As a Laravel developer, I’ve tested countless tools, but these stand out for boosting productivity, cutting down repetitive tasks, and improving code quality. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to sharpen your setup in 2025, these extensions are the essentials you need to work smarter, not harder. Since These VS Code extensions transformed my Laravel workflow, why not share with you as well, sharing is caring.
Laravel Extra Intellisense
Why Use It:
This gives you smart suggestions for facades, route names, views, config values, and even translations directly inside VS Code. Laravel Extra Intellisense helps avoid hardcoded strings and typos.
Features:
- Autocomplete for `route()`, `view()`, `config()`, `trans()`
- Supports custom macros and route names
Laravel Blade Snippets
Why Use It:
Improves your Blade templating workflow with quick snippets and syntax highlights.
Features:
- Syntax highlighting for Blade directives
- Includes snippets like `@if`, `@foreach`, `@extends`, etc.
Speeds up UI building, especially when working with Tailwind CSS.
Laravel Artisan
Why Use It:
Run Artisan commands within VS Code without switching to terminal. Ideal for Sail or Docker-based Laravel setups.
Features:
- Run `php artisan` commands in sidebar
- Compatible with Laravel Sail
Reduces context switching and boosts productivity.
Laravel Goto Controller
Why Use It:
Quickly navigate from route/web.php or Blade files to the associated controller method with a click.
Features:
- Ctrl+click to jump to controller/action
- Works for both web and API routes
Makes tracing logic 10x faster.
Laravel Model Snippets
Why Use It:
Add model-related code faster-factory, scope, casts, relationships, and more.
Features:
- Snippets for `hasOne`, `belongsTo`, etc.
- Supports Laravel 10+ model methods
Useful when building Eloquent-heavy apps.
Laravel Artisan GUI
Why Use It:
If you want a more graphical way to interact with Artisan, this gives you a GUI for migrations, routes, and make commands.
Features:
- View route list, models, migrations visually
- Run commands from sidebar
Great for Laravel beginners or visual developers.
DotENV (.env) Highlighting
Why Use It:
Syntax highlighting for your `.env` file. Sounds basic, but essential for quick spotting of broken keys or missing values.
Features:
- Highlights syntax like `APP_KEY`, `DB_HOST`
- Supports `.env.testing`, `.env.docker`
Especially useful in multi-env Laravel setups.
Laravel Docs
Why Use It:
Access official Laravel documentation right inside your editor.
Features:
- Quick search for Laravel 10 & 11 docs
- Offline support
Saves time flipping between browser tabs.
PHPUnit Test Explorer
Why Use It:
This gives a UI-based interface to run and debug Laravel’s PHPUnit tests directly inside VS Code.
Features:
- Run tests, view results in sidebar
- Support for Laravel’s `pest` syntax
Great for TDD and QA workflows.
PHP Namespace Resolver
Why Use It:
Auto-imports and manages namespaces as you type. Boosts code organization.
Features:
- Auto Import Classes and Namespace Detection
- Move & Rename File Support
Manually managing namespaces is error-prone and wastes time.
Bonus Tips for Laravel Devs Using VS Code:
- Use the Docker extension (ms-azuretools.vscode-docker) for container debugging.
- Combine Blade Snippets with Tailwind CSS IntelliSense for fast frontend workflows.
- Sync settings across devices using Settings Sync extension.
Final Thoughts
The Laravel ecosystem is growing fast, and so should your toolkit. These VS Code extensions make your workflow cleaner, faster, and more secure, whether you're building monoliths or SaaS.
Ready to level up your Laravel dev life? Install a few of the above today.
