Laravel Claude Code Setup 🚀

July 11, 2025 · View on GitHub

One-command setup for Claude Code with Laravel development. Automatically configures all MCP servers for the ultimate AI-powered Laravel development experience with Figma integration.

🎯 What This Does

Installs and configures Claude Code with a complete development ecosystem:

🌐 Global MCP Servers (shared across all projects)

  • ✅ GitHub integration - Access all your repositories, manage PRs (with automatic token configuration!)
  • ✅ GitLab integration - Access all your repositories, manage MRs, issues, and projects (with automatic token configuration!)
  • ✅ Memory system - Remember decisions across all projects
  • ✅ Context7 - Latest Laravel/PHP documentation access
  • ✅ Web fetch - Access external APIs and resources
  • ✅ Figma integration - Design-to-code workflows with automatic design token extraction

📁 Project-Specific MCP Servers

  • ✅ Filesystem access - Read/write your specific Laravel project files
  • ✅ Database integration - Direct access to your project's database
  • ✅ Laravel DebugBar - Real-time debugging (if installed)

🎨 NEW: Figma Design Integration

  • Design-to-code workflows - Convert Figma designs directly to Laravel/Livewire components
  • Automatic design token extraction - Colors, typography, and spacing for Tailwind CSS
  • Component specifications - Get precise implementation details from Figma designs
  • Seamless integration - Works with your existing Laravel + Livewire + Filament + Tailwind stack

The installer intelligently sets up global servers once and adds project-specific servers for each Laravel project.

🚀 Quick Install

Run this single command from your Laravel project root:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/laraben/laravel-claude-code-setup/main/install.sh | bash

Option 2: With Tokens Pre-configured

If you want to skip the interactive prompts:

export GITHUB_TOKEN="your_github_personal_access_token"
export GITLAB_TOKEN="your_gitlab_personal_access_token"
export FIGMA_ACCESS_TOKEN="your_figma_access_token"
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/laraben/laravel-claude-code-setup/main/install.sh | bash

Option 3: Download and Run

For more control or if you prefer to review the script first:

# Download the script
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/laraben/laravel-claude-code-setup/main/install.sh -o setup.sh

# Make it executable
chmod +x setup.sh

# Run it
./setup.sh

📋 Prerequisites

Before running the installer, make sure you have:

  1. Claude Code installed (Download here)
  2. Node.js & npm installed
  3. Go 1.22+ installed (for database MCP server)
  4. A Laravel project with .env file configured
  5. GitHub Personal Access Token (the installer will guide you)
  6. GitLab Personal Access Token (optional, for GitLab integration)
  7. Figma Personal Access Token (optional, for design integration)

🔑 Token Setup

GitHub Token Setup

You'll need a GitHub Personal Access Token for private repository access:

  1. Go to GitHub Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens → Tokens (classic)
  2. Click "Generate new token (classic)"
  3. Select these scopes:
    • ✅ repo (Full control of private repositories)
    • ✅ read:user (Read user profile data)
    • ✅ user:email (Access user email addresses)
  4. Copy the generated token when prompted by the installer

GitLab Token Setup (Optional)

For GitLab integration and private repository access:

  1. Go to GitLab Settings → Access Tokens
  2. Click "Add new token"
  3. Give it a descriptive name (e.g., "Claude Code MCP")
  4. Select these scopes:
    • ✅ api (Complete API access)
    • ✅ read_user (Read user profile data)
    • ✅ read_repository (Read repository data)
  5. Set an expiration date (optional)
  6. Click "Create personal access token"
  7. Copy the generated token when prompted by the installer

🎨 Figma Token Setup (Optional)

For design-to-code workflows:

  1. Go to Figma Settings → Personal access tokens
  2. Click "Create new token"
  3. Give it a descriptive name (e.g., "Claude Code MCP")
  4. Copy the generated token when prompted by the installer

🎮 Usage After Installation

Once installed, just open Claude Code in your Laravel project:

cd /path/to/your/laravel/project
claude

Then test everything works:

📊 Database & Project Analysis

  • "Show me the database structure"
  • "What Laravel version is this project using?"
  • "Read my .env file and suggest optimizations"

🐙 GitHub Integration

  • "List recent commits from my private GitHub repo"
  • "Show me open pull requests"
  • "What's the current branch status?"

🦊 GitLab Integration

  • "Show me recent commits from my GitLab project"
  • "List open merge requests"
  • "What issues are assigned to me?"
  • "Create a new merge request"

🎨 Figma Design Integration

🧠 Memory & Learning

  • "Remember that we use Filament for admin panels"
  • "What coding standards do we follow in this project?"
  • "What decisions have we made about the authentication system?"

