Development and Debugging Tools

This document covers the Laravel Boost MCP tools designed for interactive development and debugging tasks. These tools allow GitHub Copilot CLI to inspect application state, execute code, query databases, and troubleshoot issues in real-time.

The tools covered here are: tinker, database-query, database-schema, browser-logs, and get-absolute-url. For information about documentation search capabilities, see Documentation Search. For tool availability across different environments, see Tool Availability by Environment.

Tool Purpose and Use Cases

Laravel Boost provides several MCP tools that enable AI-assisted debugging and inspection of running Laravel applications:

Tool	Primary Purpose	When to Use
tinker	Execute arbitrary PHP code	Debugging code logic, querying Eloquent models, testing methods
database-query	Read-only SQL queries	Inspecting database contents without modification
database-schema	Inspect table structure	Understanding schema before writing migrations or models
browser-logs	Read browser console output	Debugging frontend errors and JavaScript exceptions
get-absolute-url	Generate correct application URLs	Ensuring proper scheme, domain, and port in shared links

These tools are essential for GitHub Copilot CLI to understand application state and provide contextual assistance during development.

Sources: .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md79-111

Tool Interaction Flow

Sources: .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md93-111

The Tinker Tool

The tinker tool executes arbitrary PHP code in the context of the Laravel application, providing direct access to the application's state, Eloquent models, and services.

Primary Use Cases

According to the AI guidelines, the tinker tool should be used when Copilot needs to:

• Execute PHP code to debug application logic
• Query Eloquent models directly
• Test method behavior interactively
• Inspect object properties and relationships
• Verify business logic execution

The guidelines explicitly state: "You should use the tinker tool when you need to execute PHP to debug code or query Eloquent models directly."

Tool Invocation Pattern

Environment Limitations

The tinker tool requires a full Laravel application context. In Orchestra Testbench environments (package development), this tool has limited functionality because:

• No application-specific models are available
• Database connections may not be configured
• Application services may not be registered

The guidelines note: "This is a Laravel package development project using Orchestra Testbench, not a standard Laravel application. The environment differs significantly from a typical Laravel project - there is no full application context, database, or application-specific models."

Sources: .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md93-97 .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md16-25

Database Inspection Tools

The database-query Tool

The database-query tool executes read-only SQL queries against the application's database. This tool is designed for inspection purposes only and cannot modify data.

When to Use

The guidelines specify: "Use the database-query tool when you only need to read from the database."

This tool is appropriate for:

• Verifying data exists in tables
• Checking record counts
• Inspecting column values
• Validating query results

Comparison with Tinker

Aspect	database-query	tinker
Syntax	Raw SQL	PHP/Eloquent
Scope	Database only	Full application
Mutations	Read-only	Can modify
Complexity	Simple queries	Complex logic

The decision logic is: use database-query for simple data inspection, use tinker for complex queries involving Eloquent relationships or application logic.

Sources: .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md93-97

The database-schema Tool

The database-schema tool inspects table structure, providing column definitions, types, indexes, and foreign keys.

When to Use

The guidelines state: "Use the database-schema tool to inspect table structure before writing migrations or models."

Typical use cases include:

• Understanding existing table structures
• Verifying column types before model casts
• Checking indexes before query optimization
• Reviewing foreign key constraints

This tool helps Copilot understand the database schema context before generating:

• Migration files that modify tables
• Eloquent model definitions with proper casts
• Query builder calls with correct column names
• Relationship definitions based on foreign keys

Environment Availability

Both database tools may have limited functionality in Orchestra Testbench environments:

"Tools that depend on database connections, specific models, application routes, or other application-specific features may not be available or may fail. Tools like database-query, database-schema, list-routes may return limited or no results."

Sources: .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md96-97 .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md19-22

Database Tool Selection Matrix

Sources: .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md93-97

The browser-logs Tool

The browser-logs tool reads browser console output, including JavaScript errors, warnings, and exceptions. This enables Copilot to diagnose frontend issues without requiring the developer to manually copy console output.

When to Use

The guidelines specify: "You can read browser logs, errors, and exceptions using the browser-logs tool from Boost. Only recent browser logs will be useful - ignore old logs."

