FAQ — laravel-workers docs

Is this a Laravel fork?

No. Laravel stays your source of truth in development, with its own test suite and PHPUnit. The edge artifact is generated output: static assets, JavaScript handlers and a D1 schema. Your app/ directory does not change to be compiled.

Do I need PHP in production?

No. PHP runs only at build time, inside the phase workers that dump routes, compile views, read migrations and render snapshots. The deployed Worker is plain JavaScript on a V8 isolate; there is no PHP runtime and no WASM.

What happens to a feature the compiler cannot carry?

The build fails loud. --strict refuses to produce an artifact for a route it cannot serve, and the error names the construct and the fix. If you want the route, you write a port: a small JavaScript module the build wires in.

Can I use Breeze, Jetstream, Fortify, Sanctum?

The starter kits are app code: they compile as far as their controllers, requests and views compile. Fortify is mostly routes and actions over the auth kernel, which compiles. Sanctum tokens work with a padanan; SPA authentication through sessions does. Anything a kit does that the subset cannot carry fails loud, with the file named.

What about queues, broadcasts and image resizing?

They are not compiled. Queue::push(SomeJob::class) fails loud because nothing would consume the job at the edge; images need GD or Imagick, which the platform does not have; broadcasting needs a Durable Object or an external service. Each has its documented padanan on the limits page.

Does my existing Laravel 10/11/12 app work?

Laravel ≥ 10 is the requirement; the toolchain is tested with 13.37 and 11.34. Whether your app compiles is answered by build --strict before anything is deployed — it names every route that needs a decision and every construct the edge cannot carry.

What does it cost to run?

Free-plan-first: Workers Free (100k requests/day, 10 ms CPU), D1 Free (100k writes / 5M reads a day) and the D1 blob store for objects, with no credit card. R2 is opt-in and asks for a card; the paid plan is headroom, never a prerequisite.

How do I test an app at the edge locally?

The compiled worker is an ESM module and the kernel suite runs it under Node with an in-memory D1. For the real thing, wrangler dev serves dist/ plus assets; the deploy preview (--plan) shows what a real run would change before it changes anything.

Is there a path back to PHP?

Yes. Nothing about the toolchain rewrites your app: delete the build output and the Laravel app is exactly what it was. Running both during a migration is a supported shape — cookies and sessions are parity-checked, so a Laravel-minted cookie opens at the edge.

How do I know the numbers on this site are true?

The audit is generated from the repository: 118 constructs with a verdict, 47 of which compile, and every one of the 105 Laravel documentation pages mapped. Each figure carries the file and commit it came from; the build fails when the source moves.

Still unsure?

Run npx laravel-workers build --strict in your app. It costs nothing, touches no cloud resource, and answers the only question that matters: can this app be served from the edge — and if not, exactly which routes and constructs stand in the way.

If the answer is “a few”, start with routes & ports. If it is “most of it”, the honest answer is that this is not the toolchain for that app yet — and the build will have told you why, per route.