Laravel Chisel — Post-install Script Library for Starter Kits

This article is based on source code research. Laravel Chisel is in early development with its v0.1 tag released in May 2026.

What is Laravel Chisel?

Laravel Chisel provides primitives for building post-install scripts that remove unwanted features from Laravel starter kits. Compatible starter kits include a chisel.php script that defines the optional features and the file mutations needed to remove them. Starter kits come bundled with many features, but not every project needs all of them. Chisel solves this by providing a way to interactively configure your project after installation — keeping only the features you need.

Why Is It Needed?

Laravel starter kits bundle many features together, but not all features are needed in every project. For example:

Projects that don’t need email verification
Projects that don’t use passkey authentication
Configurations that don’t need certain Livewire components

Previously, developers had to manually remove unwanted features. With Chisel, customization is handled through interactive prompts at install time.

Defining a chisel.php Script

Starter kits that use Chisel place a chisel.php file at the project root. This file defines which features are optional.

<?php

require getenv('LARAVEL_INSTALLER_AUTOLOADER');

use Laravel\Chisel\Chisel;
use Laravel\Chisel\Question;

return Chisel::script(dirname(__DIR__))
    ->questions([
        Question::multiselect(
            name: 'auth_features',
            label: 'Which authentication features would you like to enable?',
            options: [
                'email-verification' => 'Email verification',
            ],
            hint: 'Use space to select, enter to confirm.',
        ),
    ])
    ->selected('auth_features', 'email-verification',
        then: function (Chisel $c) {
            // Selected: keep the code, just remove the markers
            $c->files(
                'resources/js/pages/settings/profile.tsx',
                'app/Providers/FortifyServiceProvider.php',
            )->removeSectionMarkers('email-verification');
        },
        else: function (Chisel $c) {
            // Not selected: remove all related files and features
            $c->php('app/Models/User.php')
                ->removeImport('Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\MustVerifyEmail')
                ->removeInterface('MustVerifyEmail');

            $c->file('config/fortify.php')->removeLinesContaining('Features::emailVerification()');

            $c->files(
                'app/Providers/FortifyServiceProvider.php',
                'resources/js/pages/settings/profile.tsx',
            )->removeSection('email-verification');

            $c->files(
                'resources/js/components/email-verification-notice.tsx',
                'resources/js/pages/auth/verify-email.tsx',
                'tests/Feature/Auth/EmailVerificationTest.php',
                'tests/Feature/Auth/VerificationNotificationTest.php',
            )->delete();
        },
    );

Script Definition Methods

Method	Purpose
`Chisel::script($directory)`	Create a script definition
`Question::multiselect(...)`	Define a multiselect question
`questions([...])`	Set the script’s questions
`questions()`	Retrieve the registered questions
`collectAnswers()`	Begin collecting answers for registered questions
`apply($callback)`	Register an unconditional mutation step
`selected($key, $value, then:, else:)`	Branch on a multiselect answer
`selectedAny($key, $values, then:, else:)`	Branch when any of the given values are selected
`selectedAll($key, $values, then:, else:)`	Branch when all of the given values are selected
`chisel($answers)`	Execute the registered mutations

Collecting Answers

collectAnswers() returns a pending answer collector. All methods are fluent and can be called in any order. When non-interactive, defaults are used automatically. An external Artisan command uses Laravel Prompts to display the prompts and pass the answers to Chisel.

use Illuminate\Console\Command;
use Laravel\Chisel\Chisel;
use Laravel\Chisel\Question;
use RuntimeException;

use function Laravel\Prompts\multiselect;

class InstallFeatures extends Command
{
    protected $signature = 'install:features
        {--answers= : JSON string of answers to skip interactive prompts}';

    public function handle(): void
    {
        $script = require base_path('chisel.php');

        $providedAnswers = $this->option('answers') === null
            ? []
            : json_decode((string) $this->option('answers'), true, 512, JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR);

        $answers = $script
            ->collectAnswers()
            ->onQuestion(fn (Question $question) => match ($question->type) {
                'multiselect' => multiselect(
                    label: $question->label,
                    options: $question->options,
                    default: $question->default ?? [],
                    required: $question->required,
                    hint: $question->hint,
                ),
                default => throw new RuntimeException("Unsupported question type [{$question->type}]."),
            })
            ->interactive($this->input->isInteractive())
            ->withAnswers($providedAnswers);

        $script->chisel($answers);

        $chisel = Chisel::in(base_path());

        $chisel->npm()->install();
        $chisel->npm()->run('build');
    }
}

Method	Purpose
`onQuestion($callback)`	Handle question prompts
`interactive($interactive)`	Configure whether missing answers are prompted interactively
`withAnswers($answers)`	Provide pre-collected answers to skip prompting

File Mutations

file($path) targets a single file. files(...$paths) targets multiple files.

Method	Purpose
`replace($search, $replace)`	Replace a string
`removeLinesContaining($content)`	Remove lines containing a string
`removeSectionMarkers($tag)`	Strip section markers, keep the content
`removeSection($tag)`	Remove section markers and the content inside them
`delete()`	Delete the targeted files

PHP AST-Based Mutations

php($path) provides AST-based edits. Changes are saved automatically when the object is destroyed.

Method	Purpose
`removeImport($class)`	Remove a `use` statement
`removeTrait($trait)`	Remove a trait usage from the class
`removeInterface($interface)`	Remove an implemented interface

Section Markers

Wrap optional code in comment pairs:

/* @chisel-passkeys */
Fortify::authenticateUsingPasskeys();
/* @end-chisel-passkeys */

JSX files may use block comments with braces:

{
    /* @chisel-passkeys */
}
<PasskeyButton />;
{
    /* @end-chisel-passkeys */
}

removeSectionMarkers('passkeys') — removes the markers, keeps the code
removeSection('passkeys') — removes both the markers and the content

The chisel- marker prefix is added automatically.

npm Support

Method	Purpose
`npm()->install()`	Install dependencies using the detected package manager
`npm()->run($script, ...$arguments)`	Run a package manager script
`npm()->remove(...$packages)`	Remove packages using the detected package manager

The npm() method detects npm, yarn, pnpm, and bun automatically.

Current Status

GitHub Repository: laravel/chisel
Release: v0.1 (published May 2026)
Development history: 3 months of private development before public release

Chisel is not a package for end users to install directly in their Laravel apps — it is a library used internally by starter kits. In the future, Laravel’s official starter kits are expected to ship with Chisel-powered post-install scripts.

laravel/chisel Repository

Source code and the latest API reference.

Laravel Starter Kits Official Documentation

For how to use the starter kits themselves, refer to the official documentation.

Documentation Index

​What is Laravel Chisel?

​Why Is It Needed?

​Defining a chisel.php Script

​Script Definition Methods

​Collecting Answers

​File Mutations

​PHP AST-Based Mutations

​Section Markers

​npm Support

​Current Status

laravel/chisel Repository

Laravel Starter Kits Official Documentation

What is Laravel Chisel?

Why Is It Needed?

Defining a chisel.php Script

Script Definition Methods

Collecting Answers

File Mutations

PHP AST-Based Mutations

Section Markers

npm Support

Current Status