The Midwest Artisan

The Midwest Artisan Podcast brings you insights and discussions on all things Laravel, with a healthy dose of general web development and tech talk. Join Andy Hinkle and Dalton McCleery, two passionate Laravel developers from the Midwest, as they share their expertise, explore the latest trends, and dive into the world of coding. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just getting started, this podcast offers something for everyone who loves tech and Laravel. Connect with us: Andy Hinkle - 𝕏/@andyhnk | 🦋/@andyhinkle.com Dalton McCleery - 𝕏/@DaltonMcCleery | 🦋/@daltonmccleery.com Cover Art by Robert Wade (robertcreates.com)

Buffalo Wings and Livewire Things

In this episode we discuss Andy's recent office revamp, his trip to Buffalo for a conference, and the MCP tools they use in their development work. They delve into the integration of AI tools like Claude and MCPs, the importance of code quality with PHP Stan, and the future of AI in development. 

11-10
58:03

Claude Lied, Authorization Died, We Survived

This episode Andy and Dalton recap Andy's talk at Laravel Worldwide and subsequent Artisan of the Day recognition, share horror stories of Claude Code lying to their friend Dino about a Laravel migration, and debate the eternal question of where to put authorization logic in Laravel 12. Also: conductor workspaces, Opus limits, and that time NPM packages started stealing Bitcoin wallets.Show links:Laravel MeetupKeeping Laravel Elegant When Business Get's MessyConductor (00:00) - Introduction and Personal Updates (01:57) - California & Disneyland (03:42) - Laravel Worldwide (05:42) - Overcoming Imposter Syndrome and Preparing for Talks (11:18) - Community Support and Feedback (11:51) - Artisan of the Day (13:05) - Reflections on Speaking and Future Talks (13:41) - Don't fight the framework (15:31) - Where do you store shared business logic? (19:01) - Claude Code Workflows (19:24) - Exploring Planning Modes and Development Workflows (24:28) - Claude Code Planning Mode (30:12) - Claude Pricing Plans (35:31) - Keeping AI in check (41:38) - NPM Supply Chain Attack (43:53) - How do you handle resource/policy authorization? (57:19) - Outro

09-24
57:29

The Importance of Refactoring

In this episode of the Midwest Artisan, we're talking about the complexities of writing simple and clean code, Laracon recaps, Filament 4, and Andy's super special announcement. (00:00) - Introduction (02:11) - Exploring Pest 4 and Browser Testing (04:34) - Networking and Community at Laracon (09:54) - Reflections on Laravel's Growth and Community Dynamics (14:57) - Andy's talk for Laravel Worldwide (19:28) - The Complexity of Code Requests (22:04) - The Importance of Refactoring (24:55) - Clean Code Practices (27:53) - Filament 4 (33:09) - Engaging with the Filament Community (37:09) - Laravel Boost

08-26
50:15

10 Requests a Minute

We explore everything from sports and the Alpine.js vs React debate to challenges with Laravel Vapor, HTTP testing, and API rate limits. We also dive into AI, the potential of NativePHP, and look ahead to tools like Juni, Laravel Cloud, and even Neovim. (00:00) - Introduction (03:04) - Sports. Yes Sports. (06:03) - Alpine.js vs React (10:59) - What is MCP? (11:35) - Stop using all AI tools in dev? (21:29) - Juni (25:33) - IDE: Andy wants to try Neovim (28:27) - HTTP Testing and API Integration (37:13) - 10 Requests a Minute (38:22) - The Limitations of Laravel Vapor (40:07) - Laravel Vapor (44:02) - NativePHP (53:20) - Laravel Cloud (56:11) - riverside_copy_of midwest artisan podcast _ apr 18, 2025

06-13
56:21

Semi-organized

Andy and Dalton recap a minor league hockey game, share clever developer workflow tips like the gateway pattern and personal site automations, and reflect on how recent AI changes changing their coding habits. (00:00) - Hockey Game Adventures (08:24) - Gateway Pattern (18:09) - Migrating Legacy Systems (27:56) - Website Development and Automation (32:58) - Leveraging AI for Content Creation (34:47) - Automating Personal Websites (36:29) - AI in Personal Projects (42:08) - Andy tried Laravel Cloud again (45:56) - AI Workflows (52:35) - Cursor vs VSCode Agent Mode

04-23
01:01:01

Laravel: Season 12 - The best one yet

In this episode, we discuss activities during morning standups like playing bomberman, we both tried Laravel Cloud for our personal sites, and some API Patterns for when to return 404s.

