Supercharging Laravel Workflow: Setting Up Laravel Boost & Herd MCP in Antigravity IDE

Hi everyone, I’m Abu Sayed, and if you’ve been following my journey as a web developer, you know I’m always looking for ways to make my coding workflow faster, smarter, and more efficient.

Lately, I’ve been using the Antigravity IDE, and I’ve discovered a way to make it truly understand my Laravel projects by using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). By connecting Laravel Boost and Laravel Herd directly to the AI, I can now run Artisan commands, execute Tinker code, and manage my local sites without ever leaving the chat interface.

In this post, I’ll show you exactly how I set this up so you can do the same.

What is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a game-changer. It allows AI assistants (like the one in Antigravity) to use local tools on your machine. Instead of just “guessing” what your code does, the AI can actually “talk” to your Laravel application and your Herd environment.

The Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:

1. Laravel Herd installed on your Windows machine.
2. The Laravel Boost package installed in your Laravel project (composer require laravel/boost) and (php artisan boost:install)
3. Antigravity IDE (or any environment supporting Antigravity’s MCP config).

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Locate your Antigravity Configuration

Antigravity looks for its MCP settings in a specific JSON file. On Windows, this is typically located at:

C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.gemini\antigravity\mcp_config.json

2. Configure Laravel Boost

Laravel Boost provides the deep integration with your Laravel app. We need to tell Antigravity to run the boost:mcp Artisan command.

Pro Tip: Always use absolute paths in the configuration to avoid “file not found” errors. Replace <YourProject> and <YourUsername> with your actual local details.

3. Configure Laravel Herd

Herd’s MCP server allows the AI to see your local sites, manage SSL/HTTPS, and identify which PHP versions you’re using. The Herd MCP binary is usually a .phar file located in your Herd config folder.

The Ultimate mcp_config.json Template

Here is a generic template of what your configuration should look like. Make sure to update the paths to point directly to your specific project and Herd installation:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "laravel-boost": {
      "command": "php",
      "args": [
        "C:/path/to/your-laravel-project/artisan",
        "boost:mcp"
      ]
    },
    "herd": {
      "command": "php",
      "args": [
        "C:/Users/<YourUsername>/.config/herd/bin/herd-mcp.phar"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SITE_PATH": "C:/path/to/your-laravel-project"
      }
    }
  }
}

4. Restart and Verify

After saving the file, restart Antigravity. Immediately, you’ll see a whole new set of tools available! You can now ask things like:

• “List all my routes”
• “Run a database query to find the last 5 users”
• “Check the PHP version for this site in Herd”

Why This Matters

As developers, we spend a lot of time context-switching between the IDE, the terminal, and the browser. By bringing Laravel Boost and Herd into the AI context, I’ve removed that friction. The AI doesn’t just suggest code; it understands my migrations, my environment, and my server setup.

If you’re a Laravel dev using modern AI tools, you owe it to yourself to set this up. It feels like having a senior developer sitting right next to you who knows every inch of your local environment.

Happy coding!

— Abu Sayed