Laravel Types Generator

I got tired of manually writing TypeScript types for my Laravel APIs, so I built this. It's simple: you tell it exactly what your data looks like, and it generates clean TypeScript interfaces. No magic, no guessing, just straight-forward type generation.

What This Actually Does

You add an attribute to your Laravel classes (like API resources), define the structure, run a command, and get TypeScript files. That's it.

Installation

composer require codemystify/laravel-types-generator

If you want to customize the config:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=types-generator-config

Quick Example

Here's how I use it in my Laravel API resources:

use Codemystify\TypesGenerator\Attributes\GenerateTypes;

class UserResource extends JsonResource
{
    #[GenerateTypes(
        name: 'User',
        structure: [
            'id' => 'number',
            'name' => 'string',
            'email' => 'string',
            'avatar' => ['type' => 'string', 'optional' => true],
            'created_at' => 'string',
        ]
    )]
    public function toArray($request): array
    {
        return [
            'id' => $this->id,
            'name' => $this->name,
            'email' => $this->email,
            'avatar' => $this->avatar,
            'created_at' => $this->created_at->toISOString(),
        ];
    }
}

Run the command:

php artisan types:generate

Get this TypeScript file:

// user.ts
export interface User {
  id: number;
  name: string;
  email: string;
  avatar?: string;
  created_at: string;
}

How to Define Types

Basic Types

[
    'title' => 'string',
    'count' => 'number', 
    'active' => 'boolean',
    'data' => 'any',        // Use sparingly
]

Optional Fields

For fields that might not be present:

[
    'bio' => ['type' => 'string', 'optional' => true],  // bio?: string
]

Nullable Fields

For fields that can be null:

[
    'deleted_at' => ['type' => 'string', 'nullable' => true],  // deleted_at: string | null
]

Arrays

[
    'tags' => 'string[]',     // Array of strings
    'users' => 'User[]',      // Array of User interfaces
]

Union Types

[
    'status' => 'string|null',  // status: string | null
]

Real Example: Blog Post API

Here's how I handle a typical blog post resource:

class PostResource extends JsonResource
{
    #[GenerateTypes(
        name: 'Post',
        structure: [
            'id' => 'number',
            'title' => 'string',
            'slug' => 'string',
            'content' => 'string',
            'excerpt' => ['type' => 'string', 'nullable' => true],
            'published' => 'boolean',
            'author' => 'Author',
            'tags' => 'string[]',
            'created_at' => 'string',
            'updated_at' => 'string',
        ],
        types: [
            'Author' => [
                'id' => 'number',
                'name' => 'string',
                'email' => 'string',
                'avatar' => ['type' => 'string', 'optional' => true],
            ]
        ]
    )]
    public function toArray($request): array
    {
        return [
            'id' => $this->id,
            'title' => $this->title,
            'slug' => $this->slug,
            'content' => $this->content,
            'excerpt' => $this->excerpt,
            'published' => $this->published,
            'author' => [
                'id' => $this->user->id,
                'name' => $this->user->name,
                'email' => $this->user->email,
                'avatar' => $this->user->avatar,
            ],
            'tags' => $this->tags->pluck('name')->toArray(),
            'created_at' => $this->created_at->toISOString(),
            'updated_at' => $this->updated_at->toISOString(),
        ];
    }
}

This generates two clean interfaces:

// post.ts
import type { Author } from './author';

export interface Post {
  id: number;
  title: string;
  slug: string;
  content: string;
  excerpt: string | null;
  published: boolean;
  author: Author;
  tags: string[];
  created_at: string;
  updated_at: string;
}

export interface Author {
  id: number;
  name: string;
  email: string;
  avatar?: string;
}

Commands

Generate Types

php artisan types:generate

Preview Without Writing Files

php artisan types:generate --dry-run

Generate Specific Group

php artisan types:generate --group=api

Using Groups

I organize my types with groups:

#[GenerateTypes(
    name: 'AdminUser',
    structure: [...],
    group: 'admin'
)]

#[GenerateTypes(
    name: 'PublicPost',
    structure: [...],
    group: 'public'
)]

Then generate specific groups:

php artisan types:generate --group=admin

File Organization

All generated files go to resources/js/types/generated/ by default:

resources/js/types/generated/
├── index.ts          # Exports everything
├── user.ts
├── post.ts
├── admin-user.ts
└── ...

The index.ts file automatically exports everything:

export * from './user';
export * from './post';
export * from './admin-user';

So in your React/Vue components:

import { User, Post } from '@/types/generated';

Configuration

The defaults work fine, but you can customize:

// config/types-generator.php
return [
    'sources' => [
        'app/Http/Resources',
        'app/Http/Controllers',
        'app/Models',
    ],

    'output' => [
        'base_path' => 'resources/js/types/generated',
    ],

    'files' => [
        'extension' => 'ts',
        'naming_pattern' => 'kebab-case',
        'add_header_comment' => true,
    ],
];

Practical Tips

1. Start Simple

Don't try to define everything at once. Start with basic types and add complexity as needed.

2. Mirror Your API Exactly

The structure should match exactly what your API returns. Don't overthink it.

3. Use Optional vs Nullable Correctly

• optional: true - field might not exist in the response
• nullable: true - field exists but can be null

4. Handle Pagination

#[GenerateTypes(
    name: 'PaginatedPosts',
    structure: [
        'data' => 'Post[]',
        'meta' => 'PaginationMeta',
    ],
    types: [
        'PaginationMeta' => [
            'current_page' => 'number',
            'last_page' => 'number',
            'per_page' => 'number',
            'total' => 'number',
        ]
    ]
)]

5. Keep It DRY with Shared Types

Define common types once and reuse them:

// In a base resource or dedicated class
'address' => 'Address',

types: [
    'Address' => [
        'street' => 'string',
        'city' => 'string',
        'country' => 'string',
        'postal_code' => 'string',
    ]
]

Why I Built This

I tried other solutions but they were either:

• Too magic (trying to guess types from code)
• Too complicated (requiring tons of configuration)
• Too unreliable (breaking when Laravel code changed)

This approach is explicit and predictable. You define exactly what you want, and you get exactly that. No surprises.

Troubleshooting

Types not generating?

• Make sure you're using the attribute in classes that the scanner can find
• Check that your sources config includes the right directories
• Run with --dry-run to see what would be generated

Import errors in TypeScript?

• The generator creates proper import statements automatically
• Make sure you're importing from the right path
• Check that the index.ts file was generated

Want to disable the package in production?

The attributes have no runtime impact, but if you want to remove them:

php artisan types:cleanup --remove-attributes

That's it! Simple, predictable TypeScript type generation for Laravel. No magic, just the types you define.