Rector Rules for Laravel

Available Rules

See all available Laravel rules here. This list includes even the rules that are not yet released, but are available under the dev-main branch.

You can also find the released rules on the Rector Find Rule page.

Install

This package is a Rector extension developed by the Laravel community.

Rules for additional first party packages are included as well e.g. Cashier and Livewire.

Install as a dev dependency:

composer require --dev driftingly/rector-laravel

Automate Laravel Upgrades

To automatically apply the correct rules depending on the version of Laravel (or other packages) you are currently on (as detected in the composer.json), use the following:

<?php declare(strict_types=1);

use Rector\Config\RectorConfig;
use RectorLaravel\Set\LaravelSetProvider;

return RectorConfig::configure()
    ->withSetProviders(LaravelSetProvider::class)
    ->withComposerBased(laravel: true, /** other options */);

Manual Configuration

To manually add a version set to your config, use RectorLaravel\Set\LaravelLevelSetList and pick the constant that matches your target version. Sets for higher versions include sets for lower versions.

<?php declare(strict_types=1);

use Rector\Config\RectorConfig;
use RectorLaravel\Set\LaravelLevelSetList;

return RectorConfig::configure()
    ->withSets([
        LaravelLevelSetList::UP_TO_LARAVEL_110,
    ]);

The sets in RectorLaravel\Set\LaravelSetList only contain changes related to a specific version upgrade. For example, the rules in LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_110 apply when upgrading from Laravel 10 to Laravel 11.

Additional Sets

To improve different aspects of your code, use the sets in RectorLaravel\Set\LaravelSetList.

<?php declare(strict_types=1);

use Rector\Config\RectorConfig;
use RectorLaravel\Set\LaravelSetList;

return RectorConfig::configure()
    ->withSets([
        LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_CODE_QUALITY,
        LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_COLLECTION,
        ...
    ]);

Set	Purpose
LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_ARRAYACCESS_TO_METHOD_CALL	Converts uses of things like $app['config'] to $app->make('config').
LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_ARRAY_STR_FUNCTION_TO_STATIC_CALL	Converts most string and array helpers into Str and Arr Facades' static calls. https://laravel.com/docs/12.x/facades#facades-vs-helper-functions
LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_CODE_QUALITY	Replaces magical call on $this->app["something"] to standalone variable with PHPDocs.
LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_COLLECTION	Improves the usage of Laravel Collections by using simpler, more efficient, or more readable methods.
LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_CONTAINER_STRING_TO_FULLY_QUALIFIED_NAME	Changes the string or class const used for a service container make call. https://laravel.com/docs/12.x/container#the-make-method
LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_ELOQUENT_MAGIC_METHOD_TO_QUERY_BUILDER	Transforms magic method calls on Eloquent Models into corresponding Query Builder method calls. https://laravel.com/docs/12.x/eloquent
LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_FACADE_ALIASES_TO_FULL_NAMES	Replaces Facade aliases with full Facade names. https://laravel.com/docs/12.x/facades#facade-class-reference
LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_FACTORIES	Makes working with Laravel Factories easier and more IDE friendly.
LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_IF_HELPERS	Replaces abort(), report(), throw statements inside conditions with abort_if(), report_if(), throw_if() function calls. https://laravel.com/docs/12.x/helpers#method-abort-if
LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_LEGACY_FACTORIES_TO_CLASSES	Migrates Eloquent legacy model factories (with closures) into class based factories. https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/releases#model-factory-classes
LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_STATIC_TO_INJECTION	Replaces Laravel's Facades with Dependency Injection. https://tomasvotruba.com/blog/2019/03/04/how-to-turn-laravel-from-static-to-dependency-injection-in-one-day/ https://laravel.com/docs/12.x/facades#facades-vs-dependency-injection
LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_TESTING	Improves Laravel testing by converting deprecated methods and adding better assertions.
LaravelSetList::LARAVEL_TYPE_DECLARATIONS	Adds type hints and generic return types to improve Laravel code type safety.

Configurable Rules

These rules require configuration and must be added manually to your rector.php file.

<?php declare(strict_types=1);

use Rector\Config\RectorConfig;
use RectorLaravel\Rector\FuncCall\RemoveDumpDataDeadCodeRector;

return RectorConfig::configure()
    ->withConfiguredRule(RemoveDumpDataDeadCodeRector::class, [
        'dd', 'dump', 'var_dump'
    ]);

Rule	Description
RemoveDumpDataDeadCodeRector	Removes debug function calls like dd(), dump(), etc. from code. Configure with an array of function names to remove (default: ['dd', 'dump']).
RouteActionCallableRector	Converts route action strings like 'UserController@index' to callable arrays [UserController::class, 'index']. Configure with NAMESPACE for controller namespace and ROUTES for file-specific namespaces.
WhereToWhereLikeRector	Converts where('column', 'like', 'value') to whereLike('column', 'value') calls. Configure with USING_POSTGRES_DRIVER boolean to handle PostgreSQL vs MySQL differences.

Opinionated Rules

These rules are more opinionated and are not included in any sets by default.

<?php declare(strict_types=1);

use Rector\Config\RectorConfig;
use RectorLaravel\Rector\MethodCall\ResponseHelperCallToJsonResponseRector;

return RectorConfig::configure()
    ->withRules([
        ResponseHelperCallToJsonResponseRector::class,
    ]);

Rule	Description
RemoveModelPropertyFromFactoriesRector	Removes the $model property from Factories.
ResponseHelperCallToJsonResponseRector	Converts response()->json() to new JsonResponse().
MinutesToSecondsInCacheRector	Change minutes argument to seconds in cache methods.
UseComponentPropertyWithinCommandsRector	Use $this->components property within commands.
UseForwardsCallsTraitRector	Replaces the use of call_user_func and call_user_func_array method with the CallForwarding trait.
EmptyToBlankAndFilledFuncRector	Converts empty() to blank() and filled()

Creating New Rules

You can create a new rule using the composer script:

composer make:rule -- YourRuleName

This will generate a new rule class in src/Rector/ along with the corresponding test files.

Command Options

• --configurable or -c: Create a configurable rule that implements ConfigurableRectorInterface

Directory Structure

You can specify a subdirectory structure by including slashes in the rule name:

composer make:rule -- If_/ConvertIfToWhen

This will create a rule in the src/Rector/If_/ directory with the namespace RectorLaravel\Rector\If_.

Remember to always add -- before the arguments when using the composer script. This separator tells Composer that the following arguments should be passed to the script rather than being interpreted as Composer arguments.

Contributors

Thank you everyone who works so hard on improving this package:

• @TomasVotruba
• @peterfox
• @GeniJaho
• @driftingly
• All Contributors

A special thank you to Caneco for designing the logo!

Hire The Rector Team

Rector is a tool that we develop and share for free, so anyone can automate their refactoring. But not everyone has dozens of hours to understand complexity of abstract-syntax-tree in their own time. That's why we provide commercial support - to save your time.

Would you like to apply Rector on your code base but don't have time for the struggle with your project? Hire the Rector team to get there faster.

Learn Rector Faster

Not everyone has time to understand Rector and AST complexity. You can speed up the process by reading the book The Power of Automated Refactoring. Not only will it help you learn and understand Rector but it supports the project as well.