Installation Setup

📦 Installation & Setup

Get Laravel Arc up and running in your Laravel application in just a few minutes.

Requirements

• PHP: 8.3 or higher
• Laravel: 10.x or 11.x
• Composer: Latest version recommended

Installation

1. Install via Composer

composer require grazulex/laravel-arc

2. Publish Configuration (Optional)

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Grazulex\LaravelArc\LaravelArcServiceProvider" --tag="config"

This creates config/arc.php with default settings.

3. Create DTO Directory Structure

Laravel Arc follows Laravel conventions. Create your YAML definitions in:

resources/
└── arc/
    ├── user.yaml
    ├── product.yaml
    └── nested/
        └── address.yaml

Basic Configuration

The default configuration works out of the box, but you can customize it in config/arc.php:

<?php

return [
    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Default DTO Namespace
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | The default namespace for generated DTOs when not specified in YAML
    */
    'default_namespace' => 'App\\DTOs',

    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Default Output Directory
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Where generated DTO files will be saved
    */
    'output_path' => app_path('DTOs'),

    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | YAML Definitions Path
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Default location for YAML definition files
    */
    'definitions_path' => resource_path('arc'),

    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Field Transformers
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Enable automatic field transformation
    */
    'enable_transformers' => true,

    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Validation Integration
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Auto-generate Laravel validation rules
    */
    'auto_validation' => true,
];

Verification

Verify your installation by running:

php artisan arc:list

You should see available Arc commands:

Available commands:
  arc:generate    Generate DTO from YAML definition
  arc:list        List all available YAML definitions
  arc:validate    Validate YAML definition syntax

Directory Structure After Setup

After installation, your project structure should look like:

your-laravel-app/
├── app/
│   └── DTOs/                 # Generated DTO classes (auto-created)
├── config/
│   └── arc.php              # Configuration file (optional)
├── resources/
│   └── arc/                 # YAML definitions directory
└── vendor/
    └── grazulex/laravel-arc/ # Package files

Quick Test

Create a simple test to verify everything works:

1. Create Test YAML

mkdir -p resources/arc

Create resources/arc/test.yaml:

header:
  class: TestDto
  namespace: App\DTOs

fields:
  message:
    type: string
    required: true

2. Generate DTO

php artisan arc:generate resources/arc/test.yaml

3. Use in Code

use App\DTOs\TestDto;

$dto = TestDto::from(['message' => 'Hello Laravel Arc!']);
echo $dto->message; // "Hello Laravel Arc!"

Common Issues & Solutions

Permission Issues

If you encounter permission errors:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER app/DTOs
chmod -R 755 app/DTOs

Namespace Issues

Ensure your composer.json has the correct PSR-4 autoloading:

{
    "autoload": {
        "psr-4": {
            "App\\": "app/",
            "App\\DTOs\\": "app/DTOs/"
        }
    }
}

Run composer dump-autoload after changes.

Class Not Found

If generated classes aren't found:

1. Check the namespace in your YAML matches your autoloader
2. Run composer dump-autoload
3. Clear Laravel cache: php artisan cache:clear

What's Next?

✅ Installation Complete!

Now you're ready to:

• Create Your First DTO - Build your first DTO in 5 minutes
• Understand YAML Structure - Learn the schema basics
• Explore Field Types - See all available field types

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Need help? Check the troubleshooting guide above or refer to our examples.