> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/spatie/laravel-data/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Requirements

> System requirements for Laravel Data

## System requirements

Before installing Laravel Data, ensure your environment meets these requirements:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="PHP Version" icon="php">
    **PHP 8.1 or higher**

    The package uses modern PHP features like constructor property promotion, named arguments, and attributes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Laravel Version" icon="laravel">
    **Laravel 10, 11, 12, or 13**

    Compatible with all recent Laravel versions for maximum flexibility.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Version compatibility

Laravel Data follows semantic versioning and maintains compatibility with multiple Laravel versions:

| Laravel Data | PHP Version | Laravel Version                  |
| ------------ | ----------- | -------------------------------- |
| 4.x          | ^8.1        | ^10.0 \| ^11.0 \| ^12.0 \| ^13.0 |

<Info>
  The package uses Laravel's package auto-discovery, so it works seamlessly with all supported Laravel versions without additional configuration.
</Info>

## Required PHP extensions

Laravel Data relies on the following PHP extensions, which are typically included in standard PHP installations:

* **JSON** - For JSON encoding and decoding
* **Reflection** - For analyzing data object structures
* **Mbstring** - For string operations

<Note>
  These extensions are usually enabled by default in PHP 8.1+. If you encounter issues, verify they're enabled in your `php.ini` file.
</Note>

## Recommended packages

While not required, these packages enhance Laravel Data's functionality:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Carbon (nesbot/carbon)">
    For working with dates and times in data objects. Laravel includes Carbon by default.

    ```bash theme={null}
    composer require nesbot/carbon
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Laravel TypeScript Transformer">
    For generating TypeScript definitions from your data objects.

    ```bash theme={null}
    composer require spatie/laravel-typescript-transformer
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Inertia.js">
    For seamless integration with Inertia.js and lazy property support.

    ```bash theme={null}
    composer require inertiajs/inertia-laravel
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Livewire">
    For using data objects in Livewire components.

    ```bash theme={null}
    composer require livewire/livewire
    ```
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Checking your environment

Verify your PHP version:

```bash theme={null}
php -v
```

You should see output similar to:

```
PHP 8.1.0 (cli) (built: Nov 25 2021 10:45:23) ( NTS )
```

Verify your Laravel version in `composer.json`:

```json theme={null}
{
    "require": {
        "laravel/framework": "^10.0|^11.0|^12.0|^13.0"
    }
}
```

<Warning>
  If you're using PHP 8.0 or lower, you'll need to upgrade to PHP 8.1 or higher before installing Laravel Data.
</Warning>

## Production considerations

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="OPcache">
    Enable OPcache in production for better performance:

    ```ini theme={null}
    opcache.enable=1
    opcache.memory_consumption=128
    opcache.max_accelerated_files=10000
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Caching">
    Enable structure caching in production (enabled by default):

    ```php theme={null}
    // config/data.php
    'structure_caching' => [
        'enabled' => true,
    ],
    ```
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Installation" icon="download" href="/installation">
    Install Laravel Data via Composer
  </Card>

  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="bolt" href="/quickstart">
    Build your first data object
  </Card>
</CardGroup>