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.cursor/rules/project.mdc

Cursor rules for Laravel

Cursor rules are a markdown file with a short frontmatter header. Cursor attaches them to the agent so it stops guessing how this repo builds, tests, and styles code. This copy is written for a Laravel project. This repository is a Laravel application. Routes stay thin, Eloquent owns persistence, and schema changes go through migrations. Use Artisan for the commands the repo already expects.

The example uses a balanced, readable style, pragmatic tests, and comments only where the intent is not obvious. Open the generator to make the agent stricter, switch to test-first, quiet the comments, or pick a different file.

The example assumes Laravel with Eloquent and migrations. It does not assume Inertia, Livewire, or a particular admin package. If the repo uses one of those, follow it instead of adding a second UI stack.

Customize in the generatorBrowse the library

Example file

Balanced strictness, readable style, pragmatic tests. Download name: project.mdc. Legacy path: .cursorrules

---
description: "Working rules for a Laravel repository"
globs: "**/*"
alwaysApply: true
---

# Project rules

Follow these rules on every task in this Laravel repository.
If the project still uses a root `.cursorrules` file, keep the same rules there.

## Stack

This repository is a Laravel application. Routes stay thin, Eloquent owns persistence, and schema changes go through migrations. Use Artisan for the commands the repo already expects.

## Layout

- HTTP entry points live in routes and controllers. Non-trivial rules live in actions, models, or domain classes.
- Form requests validate input. Policies and gates authorize it.
- Database changes ship as migrations. Do not edit a migration that has already run in production.

## Commands

- Dev server: `php artisan serve`
- Tests: `php artisan test`
- Migrate: `php artisan migrate`

Use the script the repo already defines when it differs from the command above.

## Conventions

- Use Eloquent and query scopes. Reach for the query builder only when the ORM cannot say it.
- Validate with a Form Request. Do not read `$request->all()` and hope.
- Authorize with a policy or gate in the same change as the route.
- Queue slow work. Do not send mail or call a third party inside the request if the project already uses jobs.
- Match Pest or PHPUnit, whichever the repo already uses.
- Keep secrets in `.env`. Do not commit `.env` or dump config with secrets into git.

## Testing

Add or update tests when behavior changes.

Cover the Form Request or the action with the repo's Pest or PHPUnit suite. Include one rejection and one success.

## Style

- Optimize for the next reader over the shortest diff.
- Comment only when the why is non-obvious.
- Name things the way neighboring files already do.
- Do not reformat code you did not change.

## Errors

- Fail at the boundary. Do not swallow errors.
- Throw or return a validation error for bad input. Let unexpected exceptions hit the project's exception handler.

## Scope

- Do the requested task. Do not refactor unrelated code.
- Match the rigor already in the repo. Fix what you touch.
- Ask one clarifying question only when the task cannot be finished without it. Otherwise state the assumption and continue.

## Avoid

- Do not call `env()` outside config files. Use `config()` after the config is cached.
- Do not hide N+1 queries. Eager load relations the response actually walks.
- Do not skip authorization because the route is behind `auth`.
- Do not rewrite a vendor class. Use a container binding or an event the framework already fires.

## Done when

- The requested behavior works.
- `php artisan test` passes, and a new migration is included when the schema changed.
- The diff stays inside the task.
- You list anything you could not run.

Add it to the project

  1. 01

    Copy a starting file

    Copy the example Cursor rules on this page, or open the generator if you want different testing, strictness, or comment rules.

  2. 02

    Save it at .cursor/rules/project.mdc

    Save it at `.cursor/rules/project.mdc` in the Laravel repo and create the folders if they are missing. If the project still uses one root rules file, save the body as `.cursorrules`.

  3. 03

    Start a fresh agent session

    Rules files are read when a session starts. A chat that is already open may still be using the old instructions.

  4. 04

    Give it one small task

    Ask for one change a Laravel agent often gets wrong, such as a form request that rejects a bad payload before the controller runs. If it ignores the file, confirm the path and start a new session.

Questions about this file

Where do I put Cursor rules in a Laravel repo?

Save it at `.cursor/rules/project.mdc` in the Laravel repo and create the folders if they are missing. If the project still uses one root rules file, save the body as `.cursorrules`.

Which tools read this Cursor rules?

Cursor reads `.cursor/rules/*.mdc` and, on older setups, a root `.cursorrules` file. Other tools ignore the frontmatter, so use AGENTS.md when more than one agent edits the repo.

What does the Laravel example assume?

The example assumes Laravel with Eloquent and migrations. It does not assume Inertia, Livewire, or a particular admin package. If the repo uses one of those, follow it instead of adding a second UI stack.

Does VibeSpell upload my repository?

No. Recipe pages are static, and the generator builds the file in your browser from the options you pick. Your source code never leaves the machine.

Other files for Laravel

Cursor rules for other stacks