AI-built Laravel starter kit bypasses official wait for API-only tools

Implementation and automation

Created using Claude (specifically the Opus and Fable models), this kit demonstrates how AI can architect complex boilerplate. You can initialize a project using the standard installer:

laravel new my-api --github="LaravelDaily/api-starter-kit"

When prompted for a starter kit, choose the custom repository option. One specific manual step remains: the installer may still ask about Node.js or NPM. Since this is a pure API, you should select No to ensure your environment remains free of front-end dependencies.

Authentication and routing logic

The kit uses Laravel Sanctum for token-based authentication. All routes are versioned under a v1 namespace by default, reflecting professional API standards. You can view your endpoints by running php artisan route:list. The structure includes:

• Public Routes: Registration, login, and password reset.
• Protected Routes: User profile retrieval, logout, and token management.

// Example of the v1 Route Prefixing
Route::prefix('v1')->group(function () {
    Route::post('/register', [AuthController::class, 'register']);
    Route::middleware('auth:sanctum')->get('/user', [UserController::class, 'show']);
});

Integrated documentation

Maintaining documentation is often the first thing to fail in fast-paced projects. This kit solves that by including Scramble, which automatically generates OpenAPI documentation from your code. When you visit the root URL, the app returns a JSON response containing a link to this auto-generated documentation, ensuring your API is self-describing from day one.

Strategy and best practices

Avoid adding global logic to the bootstrap/app.php file if it only applies to specific versions. Instead, leverage the versioned controllers and form requests provided in the App\Http\Controllers\Api\V1 namespace. This keeps your application scalable for when V2 inevitably arrives.