03-26
01:03:19

We Got New Jobs (While Everything's on Fire)

In this episode, Andy and Dalton discuss their recent job transitions, the challenges of navigating the job market, and the why the interview process is broken. We also briefly touch on Laravel Cloud and Laracon US. (00:00) - Introduction and New Beginnings (02:58) - Transitioning to New Jobs (05:46) - The Challenges of Job Searching (08:44) - Navigating the Job Market (11:25) - The Interview Process (13:05) - Insights on Job Applications (15:51) - Final Thoughts and Tips (28:02) - Flawed Recruitment Processes (31:15) - Job Market Realities for Developers (33:01) - Technical Interview Challenges (39:17) - The Importance of Cultural Fit (41:25) - Excitement for Laravel and Community Events (47:18) - Anticipation for Laravel Nightwatch and Cloud

02-17
53:33

Using Filament on the frontend, mockery, and documentation patterns

Happy New Year! In this episode, we talk about our goals for the year, dive into the latest Laravel updates, and explore model-based migrations. We also chat about using Filament components outside the admin panel, the struggles of testing with Mockery, and why GitHub Wiki's never work out. (00:00) - Intro (04:25) - Laravel is poppin' (10:56) - Model-Based Migrations (17:38) - Challenges of Model-Based Migrations (20:31) - Undocumented Laravel Nuggets (23:37) - Using Filament on the Frontend (24:52) - Integrating Filament on Frontend and Backend (33:00) - Why is Mockery so hard? (39:35) - GitHub Wikis never work out

01-24
53:47

Do you write down methods in your migrations? Queue Serialization, Stubs, Laravel PR Ideas, Migrations vs. Seeders

Happy Holidays! This week, we discuss tackling some queue serialization issues, debating migrations versus seeders, and discussing some new ideas for Laravel Core PRs. We also discuss PHP 8.4’s latest features, why down methods might be risky, and how custom stubs could make development smoother.

12-16
01:09:36

Nightwatch and Chill

In this episode of Midwest Artisan, we discuss Laravel Nightwatch, Instantiating a class via constructor property promotion, DTOs, and practical AI features in Laravel apps.Nightwatch QA with Matt Staufer: https://laravelpodcast.com/episodes/laracon-au-update-nightwatch-q-aInstantiating a class via constructor property promotion: https://travisnorthcutt.com/til/php-constructor-property-promotion/ (00:00) - - Intro (00:05) - - Nightwatch (09:09) - - Instantiating a class via constructor property promotion (17:54) - - DTOs: Good? Bad? Ugly? (27:56) - - API Resources vs DTOs (33:53) - - Do you use Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor? (41:07) - - Dalton adding AI to Laravel projects (44:55) - - What’s a practical AI usage for clients? (56:30) - - Outro

11-26
57:11

Validate Everything

This week we discuss the common occurrence of over-engineered abstractions, digging into post-request logic without losing our minds,  analytics, and securing digital assets.Show Links:Mergeloop - https://mergeloop.dev/Zendesk Breach - https://therecord.media/internet-archive-alleged-zendesk-account-breachHeap Analytics - https://www.heap.io/

