README

A professional Laravel package that generates complete, production-ready REST API structures from a single command. Built with clean architecture principles, PHP 8.1+ features, and Laravel best practices.

VS Code Extension

A visual interface is available: laravel-api-generator-vscode. Generate APIs, run migrations, tests, and browse documentation -- all from VS Code without touching the terminal.

v3.4 -- Generate, seed, test, document, regenerate, introspect, customize

Swagger UI -- automatic interactive API documentation with Scramble:

Validation schemas -- your FormRequest rules become typed, documented constraints:

Database seeding -- 10 records per entity, ready to use:

Architecture

What it generates

From a single command, the package creates 12 files per entity and registers the API route:

Layer	File	Location
Model	`Post.php`	`app/Models/`
Controller	`PostController.php`	`app/Http/Controllers/`
Service	`PostService.php`	`app/Services/`
DTO	`PostDTO.php`	`app/DTO/`
Request	`PostRequest.php`	`app/Http/Requests/`
Resource	`PostResource.php`	`app/Http/Resources/`
Policy	`PostPolicy.php`	`app/Policies/`
Factory	`PostFactory.php`	`database/factories/`
Seeder	`PostSeeder.php`	`database/seeders/`
Migration	`*_create_posts_table.php`	`database/migrations/`
Feature Test	`PostControllerTest.php`	`tests/Feature/`
Unit Test	`PostServiceTest.php`	`tests/Unit/`
Route	`apiResource` entry	`routes/api.php`

Installation

composer require nameless/laravel-api-generator

The service provider is auto-discovered. No additional configuration required.

Quick start

Single entity

php artisan make:fullapi Post --fields="title:string,content:text,published:boolean"

With soft deletes

php artisan make:fullapi Post --fields="title:string,content:text" --soft-deletes

This adds the SoftDeletes trait to the model, a softDeletes() column in the migration, and restore / forceDelete endpoints with their routes.

With Postman collection export

php artisan make:fullapi Post --fields="title:string,content:text" --postman

Generates a postman_collection.json at the project root, ready to import. Each entity gets a folder with List, Create, Show, Update, and Delete requests pre-configured with sample data.

With Sanctum authentication

php artisan make:fullapi Post --fields="title:string,content:text" --auth

This scaffolds a complete Sanctum-based auth system: AuthController (register, login, logout, user), LoginRequest, RegisterRequest, auth routes, and wraps your API resource routes inside auth:sanctum middleware.

Interactive wizard

php artisan make:fullapi --interactive

A step-by-step guided setup that lets you define the entity name, add fields one by one (with type, nullable, unique, and default value options), configure relationships, and preview everything before generation.

All options combined

php artisan make:fullapi Post --fields="title:string,content:text" --soft-deletes --postman --auth

Bulk generation from JSON

Create a class_data.json file at your project root (or download the sample Blog schema with Author, Category, Article, and Tag entities):

[
  {
    "name": "User",
    "attributes": [
      {"name": "name", "_type": "string"},
      {"name": "email", "_type": "string"}
    ],
    "oneToManyRelationships": [
      {"role": "posts", "comodel": "Post"}
    ]
  },
  {
    "name": "Post",
    "attributes": [
      {"name": "title", "_type": "string"},
      {"name": "content", "_type": "text"}
    ],
    "manyToOneRelationships": [
      {"role": "user", "comodel": "User"}
    ]
  }
]

Then run:

php artisan make:fullapi

Delete generated API

# Delete a specific entity
php artisan delete:fullapi Post

# Delete all entities defined in class_data.json
php artisan delete:fullapi

The delete command also unregisters the seeder from DatabaseSeeder.php and removes the API route, so your codebase stays clean.

Regenerate selected files (`--only=`)

Modified your migration and want a fresh Resource or Test without retyping everything? Use --only=Type[,Type] to run only specific generators:

# Regenerate only the feature & unit tests
php artisan make:fullapi Post --fields="title:string,content:text" --only=FeatureTest,UnitTest

# Regenerate just the Resource
php artisan make:fullapi Post --fields="title:string,content:text" --only=Resource

When --only= is set, the migration, the apiResource route and the DatabaseSeeder registration are left untouched -- only the listed artifacts are rewritten.

