🚀 Setup Guide

✅ Requirements

Make sure the following are installed on your system:

• PHP >= 8.0
• Composer
• MySQL (or any other supported database)
• Node.js & npm (optional, for frontend assets)

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⚙️ Setup Instructions

1. Install Dependencies

Install all PHP dependencies via Composer:

composer install

If the .env file is missing, copy it from the example:

cp .env.example .env

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2. Configure the Database

Laravel uses MySQL by default. To use a different database, update config/database.php and your .env file.

Steps:

1. Install and configure your preferred database.
2. Create a new database for the project.
3. Update your .env file with the correct credentials:

   DB_CONNECTION=mysql
   DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
   DB_PORT=3306
   DB_DATABASE=your_database_name
   DB_USERNAME=your_username
   DB_PASSWORD=your_password

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3. Generate Application Key

php artisan key:generate

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4. Run Migrations

Run database migrations to create all necessary tables:

php artisan migrate

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5. Seed the Database (Optional)

To populate your database with sample data:

php artisan db:seed

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6. File Uploads - Create Storage Symlink

To make uploaded files publicly accessible:

php artisan storage:link

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7. Run the Application

Option 1: Using Laravel's Built-in Server

php artisan serve

Option 2: Laravel Valet (Recommended for macOS)

Place your project in the Valet directory and access it via http://project-name.test.

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🖼️ Frontend (Optional)

If your project uses Vite, Laravel Mix, or any frontend build system:

npm install && npm run dev

For production:

npm run build

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📝 Additional Notes

• Don’t forget to set the correct APP_URL in your .env:

  APP_URL=http://localhost:8000

• Clear caches if necessary:

  php artisan config:clear
  php artisan cache:clear
  php artisan route:clear

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Happy coding! 🧑‍💻

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🧪 Running Tests

This project may include automated tests using Pestphp.

Run All Tests

php artisan test

Or directly via Pestphp:

./vendor/bin/pest

Recommended: Use a dedicated testing database

To avoid affecting development or production data, configure a separate database for testing by adding the following to your .env:

DB_DATABASE=your_testing_database

Then, in phpunit.xml, set the appropriate environment:

<env name="DB_CONNECTION" value="mysql"/>
<env name="DB_DATABASE" value="your_testing_database"/>

You can also refresh the test database before each test run with Laravel's RefreshDatabase trait.

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