Name: laravel-seeder-organization
Rating: 92
Author: tanaka-mambinge

Overview

Seeders in this repo should respect an environment split: shared seeders that apply everywhere and local-only helpers that run when app()->environment('local') is true. DatabaseSeeder already models that flow, so a skill can walk through adding new seeders following the same guardrails.

Directory Layout

•database/seeders/ – entry point DatabaseSeeder.php plus environment-neutral seeders.
•database/seeders/Dummy/ – local-only helpers (e.g., LocalUserSeeder, HistoricalInvoiceSeeder) that require development data.

Implementation Steps

•Seed shared data: write a seeder in database/seeders and register it in DatabaseSeeder::run. Use firstOrCreate, updateOrCreate, or upsert so repeated runs reconcile data without duplication.
•Keep local helpers separate: place dev-only seeders in a Dummy subnamespace (or equivalent) and invoke them inside if (app()->environment('local')) so they never hit staging/production.
•Structure DatabaseSeeder clearly: call shared seeders in one block, then wrap the local-only calls in the environment guard, avoiding duplicate registrations (e.g., do not list the same seeder twice).

Examples

DatabaseSeeder layout

php

namespace Database\Seeders;

use Illuminate\Database\Seeder;

class DatabaseSeeder extends Seeder
{
    public function run(): void
    {
        $this->call([
            SharedUserSeeder::class,
            PolicyStatusTableSeeder::class,
        ]);

        if (app()->environment('local')) {
            $this->call([
                Dummy\ProductSeeder::class,
            ]);
        }
    }
}

Shared seeder (idempotent users)

php

namespace Database\Seeders;

use Illuminate\Database\Seeder;
use App\Models\User;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Hash;

class SharedUserSeeder extends Seeder
{
    public function run(): void
    {
        collect([
            ['email' => 'dev@mugonat.com', 'name' => 'Dev Lead', 'role' => 'owner'],
            ['email' => 'ops@mugonat.com', 'name' => 'Ops Specialist', 'role' => 'ops'],
        ])->each(fn (array $payload) =>
            User::updateOrCreate(
                ['email' => $payload['email']],
                [
                    'name' => $payload['name'],
                    'password' => Hash::make('secure-password'),
                    'role' => $payload['role'],
                ]
            )
        );
    }
}

Local-only seeder (products)

php

namespace Database\Seeders\Dummy;

use Illuminate\Database\Seeder;
use App\Models\Product;

class ProductSeeder extends Seeder
{
    public function run(): void
    {
        collect([
            ['sku' => 'loc-prod-001', 'name' => 'Demo Policy Product', 'price_cents' => 15000],
            ['sku' => 'loc-prod-002', 'name' => 'Practice Claim Product', 'price_cents' => 9000],
        ])->each(fn (array $payload) =>
            Product::updateOrCreate(['sku' => $payload['sku']], $payload)
        );
    }
}