🔧 Development Shortcuts

# Load helpful aliases
source .claude/shortcuts.sh

# Quick commands
pa migrate              # php artisan migrate
make-livewire Button   # php artisan make:livewire Button
serve                  # php artisan serve

🛠️ What Gets Installed

The script intelligently manages global vs project-specific resources:

Global MCP Servers (installed once, shared by all projects)

  1. GitHub MCP Server - Repository access across all projects
  2. GitLab MCP Server - GitLab project access and management
  3. Memory MCP Server - Shared knowledge base
  4. Context7 - Documentation access
  5. Web Fetch - External API access
  6. Figma MCP Server - Design file access and analysis

Project-Specific MCP Servers (per Laravel project)

  1. Filesystem MCP Server - Access to your project files
  2. Database MCP Server - Connected to your project's database
  3. Laravel DebugBar MCP (if available)

Project Files (created in .claude/)

  • instructions.md - AI-optimized development instructions with Figma usage guide
  • project_context.md - Project-specific context and tech stack
  • coding_standards.md - Laravel/Livewire/Filament best practices
  • memory_prompts.md - Memory initialization for AI learning
  • shortcuts.sh - Development aliases and shortcuts
  • README.md - Setup documentation

MCP Server Binaries & Dependencies

  • Context7 - Built from source with npm
  • Database MCP - Built from Go source
  • Web Fetch - Built from TypeScript source
  • All other servers - Installed via npm globally

The installer automatically configures everything based on your Laravel .env file.

🎨 Figma Integration Features

Design-to-Code Workflow

graph LR
    A[Figma Design] --> B[Share URL with Claude]
    B --> C[Analyze Design Structure]
    C --> D[Extract Design Tokens]
    D --> E[Generate Laravel Components]
    E --> F[Apply Tailwind Styling]
    F --> G[Add Alpine.js Interactions]

Example Figma Commands

# Analyze a complete design
> Please analyze this Figma design and create the corresponding Laravel views

# Extract design system
> Extract all colors, typography, and spacing from this Figma file for our Tailwind config

# Create specific components
> Convert this Figma card component to a Livewire component with proper validation

# Generate admin interface
> Create a Filament resource based on this Figma admin panel design

Supported Figma Features

  • ✅ Design token extraction - Colors, typography, spacing
  • ✅ Component analysis - Buttons, forms, cards, layouts
  • ✅ Layout understanding - Grid systems, responsive design
  • ✅ Auto-layout interpretation - Flexbox and grid generation
  • ✅ Style guide creation - Consistent design system implementation

🔧 Advanced Configuration

Multiple Projects

The installer can be run in multiple Laravel projects. Global MCP servers are shared, while project-specific servers are unique to each project.

Custom Database Connections

Supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. The installer automatically detects your database configuration from .env.

Team Collaboration

All team members can use the same setup. Share your .claude/ folder (except sensitive tokens) for consistent AI assistance across the team.

🐛 Troubleshooting

Interactive Mode Not Working?

If you're running via curl | bash and the interactive prompts aren't working:

# Download and run directly for interactive mode
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/laraben/laravel-claude-code-setup/main/install.sh -o setup.sh
chmod +x setup.sh
./setup.sh

GitHub Private Repository Access Issues?

The installer should configure this automatically. If you still can't access private repos:

  1. Check if your token is configured:
claude mcp list
  1. Manually update the token in your Claude config:
# Edit the config file
nano ~/.claude.json

# Add your token to the GitHub MCP server configuration

Figma Integration Not Working?

  1. Verify your Figma token is valid
  2. Check that the file you're trying to access is not private (unless you have access)
  3. Use the full Figma URL format: https://www.figma.com/design/FILE_KEY/File-Name

Database Connection Failed?

Make sure your Laravel .env file has valid database credentials before running the installer.

Missing Dependencies?

The installer will tell you what's missing, but you can check manually:

# Check Claude Code
claude --version

# Check Node.js
node --version

# Check Go
go version

# Check npm
npm --version

🆕 What's in v1.0

🎨 Figma Integration

  • Complete design-to-code workflow with Framelink Figma MCP Server
  • Automatic design token extraction for Tailwind CSS
  • Interactive token management with proper update prompts
  • Laravel-specific design patterns and component generation

🔧 Enhanced User Experience

  • Improved interactive detection - Works correctly with curl | bash
  • Better token management - Proper prompts for token updates
  • Graceful error handling - Continues installation even if some components fail
  • Smart fallbacks - Multiple installation methods for reliability

🧠 AI-Optimized Instructions

  • Figma usage guide - Detailed instructions for design integration
  • Error handling documentation - Clear guidance for common issues
  • Laravel-specific workflows - Optimized for Laravel + Livewire + Filament + Tailwind

🛠️ Technical Improvements

  • Robust configuration management - Better handling of existing setups
  • Cross-platform compatibility - Enhanced support for different environments
  • Performance optimizations - Faster installation and startup times

🤝 Contributing

Found a bug or want to add a feature? PRs are welcome!

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch
  3. Make your changes
  4. Add tests if applicable
  5. Submit a pull request

📝 License

MIT License - feel free to use this in your projects!

🙏 Acknowledgments

  • Claude Code team for the amazing AI development platform
  • Laravel community for the incredible framework and ecosystem
  • Figma team for the design tools and API
  • MCP Server developers for the various integration tools

Made with ❤️ for the Laravel community by @laraben

Transform your Laravel development with AI-powered assistance! 🚀