Sample Data

Sample Data

Your local database may be empty, or hold real people's data. By default, videos are recorded against a database made for them instead, so they show realistic data and never your own.

How it works

1. A base database, built once. Your migrations run on a separate SQLite file, then your seeders (sample_data.seeders, DatabaseSeeder by default), then a user of each type is found or made: the same types Record as offers. Users are made with your UserFactory when you have one, and given their role the way your app records it (spatie, Laratrust, Bouncer, a role column or an admin flag).

   php artisan video-demo:install builds it, or build it any time:

   php artisan video-demo:sample-database           # --fresh to build it again

   It is built again by itself when the contents of a migration, seeder or factory change. Updating the package doesn't rebuild it unless the package's own migrations changed.

2. A copy for each video. Copying takes well under a second. The video's records go into its copy, which is deleted afterwards.

3. The AI adds what the flow needs. While planning, it also gets:

   • every route's middleware, such as auth, verified or permission:view reports
   • the files of your own middleware, including middleware every page runs, such as a "finish your profile" check
   • your policies and gates

   It reads what decides access to each page in the flow and works out what the user needs: a role, a permission, a verified email, a profile photo, an active subscription. It also works out which records must exist and belong to them. It can look at what is there, then add records (with your factories) or update existing ones, such as the user's own row.

4. It checks, and fixes. Pages that still fail before recording, and errors from your app while recording, go back to the AI with the reason, within the repair limit.

5. Recording again (free) rebuilds the same records, so the plan's pages find them.

Example

Interstack's People page is only open to members with a profile photo. Its middleware returns 403 Add your photo to meet people here. On sample data the AI read EnsureProfileComplete and ProfileGate, set an avatar on the sample member, and the page opened. On a support-ticket flow in another app, it read SupportTicketPolicy and created three tickets belonging to the member, because the policy only shows a member their own tickets.

Who sees the sample data

Only the recorder's browser. It sends a cookie the package signs with your app key. A request carrying it switches every database connection to the video's copy before anything else runs, so sessions, the signed-in user and every query use it. While it does:

• the cache is in memory
• queued jobs run straight away
• mail and broadcasts don't go out

Everyone else's requests, and your own database, are untouched. It only works while the studio is enabled.

Turning it off

For	Do this
One video	Untick Record on sample data, or --own-data on the command line, or 'sample_data' => false from code
The whole app	VIDEO_DEMO_SAMPLE_DATA=false
A video made on your own data	Try again on sample data, or tick the box under Make it again

What it can't do

• Migrations that only run on MySQL or Postgres. Sample data uses SQLite. Most migrations are portable; one that isn't stops the build with its error. Guard it: if (DB::getDriverName() === 'mysql') { ... }.
• Outside services. Calls your app makes to other services, such as Stripe or an AI API, still go out. Use their test keys locally.
• Uploaded files are not copied. The AI points image columns at files your app already has under public/.
• Octane. The database is chosen when a request starts the app, which Octane does once per worker. Serve the app with Herd, Valet, php artisan serve or PHP-FPM while recording.
• Rules that live outside your code, such as a feature flag in a remote service. Say what the user needs in the video's description, or in ai.notes.

Settings

Setting	Default	What it does
sample_data.default (VIDEO_DEMO_SAMPLE_DATA)	true	Whether new videos record on sample data
sample_data.seeders	['Database\Seeders\DatabaseSeeder']	The seeders to run. Empty leaves it all to the AI. Missing seeders are skipped; one that fails is reported and the rest of the data kept.
sample_data.timeout	900	Seconds allowed for building the base database
sample_data.artisan	your app's artisan	The artisan file that builds it, in its own PHP process