Available types: Model, Controller, Service, DTO, Request, Resource, Migration, Factory, Seeder, Policy, FeatureTest, UnitTest.

Introspect an existing database

The api-generator:introspect command emits the project's database schema as JSON, so any tooling can scaffold APIs on top of legacy databases without retyping the schema:

# List all user tables (system tables like migrations / sessions / personal_access_tokens are filtered out)
php artisan api-generator:introspect

# Describe one table (column names, normalized types, soft_deletes flag)
php artisan api-generator:introspect --table=products

This powers the Import from Database feature in the VS Code extension.

Validate customized stubs

If you customize stubs (see below), api-generator:validate-stubs checks that every required {{placeholder}} is still present so generation cannot silently produce broken code:

php artisan api-generator:validate-stubs
php artisan api-generator:validate-stubs --json   # machine-readable, exit code 1 on error

Wire this into your CI to catch broken stubs before they reach production.

Customize the generated code (stubs)

Publish the package's stubs to your project so you can edit the templates the generators inject into:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=api-generator-stubs

This copies every .stub into stubs/vendor/laravel-api-generator/. The StubLoader always checks this folder first and falls back to the package's defaults, so you can override only the stubs you need.

After editing, run api-generator:validate-stubs (or let the VS Code extension run it automatically before each generation) to verify your customizations.

Command reference

php artisan make:fullapi {name?} {--fields=} {--soft-deletes} {--postman} {--auth} {--interactive} {--only=}
php artisan delete:fullapi {name?} {--force}
php artisan api-generator:introspect {--table=}
php artisan api-generator:validate-stubs {--json}
php artisan api-generator:install

Argument / Option	Description
`name`	Entity name (PascalCase). Omit to use JSON mode.
`--fields`	Field definitions in `name:type` format, comma-separated.
`--soft-deletes`	Add SoftDeletes trait, migration column, restore/forceDelete endpoints.
`--postman`	Export a Postman v2.1 collection after generation.
`--auth`	Scaffold Sanctum authentication (AuthController, requests, routes, middleware).
`--interactive`	Launch the step-by-step wizard for guided entity creation.
`--only=Type,Type`	Regenerate only the listed artifacts; skip route + seeder registration.

Supported field types

Type	Database column	PHP type	Validation rule
`string`	`VARCHAR(255)`	`string`	`string\|max:255`
`text`	`TEXT`	`string`	`string`
`integer` / `int`	`INTEGER`	`int`	`integer`
`bigint`	`BIGINTEGER`	`int`	`integer`
`boolean` / `bool`	`BOOLEAN`	`bool`	`boolean`
`float` / `decimal`	`DECIMAL(8,2)`	`float`	`numeric`
`json`	`JSON`	`array`	`json`
`date` / `datetime` / `timestamp`	`TIMESTAMP`	`DateTimeInterface`	`date`
`uuid`	`UUID`	`string`	`uuid`

Relationship types

Supported in JSON mode via class_data.json:

JSON key	Eloquent method	Foreign key
`oneToOneRelationships`	`hasOne()`	On related table
`oneToManyRelationships`	`hasMany()`	On related table
`manyToOneRelationships`	`belongsTo()`	On current table
`manyToManyRelationships`	`belongsToMany()`	Pivot table

Model inheritance is also supported via the "parent" key in JSON definitions.

Generated code examples

Controller

The generated controller uses constructor injection, DTOs, and delegates to the service layer. The index endpoint supports query parameter filtering out of the box.

class PostController extends Controller
{
    public function __construct(
        private readonly PostService $service
    ) {}

    public function index(Request $request)
    {
        $posts = $this->service->getAll($request->query());
        return PostResource::collection($posts);
    }

    public function store(PostRequest $request)
    {
        $dto = PostDTO::fromRequest($request);
        $post = $this->service->create($dto);
        return new PostResource($post);
    }

    public function show(Post $post)
    {
        return new PostResource($post);
    }

    public function update(PostRequest $request, Post $post)
    {
        $dto = PostDTO::fromRequest($request);
        $updatedPost = $this->service->update($post, $dto);
        return new PostResource($updatedPost);
    }

    public function destroy(Post $post)
    {
        $this->service->delete($post);
        return response(null, 204);
    }
}

