Mastering Command Signatures in Laravel: A Complete Guide

Need to create user-friendly console commands? Laravel's signature syntax makes it a breeze to define arguments and options! Let's explore this powerful feature.

Basic Arguments

The simplest form uses required arguments:

protected $signature = 'mail:send {user}';

You can make arguments optional or set defaults:

// Optional
protected $signature = 'mail:send {user?}';

// With default
protected $signature = 'mail:send {user=john}';

Working with Options

Options provide additional flexibility:

// Boolean switch
protected $signature = 'mail:send {user} {--queue}';

// Option with value
protected $signature = 'mail:send {user} {--queue=}';

// Option with default value
protected $signature = 'mail:send {user} {--queue=default}';

Real-World Example

Here's how you might build an article publishing command:

class PublishArticle extends Command
{
    protected $signature = 'blog:publish 
        {article : The ID of the article to publish}
        {--schedule= : Schedule publication for a future date}
        {--notify : Send notification to subscribers}
        {--channel=website : Publishing channel (website/social)}';

    public function handle()
    {
        $articleId = $this->argument('article');
        $schedule = $this->option('schedule');
        $shouldNotify = $this->option('notify');
        $channel = $this->option('channel');

        $this->info("Publishing article #{$articleId}");
        
        if ($schedule) {
            $this->info("Scheduled for: {$schedule}");
        }

        // Publishing logic here...

        if ($shouldNotify) {
            $this->info('Sending notifications...');
        }

        $this->info("Published to {$channel}!");
    }
}

Usage examples:

# Basic publish
php artisan blog:publish 123

# Scheduled publish with notifications
php artisan blog:publish 123 --schedule="2024-01-01 10:00" --notify

# Publish to social media
php artisan blog:publish 123 --channel=social

Command signatures make it easy to create intuitive, flexible console commands that are a joy to use.

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