This tool is essential for:

• Debugging JavaScript errors
• Diagnosing Vue/React component issues
• Investigating network request failures
• Understanding browser-side exceptions

Temporal Considerations

The tool emphasizes recency: only recent browser logs should be considered relevant. This design acknowledges that:

• Browser consoles accumulate noise over time
• Old logs may reflect already-fixed issues
• Recent logs correlate with current user-reported problems

Integration with Frontend Debugging

Sources: .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md99-102

The get-absolute-url Tool

The get-absolute-url tool generates properly formatted URLs for the Laravel application, ensuring correct scheme (http/https), domain/IP address, and port configuration.

When to Use

The guidelines state: "Whenever you share a project URL with the user, you should use the get-absolute-url tool to ensure you're using the correct scheme, domain/IP, and port."

This tool is critical because Laravel applications run in diverse environments:

Environment	Typical URL Pattern	Port Considerations
Local Development	http://localhost:8000	Custom port via php artisan serve
Valet	http://myapp.test	Port 80 (implicit)
Homestead	http://192.168.56.56	Port 80 or custom
Docker/Sail	http://localhost	Port mapping varies
WSL	http://172.x.x.x	Dynamic IP, various ports

Why Manual URL Construction Fails

Without get-absolute-url, Copilot might generate incorrect URLs by:

• Assuming localhost when the app uses a custom domain
• Using http when the app requires https
• Omitting port numbers for non-standard configurations
• Using incorrect IP addresses in containerized environments

The tool queries the Laravel application's actual configuration (config('app.url')) and environment detection to provide accurate URLs.

Sources: .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md89-91

Tool Selection Decision Tree

The AI guidelines provide clear decision logic for selecting the appropriate development and debugging tool:

Sources: .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md89-97

Practical Usage Patterns

Pattern 1: Pre-Migration Schema Inspection

Before generating a migration to modify a table:

1. Copilot invokes database-schema with the table name
2. Reviews existing columns, types, and constraints
3. Generates migration that preserves existing attributes
4. Avoids accidentally dropping columns or indexes

This pattern addresses the Laravel 12 guideline: "When modifying a column, the migration must include all of the attributes that were previously defined on the column. Otherwise, they will be dropped and lost."

Pattern 2: Model-First Data Verification

When debugging model behavior:

1. Use database-query to verify raw data exists
2. Use tinker to test Eloquent model queries
3. Compare results to identify ORM-specific issues
4. Verify relationships load correctly

Pattern 3: Frontend-Backend Error Correlation

When diagnosing full-stack issues:

1. Use browser-logs to capture frontend errors
2. Use tinker to verify backend data/logic
3. Correlate timestamps between frontend errors and backend state
4. Identify disconnect points in the data flow

Pattern 4: URL Sharing for Browser Testing

When providing URLs for manual testing:

1. Always invoke get-absolute-url with the route path
2. Include query parameters or fragments if needed
3. Ensure user can directly click/copy the correct URL
4. Avoid environment-specific hardcoded URLs

Sources: .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md89-111

Environment-Specific Behavior

The behavior and availability of these tools varies significantly by environment:

Standard Laravel Application

All tools function normally:

• tinker: Full access to models, services, helpers
• database-query: Queries configured database
• database-schema: Inspects all application tables
• browser-logs: Collects from running application
• get-absolute-url: Returns application's configured URL

Orchestra Testbench (Package Development)

Limited functionality:

• tinker: Basic PHP execution only, no application models
• database-query: May fail if no database configured
• database-schema: Limited to test database tables if any
• browser-logs: Not applicable (no browser context)
• get-absolute-url: May return test environment URL

The guidelines explicitly warn: "Not all Laravel Boost MCP tools will work correctly in this environment: Tools that depend on database connections, specific models, application routes, or other application-specific features may not be available or may fail."

For detailed environment-specific configurations and workarounds, see Tool Availability by Environment.

Sources: .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md16-25

Integration with Other MCP Tools

These development and debugging tools complement other Laravel Boost MCP capabilities:

Tool Category	Representative Tools	How They Work Together
Documentation	search-docs	Use docs to learn API, then verify with tinker
Code Generation	list-artisan-commands	Check available commands, test with tinker
Schema Tools	database-schema	Inspect schema, query data with database-query
Testing	pest-testing skill	Write tests based on tinker explorations

For example, a typical workflow might be:

1. Use search-docs to understand a Laravel feature
2. Use database-schema to see current table structure
3. Use tinker to test the feature interactively
4. Generate code based on verified behavior
5. Use browser-logs to verify frontend integration

Sources: .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md79-111