Laravel Support UK
Support for Laravel applications that are already in the world — users, jobs, invoices, the queue that must run at 06:30.
Laravel support is operations plus judgement
Application support is not “we’ll fix bugs if you find them”. It is knowing whether a failing Stripe webhook is a retry storm, a signature mismatch, or a job driver set to sync in production because someone copied .env.example.
That judgement only exists after a takeover or a proper handover. If the developer has already left, start with Laravel Rescue.
What a support month typically contains
- Watching failed jobs and exceptions, not waiting for a customer email.
- Composer patches that are actually safe to take.
- Small features that should not become a “quick project”.
- Deploying without folklore.
Larger upgrades belong on Laravel Upgrades. Pretending an 8-to-11 jump is “support” is how retainers explode.
No documentation is normal
Most inherited Laravel apps have a README that says “npm install” for a PHP project. Reconstructing how the app actually runs is the first support deliverable.
What a Laravel support retainer usually includes
Security patches and Composer updates that are safe to take. Failed jobs and exceptions. Small features that should not become a “quick project”. Deploy coverage on Laravel Forge, Envoyer, or the CI you already have. Horizon or supervisor actually running. A human who already knows the app — not a ticket portal that re-learns it every month.
Major version jumps, new third-party integrations, and hosting migrations are scoped separately. Exact hours and response expectations are written per retainer. There is no fake SLA badge on this site.
Process
- Access and a bootable local If I cannot run it, I cannot support it honestly.
- Operational baseline Backups, workers, scheduler, error monitoring, APP_DEBUG. Seeing the repo is a start, not a substitute.
- Written retainer edge Response expectations, what is a project, what is included, how deploys happen.
- Steady work Patches, small features, incident notes. Saying no to silent scope creep is part of the job.
Questions that usually come up
What is included in Laravel application support?
A named engineer who already knows the app: production incidents, dependency patches, small features, deploy coverage, and the judgement to refuse work that should be a project. Exact scope is written per retainer.
Can you support an application with no documentation?
Yes. Documentation is reconstructed from the running system: env, scheduler, workers, README that actually boots. That reconstruction is billed as work, not assumed to be free.
How do you investigate recurring bugs?
Reproduce, then look at logs, failed jobs, the last deploy, and the integration boundary u2014 not u201crestart PHP-FPM and hopeu201d. Recurrence usually means a missing test or an unowned queue.
Can you add automated tests to an existing Laravel application?
Yes. Characterisation tests around auth, money, and webhooks first. A green suite that never hits HTTP is not coverage.
How do you handle production deployments?
A repeatable pipeline (Git + artisan, Forge/Envoyer/CI as appropriate), with a rollback story. I will not FTP a u201chotfixu201d into production as a habit.
Can you improve slow Laravel applications?
Yes u2014 after measuring. N+1 queries, missing indexes, unbounded exports and queue lag are common. See performance optimisation.
Can you help after the original developer has left?
That is Laravel Rescue. Support retainers usually follow once the app is reproducible and the fires are listed, not before.
Do you handle Laravel security patches and Composer updates?
Yes u2014 that is the boring core of a maintenance retainer: framework and package patches that are actually safe to take, PHP version planning, and not leaving composer.lock frozen until a CVE becomes an incident.
Are queue workers, Horizon and the scheduler part of support?
If the app uses them, they have to be in the operational baseline: a supervised worker, a scheduler that actually runs, failed-job visibility. u201cWe have Redisu201d is not the same as a worker that survived the last reboot.
What is not included in a Laravel support retainer?
Major Laravel version jumps, new third-party integrations, hosting migrations, and rewrites. Those are scoped and quoted separately. Exact inclusions, hours and response expectations are written per retainer u2014 there is no fake SLA badge on this site.
Qualification
Discuss your Laravel project
Name, work email, and a short description of the application is enough. No discovery call theatre before I know whether I can actually help.
- UK businesses with a real Laravel (or legacy PHP) application
- Build, support, rescue, upgrade or integration work
- Reply from Oliver Burton, usually within one working day