How to Extend the Laravel Optimize Command for Better Performance

Laravel provides a built-in optimize command to cache essential application files, improving performance. However, you may want to extend this command to include additional optimizations, such as clearing custom caches or preloading specific data. In this guide, we'll explore how to extend the Laravel optimize command effectively.

#What is the Laravel Optimize Command?

The optimize command is used to speed up Laravel applications by caching configuration files, routes, and views. This reduces the overhead of reading and parsing these files on each request.

Default behavior of php artisan optimize:

• Caches configuration files (config:cache)
• Caches events (event:cache)
• Caches routes (route:cache)
• Caches views (view:cache)

#Why Extend the Laravel Optimize Command?

By default, the optimize command focuses on Laravel’s core performance optimizations. However, in real-world applications, you may have additional caching mechanisms that need to be refreshed, such as:

• Custom data caches
• API response caching
• Preloading frequently accessed data
• Clearing third-party package caches

Extending the optimize command allows you to include these tasks in a single command.

#How to Extend the Laravel Optimize Command

To extend the optimize command, we will create a custom Artisan command that runs Laravel's default optimizations and adds custom logic.

#Step 1: Create a Custom Artisan Command

Run the following command to generate a new Artisan command:

php artisan make:command OptimizeExtended

This creates a new file at app/Console/Commands/OptimizeExtended.php.

#Step 2: Modify the Command Logic

Open app/Console/Commands/OptimizeExtended.php and update it as follows:

<?php

namespace App\Console\Commands;

use Illuminate\Console\Command;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Artisan;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Cache;

class OptimizeExtended extends Command
{
    /**
     * The name and signature of the console command.
     *
     * @var string
     */
    protected $signature = 'optimize:extended';

    /**
     * The console command description.
     *
     * @var string
     */
    protected $description = 'Run your own optimizations after Laravel\'s default optimizations.';

    /**
     * Execute the console command.
     */
    public function handle()
    {
        $this->info('Clearing custom caches...');
        Cache::forget('custom_cache_key');
        Cache::forget('api_response_cache');

        $this->info('Preloading frequently accessed data...');
        Cache::put('important_data', $this->loadImportantData(), now()->addHours(2));

        $this->info('Optimization complete.');
    }

    /**
     * Load important data for caching.
     *
     * @return array
     */
    private function loadImportantData()
    {
        return [
            'key1' => 'value1',
            'key2' => 'value2',
        ];
    }
}

#Add Command To Optimize Command

To do this you can add a new command into the ServiceProviders to add into the optimize command. This is done by using the new optimizes method that is available in version Laravel v11.27.1.

public function boot(): void
{
    $this->optimizes(
        optimize: OptimizeExtended::class,
    );
}

Now this will run the OptimizeExtended command when you run php artisan optimize command.

#FAQs

#What does the Laravel Optimize command do?

The optimize command caches configuration files, routes, and views to speed up application performance.

#Can I override the default optimize command?

No, but you can create a new command like optimize:extended to add extra functionality.

#Is it safe to customize the optimize command?

Yes, as long as you ensure your additional logic does not interfere with Laravel’s core optimizations.

#Conclusion

Extending the Laravel optimize command allows you to include custom caching and optimization strategies tailored to your application. This approach ensures better performance and improved user experience. Try implementing this in your project and optimize Laravel beyond its defaults!