Service

The service layer handles business logic and supports filtering on fillable fields. Route parameters are accepted as int|string to work seamlessly with declare(strict_types=1). With --soft-deletes, it also includes restore() and forceDelete() methods.

class PostService
{
    public function getAll(array $filters = []): Collection
    {
        $query = Post::query();

        foreach ($filters as $field => $value) {
            if (in_array($field, (new Post())->getFillable(), true)) {
                $query->where($field, $value);
            }
        }

        return $query->get();
    }

    public function find(int|string $id): Post
    {
        return Post::findOrFail($id);
    }

    public function create(PostDTO $dto): Post
    {
        return Post::create(get_object_vars($dto));
    }

    public function update(Post $post, PostDTO $dto): Post
    {
        $post->update(get_object_vars($dto));
        return $post->fresh();
    }

    public function delete(Post $post): bool
    {
        return $post->delete();
    }
}

DTO

Readonly data transfer objects with typed properties and a factory method:

readonly class PostDTO
{
    public function __construct(
        public ?string $title,
        public ?string $content,
        public ?bool $published
    ) {}

    public static function fromRequest(PostRequest $request): self
    {
        return new self(
            $request->input('title'),
            $request->input('content'),
            (bool) $request->input('published')
        );
    }
}

Feature test

Automatically generated PHPUnit tests covering all CRUD endpoints:

class PostControllerTest extends TestCase
{
    use RefreshDatabase;

    public function test_can_list_posts(): void
    {
        Post::factory()->count(3)->create();
        $response = $this->getJson('/api/posts');
        $response->assertStatus(200)->assertJsonCount(3, 'data');
    }

    public function test_can_create_post(): void
    {
        $data = ['title' => 'test_title', 'content' => 'Test text content'];
        $response = $this->postJson('/api/posts', $data);
        $response->assertStatus(201);
        $this->assertDatabaseHas('posts', $data);
    }

    // ... show, update, delete, validation tests
}

Query parameter filtering

All generated index endpoints support filtering by any fillable field via query parameters:

GET /api/posts?published=true
GET /api/users?name=John
GET /api/products?category=electronics&in_stock=true

Only fields declared in the model's $fillable array are accepted as filters. Other parameters are silently ignored.

Soft deletes

When using --soft-deletes, the generator adds:

SoftDeletes trait and import to the model
$table->softDeletes() to the migration
restore() and forceDelete() methods to the controller and service
Two additional routes:

POST   /api/posts/{id}/restore
DELETE /api/posts/{id}/force-delete

Postman collection

The --postman flag generates a postman_collection.json file at the project root. The collection follows the Postman v2.1 schema and includes:

A folder per entity
Pre-configured requests for List, Create, Show, Update, and Delete
Sample request bodies with appropriate field values
A base_url variable (defaults to http://localhost:8000/api)

Import the file directly into Postman to start testing immediately.

Sanctum authentication

The --auth flag scaffolds a complete token-based authentication system using Laravel Sanctum:

Generated files:

app/Http/Controllers/AuthController.php -- register, login, logout, user endpoints
app/Http/Requests/LoginRequest.php -- email + password validation
app/Http/Requests/RegisterRequest.php -- name, email, password + confirmation validation

Generated routes:

// Public
POST /api/register
POST /api/login

// Protected (auth:sanctum)
POST /api/logout
GET  /api/user

// Your API resources are also wrapped in auth:sanctum
GET  /api/posts          (requires token)
POST /api/posts          (requires token)
// ...

After running with --auth, install Sanctum if not already present:

composer require laravel/sanctum
php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Laravel\Sanctum\SanctumServiceProvider"
php artisan migrate

Add the HasApiTokens trait to your User model, and your API is secured.

