Laralink

Local-First Package Manager for Laravel

Laralink automates the local package development workflow. Instead of manually editing composer.json and running git clone, Laralink handles it all with a single interactive command.

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How It Works

laravel-project/
├── app/
├── packages/              ← Managed by Laralink
│   └── vendor/
│       └── my-package/    ← Cloned source code
├── composer.json          ← Auto-updated with path repositories
└── vendor/                ← Standard Composer vendor directory

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Installation

composer require amjadiqbal/laralink

The service provider is auto-discovered. No additional setup is needed.

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Commands

laralink:dev {package?}

Link a package for local development. Laralink will:

1. Ask you to choose between installing from a Local Path or a Git Repository.
2. Local Path mode: Provide the path to your local package. Laralink will verify the composer.json, auto-detect the package name, copy files (excluding .git/ and vendor/), and link it.
3. Git Repository mode: Provide the package name (or pass it as an argument). Laralink will prompt for a Git URL (defaulting to the GitHub URL) and clone it.
4. Add a Composer path repository to your composer.json.
5. Run composer require vendor/package:@dev automatically.

php artisan laralink:dev vendor/package
# or interactively:
php artisan laralink:dev

laralink:list

Show all packages with their status — Linked (local) vs Remote (Packagist).

php artisan laralink:list

Output example:

+---------------------+--------------------+---------+
| Package             | Status             | Version |
+---------------------+--------------------+---------+
| vendor/my-package   | Linked (local)     | @dev    |
| laravel/framework   | Remote (Packagist) | ^11.0   |
+---------------------+--------------------+---------+

laralink:publish {package?}

Remove the local path repository and install the official version from Packagist. Optionally delete the local source code.

php artisan laralink:publish vendor/package
# or interactively (shows a list to choose from):
php artisan laralink:publish

# Also delete local source code:
php artisan laralink:publish vendor/package --delete

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Typical Workflow

# 1. Start local development
php artisan laralink:dev vendor/my-package
# → Clones to ./packages/vendor/my-package
# → Updates composer.json
# → Runs composer require vendor/my-package:@dev

# 2. Make changes in ./packages/vendor/my-package

# 3. See what's linked
php artisan laralink:list

# 4. When done, switch back to Packagist
php artisan laralink:publish vendor/my-package

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Local-First Development

You can install a package directly from a local folder on your machine for testing and development.

Steps

1. Run the command:

   php artisan laralink:dev

2. Select Local Path when prompted:

   Install from:
     [0] Local Path
     [1] Git Repository
   

3. Provide the absolute path to your package folder:

   Enter the absolute path to your local package:
   > /home/user/projects/my-package
   

4. The tool will automatically:

   • Verify the composer.json in the source directory.
   • Detect the package name (e.g., vendor/my-package) from the source composer.json.
   • Copy the files to the project's ./packages directory (excluding .git/ and vendor/ folders).
   • Link it via a Composer path repository with the symlink option enabled.
   • Run composer require to install the local package.

Note: The local path mode enables the Composer symlink option by default, so changes made in ./packages are reflected immediately. If you later modify the path repository entry to disable symlinks, you will need to run composer update to pick up changes from the original source.

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License

MIT