laravel-copilot-instructions/copilot-instruction/copilot-ai-guidelines.instructions.md

Copilot Configuration for Laravel AI Guidelines

This file is intended to be used with GitHub Copilot or any AI code assistant. It enforces the rules defined in ai-guidelines.md and ensures consistent, optimized, secure, and validated Laravel 12.x code generation.

📌 Configuration Instructions

Place this file in one of the following locations:

/.copilot/config.json

or

/.github/copilot-instructions.md

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✅ Copilot Instructions (Auto-Formatting, Auto-Validation, Optimized Laravel 12.x Code)

Copilot MUST follow these rules for all Laravel code:

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1️⃣ General Laravel Code Rules

• Always write clean, readable, maintainable Laravel code.
• Follow Laravel 12.x documentation: https://laravel.com/docs/12.x/releases
• Use PSR-12 formatting.
• Follow naming conventions:
  • Classes → PascalCase
  • Methods/variables → camelCase
  • Database → snake_case
• Functions must be short and meaningful.
• Avoid unnecessary complexity.

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2️⃣ Controllers (Thin Controllers Only)

• Must always use try/catch.
• Must always use FormRequest validation, never inline validation.
• Must return standardized JSON responses using ApiResponseTrait.
• Must use correct HTTP status codes:
  • 200 OK
  • 201 Created
  • 400 Bad Request
  • 401 Unauthorized
  • 404 Not Found
  • 422 Validation Error
  • 500 Server Error
• No DB logic allowed inside controllers.

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3️⃣ Services (Business Logic)

• All core logic must be placed here.
• Must always use try/catch and log exceptions.
• Must use optimized Eloquent:
  • select()
  • when()
  • with()
  • paginate()
• Use DB::transaction for multi-step operations.
• Never return JSON (controller handles responses).

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4️⃣ Models

• Use $fillable or $guarded.
• Use casts for JSON, arrays, and booleans.
• Use relationships and scopes.
• No business logic inside models.

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5️⃣ Validation (Strict)

• Must always use FormRequest.
• All input must be validated.
• Never trust raw request data.

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6️⃣ API Response Standardization

Use ApiResponseTrait:

success(data, message, status)
error(message, status)

• Every success/error response must use these wrappers.

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7️⃣ Jobs / Queues

• All heavy tasks must be queued using Jobs.
• Jobs must use try/catch and log errors.
• Never handle heavy tasks inside controller/service.

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8️⃣ Performance Rules

• Never return entire tables → must use pagination.
• Avoid N+1 → always use eager loading.
• Use select() to reduce data load.
• Use indexes in migrations.
• Optimize filters using when().
• Use caching for repeated queries.

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9️⃣ Security Rules

• Hash passwords, never store plain text.
• Validate all inputs.
• Sanitize user data.
• Prevent SQL/XSS injection.
• Do not expose stack traces in responses.

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🔟 Forbidden

Copilot must NOT:

• Use Repository Pattern.
• Use SOLID over-engineered architecture.
• Write raw SQL inside controllers.
• Put business logic inside controllers.
• Write nested DB queries inside loops.
• Generate large unpaginated queries.
• Return raw models in API.

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🎯 Final Result

Copilot will now automatically generate:

• Clean Laravel 12.x code
• Always validated
• Always optimized
• Always readable
• Always secure
• Always using try/catch
• Always using proper HTTP codes
• Always using Laravel best practices

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End of Copilot Configuration