Initial Configuration with boost:install

This page covers the complete boost:install workflow for the revolution/laravel-boost-phpstorm-copilot package: what the command installs, how to select features interactively or non-interactively, and what files are produced. For background on why the MCP config is system-wide and where it lives on each OS, see Understanding System-Wide MCP Configuration. For the failure mode that occurs when switching projects without re-running this command, see Multi-Project Workflow.

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What boost:install Does

php artisan boost:install is provided by the laravel/boost framework package. When revolution/laravel-boost-phpstorm-copilot is installed, the PhpStormCopilotServiceProvider registers PhpStormCopilot with Boost under the name phpstorm-copilot (see src/PhpStormCopilotServiceProvider.php). This registration causes PhpStorm with GitHub Copilot to appear as a selectable agent when boost:install runs.

The command is responsible for writing three categories of files into your Laravel project and your OS-level configuration.

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Interactive Walkthrough

Run the command from the root of your Laravel project:

php artisan boost:install

The interactive prompts appear in this order:

Step 1 — Feature selection

Which Boost features would you like to configure?
 [ ] AI Guidelines
 [ ] Agent Skills
 [ ] Boost MCP Server Configuration

Step 2 — Agent selection

Which AI agents would you like to configure?
 [ ] PhpStorm with GitHub Copilot

Important: Do not select the plain PhpStorm option — that agent targets PhpStorm Junie, not the GitHub Copilot plugin.

Sources: README.md98-112

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Features and Installed Files

Each feature maps to a specific method on PhpStormCopilot and produces distinct output files.

CLI Flag	Interactive Label	Method on PhpStormCopilot	Output Location
--guidelines	AI Guidelines	guidelinesPath()	.github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md
--skills	Agent Skills	skillsPath()	.github/skills/
--mcp	Boost MCP Server Configuration	installFileMcp() → mcpConfigPath()	OS-specific mcp.json (see below)

The paths returned by guidelinesPath() and skillsPath() are configurable via boost.agents.phpstorm_copilot.guidelines_path and boost.agents.phpstorm_copilot.skills_path respectively, but default to the values in the table above.

Sources: src/PhpStormCopilot.php86-97

MCP Configuration Output Location

The mcpConfigPath() method determines where mcp.json is written. It reads the current platform via Platform::current() and returns a path accordingly.

Platform	mcp.json write path
macOS (Platform::Darwin)	~/.config/github-copilot/intellij/mcp.json
Linux (Platform::Linux)	~/.config/github-copilot/intellij/mcp.json
Windows (Platform::Windows)	%LOCALAPPDATA%\github-copilot\intellij\mcp.json
WSL	Windows-side path, written via PowerShell (see WSL Support)

Sources: src/PhpStormCopilot.php104-114 README.md122-124

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Feature-to-Code Mapping Diagram

Diagram: CLI Flags → PhpStormCopilot Methods → Output Files

Sources: src/PhpStormCopilot.php86-114 src/PhpStormCopilot.php119-132

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Non-Interactive Usage

To skip all prompts, pass the feature flags and --no-interaction together:

php artisan boost:install --guidelines --skills --mcp --no-interaction

This is the recommended form to use when switching between Laravel projects, because the MCP configuration must be updated each time (the file stores an absolute path to the current project). The guidelines template installed by --guidelines also embeds this exact command as the recommended update command, which GitHub Copilot can surface to you in context.

Sources: README.md117-118 resources/boost/guidelines/core.blade.php16-19

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Installation Flow Diagram

Diagram: installFileMcp Dispatch — From Command to mcp.json

Sources: src/PhpStormCopilot.php119-132 src/Concerns/WithWSL.php16-76

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What Each Installed File Does

AI Guidelines — guidelinesPath()

Installs .github/instructions/laravel-boost.instructions.md. This file is read by the GitHub Copilot plugin in PhpStorm to provide project-aware instructions, package version context, and skill activation rules to the AI. The template is rendered from resources/boost/guidelines/core.blade.php.

Agent Skills — skillsPath()

Installs skill definition files into .github/skills/. Skills are domain-specific instruction sets that GitHub Copilot activates based on the task at hand. The guidelines file references the installed skills by name (e.g., pest-testing) so Copilot knows when to activate them.

MCP Server Configuration — installFileMcp()

Writes an entry into the system-wide mcp.json file under the servers key (returned by mcpConfigKey()). This entry tells the GitHub Copilot plugin how to spawn the boost:mcp subprocess for this specific project, using absolute paths to the php binary and the project's artisan file. The key written into the JSON object is laravel-boost.

Sources: src/PhpStormCopilot.php99-101 README.md100-104 resources/boost/guidelines/core.blade.php1-33

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boost:update Does Not Update MCP Config

As of laravel/boost 1.8+, running boost:update will refresh guidelines and skills, but will not update the MCP configuration in mcp.json. To update the MCP entry — for example after switching projects or moving the project directory — you must explicitly include --mcp:

php artisan boost:install --guidelines --skills --mcp --no-interaction

Sources: README.md120-121 resources/boost/guidelines/core.blade.php24-32

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Testbench (Package Development) Limitation

If boost:install --mcp is run inside a package development environment using Orchestra Testbench, installFileMcp() detects the constant TESTBENCH_CORE via isRunningInTestbench() and throws an exception immediately. MCP installation is not supported in Testbench environments. Use laravel-boost-copilot-cli as an alternative in that context.

Sources: src/PhpStormCopilot.php121-123 src/PhpStormCopilot.php183-186 README.md86-88