Laravel Disable Auto Discovery – 3 Simple Steps to Manage Package Auto Discovery

In this guide, we will dive into the concept of Auto Discovery in Laravel and discuss its benefits. Most importantly how to disable it in Laravel.

Auto Discovery is introduced in Laravel 5.5. Auto-discovery feature allows to automatically register package service providers and services which eliminates manual configuration needs.

It helps to speed up the package installation process and reduces any possible human errors. But sometimes, there are situations where we need to have more control over what needs to be loaded and when.

In such a use case, we look for how to disable the Auto-Discovery feature in Laravel. By Disabling Auto Discovery in Laravel, we can explicitly control which service providers are loaded for your application and also decide in what order they need to be loaded.

Before Auto Discovery, we had to manually register the service providers and facades in the config/app.php file. However, with Auto Discovery, Laravel automatically detects and registers them for you.

// Before Auto Discovery, you had to manually add service providers and facades
'providers' => [
    // Other Service Providers...

    // Manually added Service Provider
    Package\ServiceProvider::class,
],

'aliases' => [
    // Other Facades...

    // Manually added Facade
    'PackageFacade' => Package\Facade::class,
],

The benefits of Auto Discovery are:

• Efficiency: It speeds up the package installation process.
• Reduced Errors: It removes the possibility of human errors that can occur during manual registration.
• Cleaner Code: It keeps your config/app.php file cleaner and more manageable.

 

// With Auto Discovery, Laravel automatically registers service providers and facades
'providers' => [
    // Other Service Providers...

    // This Service Provider will be automatically discovered and registered
],

'aliases' => [
    // Other Facades...

    // This Facade will be automatically discovered and registered
],

 

How to Disable Auto Discovery in Laravel

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to disable Auto-Discovery in Laravel:

 

Step 1 – Open Your Composer.json File

The first step is to open your composer.json file. This file is located in the root directory of your Laravel application.

 

Step 2 – Add the ‘dont-discover’ Option

In the composer.json file, you can add the dont-discover option in the extra section. This option allows you to specify the packages for which you want to disable Auto Discovery.

"extra": {
    "laravel": {
        "dont-discover": [
            "Vendor/PackageName"
        ]
    }
}

In the above code, replace "Vendor/PackageName" with the name of the package for which you want to disable Auto Discovery.

 

Step 3 – Disable Auto Discovery for All Packages

If you want to disable Auto-Discovery for all packages, you can use the * wildcard.

"extra": {
    "laravel": {
        "dont-discover": [
            "*"
        ]
    }
}

 

Step 4 – Update Your Dependencies

After making changes to your composer.json file, you need to update your dependencies. You can do this by running the composer update command in your terminal.

composer update

 

Issues Related to Disabling Auto Discovery

Disabling Auto Discovery in Laravel can provide more control over your application but it can also lead to certain issues. Let’s have a look on some common problems and their solutions.

 

1 – Package Not Found Error

One of the most common issues when disabling Auto Discovery is the “Package Not Found” error. This error occurs when Laravel tries to use a package that hasn’t been manually registered.

Solution: Ensure that you have manually registered all the necessary service providers and facades in  config/app.php file for the packages listed in the dont-discover array.

 

2 – Incorrect Order of Service Providers

Another issue could be the incorrect order of service providers. The order in which service providers are loaded can affect how your application works.

Solution: Ensure that you have arranged the service providers in the correct order in your app.php file.

 

3 – Performance Issues

Disabling Auto Discovery might also lead to performance issues if not done correctly. This is because Laravel would not be able to optimize the loading of service providers and facades.

Solution: If you are facing performance issues, consider enabling Auto Discovery for some of the packages.

 

Remember, while disabling Auto Discovery can provide more flexibility and conyrol, it also requires more manual management. Make sure to test your application thoroughly after disabling Auto Discovery to ensure everything works as expected.