Prerequisites and Installation

This page documents the system requirements, supported platforms, and installation process for the laravel-boost-phpstorm-copilot package. It covers the dependencies that must be installed before using the package and the Composer installation command.

For information about configuring the package after installation, see Initial Configuration with boost:install. For platform-specific configuration details, see Platform-Specific Implementations.

System Requirements

The package requires specific versions of PHP, Laravel, and Laravel Boost to function correctly.

Core Dependencies

Component	Version Requirement	Purpose
PHP	>= 8.3	Runtime environment
Laravel	>= 12.x	Application framework
Laravel Boost	>= 2.0	MCP server infrastructure
PhpStorm	N/A	IDE with GitHub Copilot support
GitHub Copilot Plugin	N/A	AI assistant integration

Sources: README.md7-11 composer.json13-15

Package Dependencies

The package depends on the following Composer packages:

"php": "^8.3"
"illuminate/support": "^12.30||^13.0"
"laravel/boost": "^2.0"

These dependencies are declared in composer.json12-16 and automatically installed by Composer.

Sources: composer.json12-16

Dependency and class registration diagram:

Sources: composer.json12-16 composer.json47-52 README.md7-11

Supported Platforms

The package supports multiple operating systems and development environments with varying levels of complexity.

Platform Compatibility Matrix

Platform	Status	Detection Method	Configuration Path
macOS	✓ Fully Supported	PHP_OS_FAMILY	~/.config/github-copilot/intellij/mcp.json
Linux	✓ Fully Supported	PHP_OS_FAMILY	~/.config/github-copilot/intellij/mcp.json
Windows Native	✓ Fully Supported	PHP_OS_FAMILY	%LOCALAPPDATA%\github-copilot\intellij\mcp.json
WSL	✓ Supported with Requirements	WSL_DISTRO_NAME env var	Windows path via wslvar
Laravel Sail	✓ Supported	Sail binary detection	Host system path

Sources: README.md16-27 README.md122-124

WSL-Specific Requirements

Windows Subsystem for Linux requires additional dependencies:

Requirement	Check Command	Installation Command	Purpose
wslu package	wslvar -v	sudo apt install wslu	wslvar used by isWSL() and installMcpViaWsl()
PowerShell access	powershell.exe -Command "Write-Output 'test'"	Built into Windows	File write via installMcpViaWsl()
WSL Interoperability	Check binfmt config	See troubleshooting section	Execute Windows binaries from WSL
C: drive user profile	wslvar LOCALAPPDATA	Default Windows setup	mcpConfigPath() path resolution

Sources: README.md29-59

installFileMcp() dispatch flow — how platform and environment are handled:

Sources: README.md16-88

Installation Process

The package is installed as a development dependency using Composer.

Installation Command

This command:

1. Downloads the package from Packagist
2. Installs dependencies (laravel/boost, illuminate/support)
3. Registers PhpStormCopilotServiceProvider via Laravel package auto-discovery
4. Makes the package available to the Laravel application

Sources: README.md90-94 composer.json47-52

Auto-Discovery Registration

Laravel automatically discovers and registers the service provider through the extra.laravel.providers entry in composer.json47-52 The provider's boot() method calls Boost::registerAgent('phpstorm-copilot', PhpStormCopilot::class) to wire in the agent.

Sources: composer.json47-52

Installation and registration sequence:

Sources: composer.json47-52 composer.json64-77 README.md90-108

Post-Installation Requirements

After installation, additional configuration is required before the package becomes functional.

Required Next Steps

Step	Command	Purpose	Documentation
1. Run boost:install	php artisan boost:install	Configure MCP server, install guidelines and skills	See page 2.2
2. Select PhpStorm Agent	Interactive prompt	Select PhpStorm with GitHub Copilot (not PhpStorm)	See page 2.2
3. Select Features	Interactive prompt	Choose AI Guidelines, Agent Skills, MCP Server	See page 3.3

Note: Select PhpStorm with GitHub Copilot from the agent list. Do not select PhpStorm, which refers to the PhpStorm Junie integration.

Sources: README.md96-114

What Gets Installed

The boost:install command installs different files depending on the features selected. The --no-interaction flag can be combined with feature flags for scripted use:

Files installed per feature:

Sources: README.md100-103 README.md116-124

Development Dependencies

For package contributors, additional development dependencies are installed:

Package	Version	Purpose
laravel/pint	^1.25	Code style formatting
orchestra/testbench	^10.6	Testing framework
pestphp/pest	^4.1	Test runner
pestphp/pest-plugin-laravel	^4.0	Laravel-specific test features
mockery/mockery	^1.6	Mocking library

These are automatically installed when running composer install in the package repository but are not required for end users.

Sources: composer.json17-23