Laravel Jetstream: Teams and API Tokens at Install

The Install-Time Decision

When initializing a new project with Laravel Jetstream, you must decide early whether to enable Teams and API‑token support. Both features are opt‑in flags during jetstream:install; enabling them scaffolds models, migrations, and UI, while omitting them means adding multi‑tenancy later through manual refactoring.

Feature Comparison

Trade‑offs

1. Teams up front: Adds schema, middleware, and UI you may never exercise, but retrofitting team scoping onto existing queries, policies, and routes is usually more invasive than starting with it.
2. Teams later: Requires modifying the User model, updating every database query with a where('team_id', ...) clause, and re‑scaffolding or hand‑building the team‑switching and invitation interfaces.
3. Livewire vs Inertia: Livewire keeps logic in PHP and reduces front‑end tooling; Inertia suits teams already fluent in Vue or React and gives a more app‑like feel. Switching stacks later is costly because views, components, and routing differ.

Concrete Installation

To install Jetstream with Teams and API‑token support using the Livewire stack, run the following command in your project root (assuming Laravel is already installed via Composer):

php artisan jetstream:install livewire --teams --api-tokens

After scaffolding completes, run migrations to create the necessary tables:

php artisan migrate

Validating the Teams Configuration

1. Register a User: Navigate to /register and create a new account.
2. Create a Team: Go to the Team menu and create a new team. Verify you are assigned as the Owner.
3. Invite a Member: Use the invitation feature to invite a second email address.
4. Switch Context: Use the team switcher to toggle between accounts. Verify that the current_team_id in your session updates.
5. Test Role Gating: Change the invited member's role to Viewer and attempt to access an action restricted to Administrators via your application's custom policies.