How to Create a Package in Laravel

Hello Artisan,

Laravel is one of the most popular PHP frameworks, and its modular nature allows developers to create reusable packages. A package is a self-contained bundle of reusable code that can be shared and installed across multiple Laravel projects.

In this guide, we will walk you through creating a Laravel package from scratch for user-management.

Step 1: Set Up a New Laravel Package
Before starting, make sure you have Laravel installed. You can create a Laravel package in two ways:

• Inside an existing Laravel application - (useful for testing while developing).

• As a standalone package - (useful for distributing to others via Packagist).

1. Create a Directory for the Package
Navigate to your Laravel project’s packages directory (if it doesn’t exist, create it):

mkdir -p packages/laravelusermanager
cd packages/laravelusermanager

2. Initialize Composer
Run the following command inside the package directory to initialize Composer:

composer init

3. Define the Package in composer.json
In your package’s composer.json, ensure it includes the following:

{
    "name": "laraelusermanager",
    "description": "A sample Laravel package for user management",
    "type": "library",
    "autoload": {
        "psr-4": {
            "LaravelUserManager\\LaravelUserManager\\": "src/"
        }
    },
    "require": {
        "php": ">=8.0",
        "illuminate/support": "^10.0"
    }
}

4. Register the Package in Laravel
In your Laravel application, add your package’s namespace to composer.json in the root project:

"autoload": {
    "psr-4": {
        "LaravelUserManager\\LaravelUserManager\\": "packages/laravelusermanager/src/"
    }
}

Run composer dump-autoload to reload the autoload files.

Step 2: Create the Package Structure

Inside packages/laravelusermanager/, create the following directories:

mkdir -p src config routes resources/views

1. Create the Service Provider

Create a file src/PackageServiceProvider.php and define the service provider:

<?php

namespace VendorName\LaravelUserManager;

use Illuminate\Support\ServiceProvider;

class PackageServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
    public function boot()
    {
        // Load routes
        $this->loadRoutesFrom(__DIR__.'/../routes/web.php');

        // Load views
        $this->loadViewsFrom(__DIR__.'/../resources/views', 'laravelusermanager');

        // Publish config
        $this->publishes([
            __DIR__.'/../config/config.php' => config_path('laravelusermanager.php'),
        ]);
    }

    public function register()
    {
        // Merge package config
        $this->mergeConfigFrom(__DIR__.'/../config/config.php', 'laravelusermanager');
    }
}

2. Define Routes

Create routes/web.php:

<?php

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
use LaravelUserManager\Controllers\UserController;

Route::resource('users', UserController::class);

3. Create a Configuration File

Create config/config.php:

<?php

return [
    'setting' => 'default_value',
];

4. Create a View

Create resources/views/users/index.blade.php:

<h1>User List</h1>
<table>
    <tr>
        <th>ID</th>
        <th>Name</th>
        <th>Email</th>
    </tr>
    @foreach ($users as $user)
        <tr>
            <td>{{ $user->id }}</td>
            <td>{{ $user->name }}</td>
            <td>{{ $user->email }}</td>
        </tr>
    @endforeach
</table>

5. Create a Controller

Create src/Controllers/UserController.php:

<?php

namespace LaravelUserManager\LaravelUserManager\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\Models\User;
use Illuminate\Routing\Controller;

class UserController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        $users = User::all();
        return view('laravelusermanager::users.index', compact('users'));
    }

    public function create()
    {
        return view('laravelusermanager::users.create');
    }

    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        User::create($request->all());
        return redirect()->route('users.index');
    }
}

Step 3: Register the Package in Laravel

In config/app.php, add the service provider to the providers array:

'providers' => [
    LaravelUserManager\PackageServiceProvider::class,
];

Step 4: Test the Package

Run php artisan serve and visit http://localhost:8000/users. You should see the list of users.

Step 5: Publishing the Package

If you want to share your package with others: Push your code to GitHub.

Submit it to Packagist by registering it in your Composer account.

To install it in other Laravel projects, use:
composer require laravelusermanager

Conclusion
Creating a Laravel package is a great way to modularize and reuse code. By following these steps, you can build and distribute your own Laravel packages efficiently!

Happy Reading!
Happy Coding!
❤️ 🦄