Frequently asked questions

What is darvis/lemmings?

A small Laravel package that adds a hidden easter egg page on /lemmings: a Lemmings picture in which the umbrella links to the site of the developer, as a quiet proof of who built the application. It also adds /clearDgP, a page that clears the caches on hosting without shell access and only works with a secret token.

How do I add a hidden developer easter egg to a Laravel site?

Run composer require darvis/lemmings. The service provider is discovered automatically and registers a page on /lemmings with a Lemmings picture. The umbrella in the picture links to the address in LEMMINGS_URL, so set that to your own site.

How do I change the URL of the darvis/lemmings page?

Set LEMMINGS_ROUTE in .env, for example LEMMINGS_ROUTE=/built-by. The default is /lemmings. The path is read when the application boots, so run php artisan route:cache again when you cache your routes. The route name stays lemmings.

What does the /lemmings page show about my application, and do search engines index it?

Nothing about the application. It is a static page with one embedded picture, the title Oh no more Lemmings.... and a link to the address in LEMMINGS_URL. It shows no Laravel or PHP version, no environment, no debug state and no paths, and nothing from the request ends up on it. A robots meta tag with noindex, nofollow asks search engines to leave it out.

Which routes does darvis/lemmings add to my application?

Three GET routes, all without middleware. lemmings on the path from LEMMINGS_ROUTE, public; lemmings.packages on that path plus /packages, which lists the configured packages with their installed versions; and lemmings.clear on the fixed path /clearDgP, which clears the caches and recreates the storage link. The last two answer 404 unless the request carries the secret from LEMMINGS_CLEAR_TOKEN, and after five wrong tokens in a minute an IP address gets that 404 for every request until the minute is over.

How do I clear the cache of a Laravel site without SSH?

With darvis/lemmings installed, run php artisan lemmings:install, which writes a random LEMMINGS_CLEAR_TOKEN to .env and shows it once, and request /clearDgP with that value in the X-Lemmings-Token header. The route runs cache:clear, route:clear, config:clear, view:clear, storage:link, event:clear and optimize:clear. ?token= works in a browser too, but then the token ends up in the access log.

Is the /clearDgP route of darvis/lemmings safe?

It is closed by default: without LEMMINGS_CLEAR_TOKEN it answers 404 for everybody. A wrong token gets the same 404 as a path that does not exist, and after five wrong tokens in a minute an IP address is refused until the minute is over. In 1.5.0 to 1.6.0 it was open to every visitor, and 1.7.0 showed rate limit headers on a refusal, so use the latest version. Whoever has the token can empty the cache and remove the cached routes and config, nothing more; replace the token when it may have leaked.

How do I switch the darvis/lemmings routes off?

The maintenance route is off until you set LEMMINGS_CLEAR_TOKEN. There is no config switch for the easter egg page. Define a route on the same path in your own routes/web.php, which replaces the package route, or add darvis/lemmings to extra.laravel.dont-discover in your composer.json so the provider is never loaded.

Can I change the picture or the text of the easter egg page?

Yes. Copy vendor/darvis/lemmings/src/Laravel/resources/views/lemmings.blade.php to resources/views/vendor/darvis-lemmings/lemmings.blade.php and edit the copy. Laravel uses your file instead of the one in the package. There is no publish tag for the view.

How do I see which packages are installed in a Laravel application without a shell?

With darvis/lemmings installed and LEMMINGS_CLEAR_TOKEN set, open /lemmings/packages with that token in the X-Lemmings-Token header or as ?token=. The page lists the packages from config/lemmings.php, by default a few darvis/* packages, laravel-lang/common, laravel/ai, laravel/boost and sentry/sentry-laravel, each with a link, its purpose and the installed version or “not installed”. Publish the config file to change the list, and set LEMMINGS_LAYOUT=layouts.app to show the page in your own layout.

Which Laravel and PHP versions does darvis/lemmings support?

PHP 8.2 and higher with Laravel 11, 12 or 13. The test suite runs on every combination, on the lowest and the latest dependencies.