Laravel Gets a Claude Code Simplifier Plugin: Clean, Normalize, and Refactor Smarter

Laravel has always been about developer happiness. From expressive syntax to powerful tooling, it’s designed to make coding elegant. But even the best developers know: after long sessions, code can get messy.

That’s where the new Claude Code Simplifier Plugin comes in. Released in January 2026 by Taylor Otwell and adapted from Claude Code’s internal agent, this plugin uses AI to clean up, normalize, and refactor your Laravel/PHP code automatically. It’s like having a senior developer review your pull requests instantly.

🧠 Why This Plugin Matters

Every Laravel developer has faced these pain points:

Messy diffs after hours of coding.
Inconsistent formatting across teams.
Hard-to-review pull requests with redundant logic.
Technical debt piling up in controllers, models, and services.

The Claude Code Simplifier plugin solves these by acting as an AI-powered cleanup agent. It doesn’t change your app’s behavior—it improves how your code looks, reads, and feels.

⚙️ Installation & Setup

You’ll need Claude Code installed. Then add the plugin:

/plugin marketplace add laravel/claude-code
/plugin install laravel-simplifier@laravel

Once installed, you can invoke it directly inside Claude Code:

> Simplify and normalize the UserController using laravel-simplifier

🧪 Real-World Examples

Example 1: Cleaning Up a Controller

Before Simplifier:

class UserController extends Controller
{
    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        if ($request->has('name')) {
            $name = $request->input('name');
        } else {
            $name = 'Guest';
        }

        if ($request->has('email')) {
            $email = $request->input('email');
        } else {
            $email = null;
        }

        $user = new User();
        $user->name = $name;
        $user->email = $email;
        $user->save();

        return redirect()->route('users.index');
    }
}

After Simplifier:

class UserController extends Controller
{
    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        $user = User::create([
            'name' => $request->input('name', 'Guest'),
            'email' => $request->input('email'),
        ]);

        return redirect()->route('users.index');
    }
}

👉 Cleaner, shorter, and aligned with Laravel conventions.

Example 2: Normalizing a Service Class

Before Simplifier:

class ReportService
{
    public function generateMonthlyReport($month, $year)
    {
        $data = DB::table('sales')
            ->whereMonth('date', $month)
            ->whereYear('date', $year)
            ->get();

        $report = [];
        foreach ($data as $row) {
            if (!isset($report[$row->region])) {
                $report[$row->region] = 0;
            }
            $report[$row->region] += $row->amount;
        }

        return $report;
    }
}

After Simplifier:

class ReportService
{
    public function generateMonthlyReport($month, $year)
    {
        return DB::table('sales')
            ->selectRaw('region, SUM(amount) as total')
            ->whereMonth('date', $month)
            ->whereYear('date', $year)
            ->groupBy('region')
            ->pluck('total', 'region');
    }
}

👉 Simplified SQL, reduced loops, and more efficient.

Example 3: Cleaning Up a Messy Diff

Imagine you’ve added multiple conditionals and temporary variables during debugging. The simplifier agent will:

Remove unused variables.
Inline redundant conditionals.
Suggest better naming conventions.
Align with Laravel best practices.

This makes your PRs easier to review and merge.

🧩 Design Patterns Enabled by the Plugin

Controller Slimming
- Move business logic into models/services.
- Keep controllers lean and expressive.
Service Normalization
- Replace loops with SQL aggregates.
- Use Laravel collections effectively.
Consistent Naming
- Align variable/method names with Laravel conventions.
Diff Cleanup
- Reduce noise in PRs.
- Focus reviewers on actual logic changes.

📊 Benefits for Teams

Faster PR reviews: reviewers focus on logic, not formatting.
Consistent codebase: AI enforces Laravel conventions.
Reduced technical debt: messy code gets cleaned automatically.
Improved onboarding: new devs read clean, normalized code.

🔮 Future Potential

This plugin is just the start. Imagine:

AI-powered migrations: simplifying schema changes.
Automated test generation: creating PHPUnit tests for new code.
Continuous cleanup: agents running nightly to normalize codebase.

Laravel is moving toward a future where AI isn’t just a helper—it’s a co-developer.

🔑 Final Thoughts

The Claude Code Simplifier Plugin is more than a cleanup tool—it’s a productivity booster and a code quality enforcer. By integrating AI directly into your Laravel workflow, you can focus on building features while Claude handles the polish.

If you’re serious about writing clean, maintainable Laravel code in 2026, this plugin belongs in your toolbox.