Livewire Development

When to Apply

Activate this skill when:

Creating new Livewire components
Modifying existing component state or behavior
Debugging reactivity or lifecycle issues
Writing Livewire component tests
Adding Alpine.js interactivity to components
Working with wire: directives

Documentation

Use search-docs for detailed Livewire 3 patterns and documentation.

Basic Usage

Creating Components

Use the php artisan make:livewire [Posts\CreatePost] Artisan command to create new components.

Fundamental Concepts

State should live on the server, with the UI reflecting it.
All Livewire requests hit the Laravel backend; they're like regular HTTP requests. Always validate form data and run authorization checks in Livewire actions.

Livewire 3 Specifics

Key Changes From Livewire 2

These things changed in Livewire 3, but may not have been updated in this application. Verify this application's setup to ensure you follow existing conventions.

Use wire:model.live for real-time updates, wire:model is now deferred by default.
Components now use the App\Livewire namespace (not App\Http\Livewire).
Use $this->dispatch() to dispatch events (not emit or dispatchBrowserEvent).
Use the components.layouts.app view as the typical layout path (not layouts.app).

New Directives

wire:show, wire:transition, wire:cloak, wire:offline, wire:target are available for use.

Alpine Integration

Alpine is now included with Livewire; don't manually include Alpine.js.
Plugins included with Alpine: persist, intersect, collapse, and focus.

Best Practices

Component Structure

Livewire components require a single root element.
Use wire:loading and wire:dirty for delightful loading states.

Using Keys in Loops

<code-snippet name="Wire Key in Loops" lang="blade">

@foreach ($items as $item) <div wire:key="item-{{ $item->id }}"> {{ $item->name }} </div> @endforeach

</code-snippet>

Lifecycle Hooks

Prefer lifecycle hooks like mount(), updatedFoo() for initialization and reactive side effects:

<code-snippet name="Lifecycle Hook Examples" lang="php">

public function mount(User $user) { $this->user = $user; } public function updatedSearch() { $this->resetPage(); }

</code-snippet>

JavaScript Hooks

You can listen for livewire:init to hook into Livewire initialization:

<code-snippet name="Livewire Init Hook Example" lang="js">

document.addEventListener('livewire:init', function () { Livewire.hook('request', ({ fail }) => { if (fail && fail.status === 419) { alert('Your session expired'); } });

Livewire.hook('message.failed', (message, component) => {
    console.error(message);
});

});

</code-snippet>

Testing

<code-snippet name="Example Livewire Component Test" lang="php">

Livewire::test(Counter::class) ->assertSet('count', 0) ->call('increment') ->assertSet('count', 1) ->assertSee(1) ->assertStatus(200);

</code-snippet> <code-snippet name="Testing Livewire Component Exists on Page" lang="php">

$this->get('/posts/create') ->assertSeeLivewire(CreatePost::class);

</code-snippet>

Common Pitfalls

Forgetting wire:key in loops causes unexpected behavior when items change
Using wire:model expecting real-time updates (use wire:model.live instead in v3)
Not validating/authorizing in Livewire actions (treat them like HTTP requests)
Including Alpine.js separately when it's already bundled with Livewire 3