README

Automatically generate realistic database seeders for Laravel models, including relationships.

Quick start

1. Install (dev dependency):

composer require dedsec/laravel-autoseeder --dev

1. (Optional) Publish config:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Dedsec\\LaravelAutoSeeder\\AutoSeederServiceProvider" --tag=config

1. Generate seeders:

php artisan make:auto-seeders

1. Run seeders:

php artisan db:seed

Requirements

• PHP: >= 7.4
• Laravel: >= 8.0
• Supported DB: MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, SQL Server

Usage & options

Run the generator (common options shown):

php artisan make:auto-seeders [--path=app/Models] [--limit=10] [--only=User,Post] [--force] [--quiet] [--verbose]

Options (summary):

• --path — models directory (default: app/Models)
• --limit — number of records per model (default: 10)
• --only — comma-separated model class basenames to process (e.g. User,Post)
• --force — overwrite existing generated seeders
• --quiet — suppress output (useful for CI)
• --verbose — show debug details

Examples

• Generate seeders for all models (10 records each):

php artisan make:auto-seeders

• Generate 5 records per model:

php artisan make:auto-seeders --limit=5

• Generate seeders for specific models (User and Post):

php artisan make:auto-seeders --only=User,Post

• Use a custom models directory:

php artisan make:auto-seeders --path=app/CustomModels

• Force overwrite of any previously generated seeders:

php artisan make:auto-seeders --force

Key features

• Automatic model discovery (scans app/Models or provided path)
• Type-aware data generation (respect column types/lengths, including full enum support)
• Foreign-key aware seeding and ordering
• Relationship detection (belongsTo, hasMany, belongsToMany, morphs, etc.)
• Unique & composite-unique constraint handling
• Polymorphic support and two-phase seeding for circular deps

Configuration (defaults)

After publishing, edit config/autoseeder.php. example defaults:

return [
	'models_path' => 'app/Models',
	'records_limit' => 10,
	'skip_tables' => [],
	'date_format' => 'Y-m-d H:i:s',
	'string_max_length' => 255,
	'enable_strict_types' => true,
	'enable_relationship_validation' => true,
	'enable_uniqueness_guards' => true,
];

Troubleshooting

• "No Eloquent models found" — ensure models are in the path or pass --path.
• "Table doesn't exist" — run php artisan migrate first.
• Foreign key / unique constraint errors — confirm relationships and migration state.

For verbose debug output use:

php artisan make:auto-seeders --verbose

Best practices

• Use this package in development and testing only.
• Consider committing generated seeders if they are part of test fixtures.
• Generate related models together to preserve referential integrity.
• Use --only and reasonable limits when working with large schemas.

License

MIT