Existing Laravel apps

Laravel customization services for apps already in production

Your application works and people depend on it. We add what is missing, rework what is holding you back and take over code another team wrote, with a safety net of tests first.

  • Audit before any change
  • Changes shipped behind tests
  • NDA on request
Get a free quote See our work
What is included
  • Codebase audit
  • New modules and features
  • Admin panels
  • Package development
  • Refactoring with a safety net
  • Integrations
Get a free quote Reply within one business day. NDA on request.
The problem

Why changing a live app feels risky

Changing a live Laravel application is a different job from building one. There are real users, real data and usually a previous developer whose decisions are only half documented. The request sounds small (add a role, change how invoices are numbered, put a proper admin panel on it) and then touches six files nobody has opened in two years.

We do this work for companies whose original developer has moved on, for agencies that need extra hands on a client application, and for product teams who want a module built without pulling their own people off the roadmap. Before we change anything we find out what the code does today. Then we extend it in the style it already uses, so the result reads like one application and not two.

  • The developer who knew it has gone

    The person who built the application left, and the knowledge left with them. There is a repository, a server and a list of feature requests, but no one who can say what is safe to touch.

  • Small changes break distant features

    A new field on the customer form stops the nightly export. Logic is duplicated across controllers, observers and Blade templates, so a rule changed in one place survives in three others.

  • The admin side is a pile of CRUD screens

    Staff work through hand-built tables with no filters, no bulk actions and no export. Every new report or list view is a developer ticket that waits for weeks.

  • Composer packages nobody dares update

    Abandoned or forked packages are pinned to old releases. One of them was edited directly in the vendor folder, and the edit disappears whenever dependencies are reinstalled.

What we do

Ways we extend an existing application

Customization work ranges from one well-placed feature to a whole new module or admin panel, always fitted to the conventions your code already follows.

Codebase audit

A read-through of routes, models, jobs, scheduled tasks and dependencies, with a written report on what is healthy, what is fragile and what should be fixed before new work.

New modules and features

Additional workflows, roles, notifications or reports built with their own migrations, policies and tests, and wired into existing models through relationships and events.

Admin panels

Back-office screens rebuilt on Filament or Nova, with searchable tables, filters, bulk actions, exports and role-based access, in place of hand-written CRUD pages.

Package development

Shared logic extracted into a private Composer package, or a fork replaced with a clean extension, so the same code can serve several applications and still be updated.

Refactoring with a safety net

Characterization tests written around current behavior first, then duplicated logic consolidated into single classes without changing what users see.

Integrations

Payment gateways, accounting tools, CRMs and messaging services connected through queued jobs, webhooks and dedicated client classes that can be faked in tests.

Typical projects

Customization requests we see often

01

Takeover of an inherited application

We get the project running locally, document the deployment, add tests around the riskiest flows and become the team that can answer questions about it.

02

A new admin panel on existing data

Filament or Nova resources mapped onto your current models and policies, giving staff filters, bulk edits and exports while the customer-facing application stays untouched.

03

Adding a module to a live product

A feature such as approvals, document generation or a customer portal, built on a branch, released behind a flag and switched on for a few users first.

04

Replacing a brittle integration

An inline API call swapped for a queued job with retries, logging and a webhook receiver, so a third-party outage no longer breaks your own screens.

In depth

Working inside someone else's codebase

Read first, then pin behavior down

The first week on an inherited application is spent reading. We list the routes, trace the main flows from request to database, and check what runs outside the request: queued jobs, scheduled commands, model observers and event listeners, which is where surprising behavior tends to hide. Then we write characterization tests. These do not judge whether the current behavior is right. They record it, so that when we change something we find out at once if an unrelated screen moved too.

Extend in the application's own style

If the codebase uses service classes, we add service classes. If it leans on fat models and that is working, a new module is not the moment to introduce a different architecture. Consistency matters more than our preferences, because your next developer has to hold one mental model, not two. Where the existing pattern is the cause of the pain, we say so in the audit and agree a gradual refactor as its own piece of work.

Filament or Nova for the back office

A good admin panel is often the highest-value customization. Filament is a community project built on Livewire, and it is our usual choice when the panel needs custom pages, widgets and complex forms. Nova is the admin panel made by the Laravel team and fits standard resource management well. Both read your existing Eloquent models and policies, so permissions stay defined in one place. We advise against bolting a panel onto models that have no policies at all. That step comes first.

Packages, forks and the vendor folder

Edits made inside the vendor directory are the most common trap we find. They vanish on the next install and block every update. We move each one into your own code, through a service provider binding, a subclass, a macro or a published config file, and restore the original package. If a dependency is abandoned we replace it or take it over as a private package with its own tests. When the framework release itself has fallen out of support, a Laravel upgrade is planned before large new features go in.

Releasing changes to an application in use

New behavior ships behind a feature flag where it can be turned on for staff before customers. Migrations on large tables are written to avoid long locks. Each release has a rollback path that has been tried on staging against a recent copy of production data, with personal details masked.

Process

How a change reaches production

  1. 1

    Access and audit

    You share the repository and a database copy under NDA. We run the application locally and deliver a written audit with the risks ranked.

  2. 2

    Scope and quote

    We agree which changes to make, which fixes must come first and what can wait, with milestones and a free quote.

  3. 3

    Tests around the target area

    Before editing, we cover the flows we are about to touch with tests that capture how they behave today.

  4. 4

    Build on a branch

    Work goes through pull requests onto staging, where you check it against real scenarios and realistic data.

  5. 5

    Staged release

    Changes go live at a quiet hour, behind a flag when useful, and we monitor errors and queues afterwards.

Deliverables

What you get besides the feature

  • A written audit of the existing codebase
  • Tests that document current behavior
  • New features in the style of the old code
  • Vendor edits moved into your own code
  • A deployment process someone has written down
FAQ

Questions about changing an existing app

Do you need the original developers to be available?
No. It helps if they can answer a few questions, but we plan for the case where they cannot. The audit, local setup and characterization tests give us what we need. We do need server access, the repository and any credentials for third-party services.
Will you insist on rewriting our application?
No. A rewrite is rarely the cheapest route and we will not propose one unless the audit shows the code cannot be made safe. Most applications are improved in place: tests around the risky parts, then targeted refactoring next to the features you asked for.
Filament or Nova: which admin panel should we pick?
Filament is usually our recommendation when you need custom pages, dashboards and complex forms. Nova suits straightforward resource management from the framework's own team. Both work with your existing models and policies. We look at your workflows before suggesting either.
Can you work alongside our in-house developers?
Yes. We follow your branching model, code style and review process, and open pull requests to your repository. Some clients hire a Laravel developer from us who joins their stand-ups and works from their backlog.
What if the application has no tests at all?
That is the usual case, and it is fine. We do not try to cover everything. We add tests around the flows we are about to change and around anything involving money or permissions. Coverage then grows with each piece of work.
Our Laravel release is several years old. Can you still add features?
Usually yes, though some packages will not install on an old release and security fixes may no longer reach it. We tell you where the limits are. Often the sensible order is a version upgrade first, then the new features on a supported base.
Who looks after the application once the changes are live?
Whoever you prefer. We can hand back to your team with notes on what changed, or keep the application on a Laravel maintenance plan covering updates, monitoring and small requests.
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Start a project

Have a Laravel application that needs work?

Tell us what it does today and what it should do next. We will reply within one business day and can start with a codebase audit.

  • Free consultation and quote
  • NDA on request
  • You own the source code
  • Reply within one business day
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