# Laravel MCP Companion
*formerly Laravel Docs MCP Server*
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> ⚠️ **BETA SOFTWARE** - This project is in early development. Features may not work as expected and breaking changes may occur without notice.
**Laravel MCP Companion** is a comprehensive documentation aggregator and navigator for the Laravel ecosystem. Rather than generating content, it centralizes and organizes existing high-quality documentation from across the Laravel ecosystem, making it easily discoverable through your AI assistant.
## Why Laravel MCP Companion?
| Feature | Laravel MCP Companion | Context7 |
|---------|:--------------------:|:--------:|
| **Instant documentation retrieval** (zero latency) | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Laravel multi-version support** (6.x - latest) | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Laravel service docs** (Forge, Vapor, Nova, Envoyer) | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Curated Laravel package recommendations** | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Offline documentation access** | ✅ | ❌ |
| **TOON format output** (30-60% fewer tokens) | ✅ | ❌ |
| **No internet requests during use** | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Laravel-specific search** | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Auto-discovery of service docs** | ✅ | ❌ |
| **General documentation** (non-Laravel) | ❌ | ✅ |
*While Context7 excels at general documentation retrieval, Laravel MCP Companion is purpose-built for Laravel developers with faster, offline-capable, Laravel-specific features.*
### What you get:
- **Multi-version Laravel documentation** (6.x through latest) with enhanced search
- **Auto-discovery Laravel services** - Forge, Vapor, Envoyer, Nova (117+ sections)
- **Community package documentation** - 42,000+ lines from Spatie, Livewire, Inertia, Filament
- **Use case mapping** - Describe what you need, get relevant packages instantly
- **Package integration guides** - Installation and setup for 50+ curated packages
- **Cross-package compatibility** - Learn which packages work well together
- **Unified search** across core Laravel docs, services, and packages
- **Smart navigation** - find exactly what you need for your use case
- **Future-proof updates** - automatically adapts to Laravel service changes
## Auto-Discovery & Update Frequency
This application features an **intelligent auto-discovery system** that automatically finds and indexes Laravel documentation. Every day, it:
- ✅ **Auto-discovers** new documentation sections across Laravel services (Forge, Vapor, Nova, Envoyer)
- ✅ **Retrieves** the latest Laravel core documentation for all versions since 6.x
- ✅ **Fetches** community package documentation (Spatie, Livewire, Inertia, Filament)
- ✅ **Adapts** automatically to structural changes in documentation websites
- ✅ **Generates** new patch releases automatically when updates are found
## Installation
### Quick Install via Smithery
```bash
npx -y @smithery/cli install @brianirish/laravel-mcp-companion --client claude
```
*Note: Smithery automatically configures your AI client.*
### Claude Desktop
1. **Open Claude Desktop Settings**
- Click Claude menu → Settings → Developer → Edit Config
2. **Add to your configuration file:**
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"laravel-mcp-companion": {
"command": "docker",
"args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "ghcr.io/brianirish/laravel-mcp-companion:latest"]
}
}
}
```
3. **Restart Claude Desktop** for changes to take effect
**Config file locations:**
- Windows: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
- macOS: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
### Claude Code
Use the `claude mcp add` command:
```bash
# Add with Docker
claude mcp add laravel-mcp-companion -- docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/brianirish/laravel-mcp-companion:latest
# Or add to project-specific config (for team sharing)
claude mcp add laravel-mcp-companion --scope project -- docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/brianirish/laravel-mcp-companion:latest
```
The `--scope project` option creates a `.mcp.json` file in your project root that can be committed to version control.
### Configuration Options
These options can be used with the Docker command. For example:
```bash
# Update docs for Laravel 11.x only
docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/brianirish/laravel-mcp-companion:latest --version 11.x
# Force update all documentation
docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/brianirish/laravel-mcp-companion:latest --force-update
```
| Option | Description | Default |
|--------|-------------|---------|
| `--version VERSION` | Laravel version (e.g., "12.x", "11.x") | Latest |
| `--docs-path PATH` | Documentation directory | `./docs` |
| `--log-level LEVEL` | DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL | INFO |
| `--update-docs` | Update documentation on startup | false |
| `--force-update` | Force documentation update | false |
## TOON Format Output
Laravel MCP Companion uses [TOON (Token-Oriented Object Notation)](https://github.com/toon-format/toon) for structured output, saving **30-60% on tokens** compared to JSON/markdown.
### Example Output
When you search for packages or list documentation, you get efficient structured data:
```
context: "authentication for SPA"
count: 2
packages[2]{id,name,description,categories,install}:
laravel/sanctum,Laravel Sanctum,"Featherweight authentication for SPAs",[authentication,spa],"composer require laravel/sanctum"
laravel/passport,Laravel Passport,"Full OAuth2 implementation",[authentication,api],"composer require laravel/passport"
```
Compare to the equivalent JSON (nearly 2x the tokens):
```json
{"context":"authentication for SPA","count":2,"packages":[{"id":"laravel/sanctum","name":"Laravel Sanctum",...}]}
```
### Why TOON?
- **Token efficient**: LLMs understand TOON natively - no parsing overhead
- **Structured data**: Arrays, objects, and metadata without JSON verbosity
- **AI-friendly**: Designed specifically for LLM context windows
## Features and Roadmap
### Current Features (v0.7.22)
- ✅ **Multi-version Laravel docs** - All versions from 6.x to latest
- ✅ **Auto-discovery engine** - Finds new docs across Forge, Vapor, Nova, Envoyer
- ✅ **Community package docs** - 42,000+ lines from Spatie, Livewire, Inertia, Filament
- ✅ **Use case mapping** - Describe what you need, get relevant packages
- ✅ **Package integration guides** - Installation and setup for 50+ packages
- ✅ **Cross-package compatibility** - Documentation for package combinations
- ✅ **Unified search** - One search across all documentation sources
- ✅ **Daily updates** - Automatic sync with latest documentation
- ✅ **Battle-tested** - Comprehensive test suite ensures reliability
### Upcoming Features
- 📰 **v0.9.0**: Laravel News, Bootcamp, tutorials, and advanced discovery
- 🔍 **v0.10.0**: Ecosystem intelligence and real-time updates
- 🚀 **v1.0.0**: The complete Laravel documentation navigator
For detailed roadmap information, see [ROADMAP.md](ROADMAP.md).
## Development
### Prerequisites
- Python 3.12+
- Node.js 18+ (for MCP Inspector)
### Setup
```bash
git clone https://github.com/brianirish/laravel-mcp-companion
cd laravel-mcp-companion
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate # Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt -r requirements-dev.txt
```
### Running Tests
```bash
# All tests with coverage
pytest --cov --cov-report=html
# Unit tests only
pytest tests/unit/
# Integration tests only
pytest tests/integration/
# Protocol compliance tests
pytest tests/protocol/ -m protocol
```
### Manual Testing with MCP Inspector
The [MCP Inspector](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector) provides a visual UI for testing MCP servers.
```bash
# Launch Inspector (opens browser at http://localhost:6274)
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector python laravel_mcp_companion.py
# With specific version
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector python laravel_mcp_companion.py --version 12.x
```
Use the Inspector to:
- **Tools tab**: Test all tools with auto-generated input forms
- **Resources tab**: Browse `laravel://` and `laravel-external://` resources
- **Prompts tab**: Test prompt templates
### Code Quality
```bash
ruff check --fix . # Linting
mypy --ignore-missing-imports . # Type checking
black . # Formatting
```
## License
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
## Contributing
Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
## Acknowledgements
- Laravel for their excellent documentation
- Laravel package authors for their contributions to the ecosystem
