanted a single source of truth - one command that sets up everything perfectly.

🎯 Perfect For

Laravel developers wanting to try Zed
Zed users starting Laravel development
Development teams needing consistent setup
Anyone tired of slow editors or complex configuration

🗺️ Roadmap

Planning future releases:

v1.1 - Extended snippets

Pest-specific snippets
Inertia.js (Vue/React)
API Resource snippets

v1.2 - More themes

Nord (arctic calm)
Gruvbox (retro groove)
Tokyo Night (cyberpunk)

v2.0 - Advanced features

Laravel Pint config generator
Project scaffolding templates
Team sync features

🤝 Contributing

This is an open-source project and contributions are welcome!

GitHub: https://github.com/croustibat/zed-for-laravel

Ways to contribute:

⭐ Star the repository
🐛 Report bugs or issues
💡 Suggest features
🤝 Submit pull requests
📖 Improve documentation
💬 Help others in discussions

🏁 Getting Started

Ready to try it? Here's a quick start:

# 1. Install Zed for Laravel
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/croustibat/zed-for-laravel/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

# 2. Choose your theme (I recommend Dracula Pro for Laravel)

# 3. Restart Zed

# 4. Open your Laravel project

# 5. Try a snippet: type 'route' and press Tab

# 6. Save a PHP file to see Pint auto-format

# 7. Press Cmd+Shift+T to run Artisan commands

That's it! You're configured for Laravel development.

🔗 Links

GitHub: https://github.com/croustibat/zed-for-laravel
Zed Editor: https://zed.dev
Laravel: https://laravel.com
Laravel Pint: https://laravel.com/docs/pint

🙏 Acknowledgments

Thanks to:

The Zed team for creating an amazing editor
The Laravel community for feedback and inspiration
Catppuccin theme creators for the beautiful color scheme
All contributors who help improve the project

💭 Final Thoughts

Switching editors is always a bit scary. Will I lose productivity? Will I miss features?

With Zed for Laravel, the transition is smooth. Everything works on day one. The speed improvement alone makes it worth trying.

Give it a shot! If it's not for you, uninstalling is just deleting ~/.config/zed/. No commitment, no vendor lock-in.

Happy coding! 🚀

What editor do you use for Laravel development? Have you tried Zed? Let me know in the comments!

Tags: #laravel #php #zed #productivity #webdev #opensource #developer #coding

DEV Community: Baptiste Bouillot