10-29
01:08:16

WDW Passport w/ Doug Sisk

This week, we’re excited to welcome Doug Sisk, the creator of WDW Passport, a Laravel-powered application designed to help users plan their Disney World trips. Doug shares his journey from developing the app to 'scratch his own itch' and turning it into a successful tool for Disney enthusiasts. We dive into the technical side of things, discussing the use of Laravel and Livewire, tackling API integration challenges, and the transition into Websockets.WDW Passport: https://wdwpassport.com/Doug Sisk: https://x.com/Doug_SiskFused Agency: https://fusedagency.com/ThemeParks.wiki: https://themeparks.wiki/Give Kids The World Village: https://www.gktw.org/0:00 - Introduction0:11 - WDW Passport / Doug Sisk6:25 - Inspiration on creating WDW Passport11:18 - Wait Time APIs14:04 - Initial WDW Passport Stack15:44 - WDW Passport UI/UX17:27 - Migration to Livewire23:38 - Selecting PHP vs. Other Languages25:19 - Which APIs are you using?30:22 - Similiar Applications34:08 - How do you push through being a solo developer?40:45 - Other Projects44:24 - Are mobile apps making a comeback?46:25 - Tech required for Theme Parks47:42 - What’s your queue setup?54:04 - Give Kids The World57:43 - Geeking out on Disney Technology1:01:41 - Wrap / Where to find Doug

10-08
01:03:09

Building for Clients or Ourselves? Sticky & Static

This week, we follow up on last week’s local fakes discussion and explore what it would take for us to fully embrace Statamic. We also tackle the big question: Do clients even use a CMS after it’s built? Maybe it’s just us, but the answer seems to be a majority time of no. YAGNI, anyone? And, in exciting news, Dalton drops not one but TWO new products—RapidSaaS Conduit and Autoload!Show Notes:Statamic Roundtable - Mostly Technical Ep 52Adam's Tailwind 3:16 Shirt - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrzrSFbxW7MFake Drivers (North Meets South Podcast) - https://www.northmeetssouth.audio/163Mergeloop - https://mergeloop.dev/ RapidSaaS Conduit - https://rapidsaas.dev/Autoload (for Filament) - https://autoload.dev/ (00:00) - - Intro (02:31) - - Andy's vendor emailing from Israel (03:30) - - Andy went to Wrestemania (04:10) - - Kids names or big personalities in unit tests (05:08) - - Tailwind 3:16 (06:08) - - Local Fake Drivers/HTTP Facade (post discussion) (13:30) - - What would it take for our agency to use Statamic more? (24:47) - - Why do clients rarely want to use the CMS? (27:44) - - When do you choose WordPress? (28:45) - - Improving DX with WordPress using Bedrock/Sage (29:41) - - WpEngine Drama + How our agency was affected (38:15) - - Dalton Launches Not One but TWO products this week (43:26) - - Building a Company from Scratch (44:09) - - RapidSaaS Conduit: Laravel SaaS Starter Kit (55:11) - - Introducing AutoLoad: CMS with Filament (58:04) - - Pricing Strategies and Market Positioning (01:01:50) - - Future Plans and Roadmap (01:18:00) - - Outro

10-02
01:08:37

Local API Mocking, Flux & Accessibility, PostgreSQL, Web Dev Battles

In this episode, we cover the launch of Caleb’s Flux UI component library, and dive into the benefits of mocking APIs locally for faster development. We also highlight Aaron Francis’ new Postgres course, and wrap things up with the web dev battle YouTube channel and how a foodie app we built, QuizKnows, played a role in landing our first jobs.Show links:Flux UI Launch Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEMWcWQWJC0Flux UI: https://fluxui.dev/QuizKnows: https://github.com/ahinkle/quizknowsWeb Dev Battle (Foodie Battle): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Oxy6WV7zagBlazing Wing Challenge: https://www.buffalowildwings.com/blazin-challenge/

