README

A dev-only Artisan command that generates one-time login links for Laravel.

Why this exists: During local development, you often need to quickly log in as different users without resetting passwords or navigating login forms. This package provides a single command to generate a secure, short-lived login link — saving time and reducing friction in your dev workflow.

Installation

composer require agile-creative-minds/laravel-dev-login-link --dev

The package auto-discovers, so no manual service provider registration is needed.

Usage

# Generate a login link for the first user
# (if no users exist, a default admin user admin@example.com is created)
php artisan dev:login-link

# Generate a login link for a specific user
php artisan dev:login-link 5

The generated URL is valid for 10 minutes.

Security

This package is designed for local development only:

Routes are only registered when APP_ENV is local, development, or testing
The command refuses to run in production environments
URLs use Laravel's signed routes with short expiration times
Requires shell/container access to generate links

Never enable this in production.

How It Works

The command generates a temporary signed URL using URL::temporarySignedRoute('dev.login', ...)
When visited, the signed middleware verifies the URL hasn't been tampered with or expired
If valid, the user is logged in via Auth::login() and redirected to /dashboard (or / if no dashboard route exists)

Troubleshooting

"I clicked the link but nothing seems different"

On a fresh Laravel install without an auth starter kit (Breeze, Jetstream, etc.), there's no /dashboard route or visible auth UI. The login is working, but you're redirected to / which doesn't show login status.

Solution: Install Laravel Breeze for a complete auth experience:

composer require laravel/breeze --dev
php artisan breeze:install blade
php artisan migrate

After this, the login link will redirect you to /dashboard where you'll see you're authenticated.

"I get redirected to the login page"

This usually means the session isn't persisting. Make sure your Laravel app has:

SESSION_DRIVER set in .env (e.g., database, file, cookie)
The sessions table migrated if using database driver
The /dev-login/{user} route uses the web middleware group (handled by the package by default)

"Route [dev.login] not defined"

The route only loads in local, development, or testing environments. Check your APP_ENV in .env:

APP_ENV=local

Requirements

PHP 8.2+
Laravel 11.x or 12.x (any app using the default web guard and users provider)
For best experience: Laravel Breeze, Jetstream, or custom auth scaffolding

License

MIT

agile-creative-minds / laravel-dev-login-link

Maintainers

Details