Interactive mode

The --interactive flag launches a step-by-step wizard that guides you through entity creation:

Entity name -- enter the model name in PascalCase
Fields -- add fields one by one, choosing type, nullable, unique, and default value for each
Relationships -- optionally add belongsTo, hasMany, hasOne, or belongsToMany relations
Options -- enable soft deletes, Sanctum auth, Postman export
Preview -- review the full entity definition and file list before confirming
Generate -- confirm and generate all files

This mode is ideal for developers who prefer a guided experience or want to configure field constraints (unique, defaults) that aren't available in the --fields string syntax.

Extending the generator

Create a custom generator by extending AbstractGenerator:

use nameless\CodeGenerator\EntitiesGenerator\AbstractGenerator;
use nameless\CodeGenerator\ValueObjects\EntityDefinition;

class CustomGenerator extends AbstractGenerator
{
    public function getType(): string
    {
        return 'Custom';
    }

    public function getOutputPath(EntityDefinition $definition): string
    {
        return app_path("Custom/{$definition->name}Custom.php");
    }

    protected function getStubName(): string
    {
        return 'custom'; // loads stubs/custom.stub
    }

    protected function getReplacements(EntityDefinition $definition): array
    {
        return ['modelName' => $definition->name];
    }

    protected function generateContent(EntityDefinition $definition): string
    {
        return $this->processStub($definition);
    }
}

API documentation with Scramble

The package integrates seamlessly with Scramble to provide automatic, interactive API documentation -- no annotations or manual setup required.

Setup

composer require dedoc/scramble --dev
php artisan serve

Then open http://localhost:8000/docs/api in your browser.

What you get

Scramble automatically analyzes your generated controllers, requests, and resources to produce a full OpenAPI 3.x specification with:

Interactive Swagger UI -- test endpoints directly from the browser with "Send API Request"
Auto-detected schemas -- ProductRequest, ProductResource, etc. are inferred from your FormRequest rules and API Resource structure
Validation rules as constraints -- required|string|max:255 becomes a required string field with <= 255 characters in the docs
Request/response examples -- sample JSON bodies are generated automatically
Grouped endpoints -- each entity (Product, Post, etc.) gets its own section with all CRUD operations

Endpoints

URL	Description
`/docs/api`	Interactive Swagger UI
`/docs/api.json`	Raw OpenAPI 3.x JSON specification

Note: Scramble is a dev dependency. It won't affect your production deployment.

Database seeding

Generated seeders are automatically registered in DatabaseSeeder.php. After generating your API and running migrations:

php artisan migrate:fresh --seed

Each entity seeder creates 10 records using the generated factory. The delete:fullapi command also cleans up the seeder registration.

Development

# Install dependencies
composer install

# Run tests
composer test

# Static analysis
composer analyse

# Code formatting
composer format

Local testing in a Laravel project

Add the package as a path repository in your Laravel project's composer.json:

{
    "repositories": [
        {
            "type": "path",
            "url": "../laravel-api-generator",
            "options": {"symlink": true}
        }
    ],
    "require": {
        "nameless/laravel-api-generator": "@dev"
    }
}

Then run composer update.

Requirements

PHP >= 8.2
Laravel 10.x, 11.x, or 12.x

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

Security

If you discover a security vulnerability, please email loicmbassi5@gmail.com instead of using the issue tracker.

Credits

Mbassi Loic Aron

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for the full version history.

License

MIT. See LICENSE for details.

nameless / laravel-api-generator

Maintainers

Package info

Statistics

Security

README

VS Code Extension

v3.4 -- Generate, seed, test, document, regenerate, introspect, customize

Architecture

What it generates

Installation

Quick start

Single entity

With soft deletes

With Postman collection export

With Sanctum authentication

Interactive wizard

All options combined

Bulk generation from JSON

Delete generated API

Regenerate selected files (--only=)

Introspect an existing database

Validate customized stubs

Customize the generated code (stubs)

Command reference

Supported field types

Relationship types

Generated code examples

Controller

Service

DTO

Feature test

Query parameter filtering

Soft deletes

Postman collection

Sanctum authentication

Interactive mode

Extending the generator

API documentation with Scramble

Setup

What you get

Endpoints

Database seeding

Development

Local testing in a Laravel project

Requirements

Contributing

Security

Credits

Changelog

License

Regenerate selected files (`--only=`)