09-24
01:00:20

57 Million Reasons to Love Laravel

In this episode, Andy and Dalton dive into a wide array[] of topics, from Laravel's exciting $57 million funding to the buzz around FluxUI’s pricing drama and the much-anticipated features coming in Inertia 2.0. Along the way, they explore the need for a modernized PHP documentation (shoutout to Tim McDonald for his work!), a fun chat about Dalton’s latest project, and... shaving and beards? Show Links:Laravel raises $57M: https://x.com/taylorotwell/status/1831668872732180697Theo: https://x.com/t3dotgg/status/1833086692565106692Caleb's Notes on Work: https://notesonwork.transistor.fm/Tim's PHP Docs refresh: https://x.com/timacdonald87/status/1631504755225919489Connect with us:Andy Hinkle - X/@andyhnkDalton McCleery - X/@DaltonMcCleery (00:00) - Intro (02:06) - Laravel Secures $57 Million in Funding (08:16) - The Drama of FluxUI's Pricing (13:30) - The Importance of Kindness in the Developer Community (17:58) - Exciting Features in Inertia 2.0 (21:30) - The Growing Influence of the Laravel Ecosystem (27:14) - Laravel's Plans and Projects (33:11) - Tim McDonald's Work on Improving the PHP Documentation (50:42) - Shaving Habits and Preferences.. yeah.. (52:56) - Dalton Project X update (56:43) - Handling SaaS Subscriptions (59:07) - The Delightful Artisan Brew (01:05:31) - Outro

09-11
01:02:02

The real jackpot is the Laravel community

This week, we're diving into all things post-Laracon! Andy shares his wild adventure just getting to Dallas with a few unexpected twists and turns along the way. We break down the highlights from Laracon, including the exciting announcements about Laravel Cloud and the amazing talks that left us inspired and ready to code.But what truly makes Laracon special? The community. From the great conversations to the friendly faces, it's the people who make Laracon an unforgettable experience every time.Plus, Andy gives a heartfelt follow-up on his podcast idea, Artisan's Journey. He opens up about the overwhelming positive feedback he received at Laracon and how it’s fueling his passion to continue exploring the journeys of fellow developers.Andy and Dalton cap it off with their excitement about Laravel Cloud and how excited they are to see Laravel's growth in years to come.Show Links:https://cloud.laravel.com/Connect with us:Andy Hinkle - X/@andyhnkDalton McCleery - X/@DaltonMcCleery

09-02
53:35

Those aren't NBA players, just a bunch of nerdy developers

We dive into NullStar 2024, the ultimate basketball showdown between Team Laravel and the Terminal Boys. We share our admiration for Caleb Porzio (who’s definitely on Team Laravel!). Plus, we explore staying productive in development, Andy's ambitious idea to track all Laravel events, and Dalton's latest package release—Remote Models.If you're at Laracon this week, "yo dude" me!Show Links:NullStar 2024Caleb Prozio crossed $1m on GitHub SponsorshipsDalton's package, Remote ModelsMostly Technical Ep. 48The Laravel Coffee BlendTerminal Boys (terminal.shop)Connect with us:Andy Hinkle - X/@andyhnkDalton McCleery - X/@DaltonMcCleery

08-26
01:05:04

The gap between the last Standard Plan and Enterprise

This week, we dive into A/B testing and the challenges that come with the jump from the highest non-enterprise plan to full enterprise. We also discuss some Laravel shop talk, sharing the tools we've been using recently. Plus, Andy introduces his new podcast idea, where he plans to interview Laravel community members and explore their unique development journeys.Podcast artwork mentioned on the show is by Robert Wade, robertcreates.comConnect with us:Andy Hinkle - X/@andyhnkDalton McCleery - X/@DaltonMcCleery (00:00) - Intro (00:19) - How's it going? (01:19) - Our new podcast art cover (03:32) - A/B Testing - Bring a fat wallet (08:15) - The large gap between the last plan and enterprise is frustrating (13:52) - Artisan's Journey - Andy's Podcast Idea (28:31) - Laravel Tools (39:15) - Is reusing Red Solo cups a boomer Midwest thing? (41:13) - Underrated Laravel Stuff Lately (52:44) - How do you retroactively sync records with third-party APIs? (01:06:00) - Wrap + Outro

08-19
01:06:49

About Us + What is Laravel building?

A little about us, why we love Laravel, and what the heck is Laravel building?Creators & Guests Andy Hinkle - Host Dalton McCleery - Host

08-15
01:01:18

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