Taylor Otwell Turns Off GitHub Issues on Laravel Packages
On September 4, 2026, Taylor Otwell announced via X that he had disabled GitHub Issues on most Laravel open-source packages. The move sparked a wave of discussion across the PHP and Laravel communities, even though — as Laravel News editor Eric L. Barnes noted — the change applies only to packages, not to the main Laravel framework repository itself.
What Taylor Said
In his own words:
Last week I disabled GitHub Issues on most Laravel open-source packages.
If you hit a bug, describe it to a coding agent and open a PR. Even if the code isn't great, that's fine — code can be iterated on. The PR still documents the problem, and a proper fix can follow.
I suspect this will soon be how most open-source libraries operate.
The intent is clear: instead of filing a plain-text issue and waiting for a maintainer to act on it, contributors are expected to use an AI coding agent to produce at least a rough pull request that demonstrates the problem and attempts a fix.
How to Contribute a Bug Fix Under the New Workflow
The practical steps are straightforward:
- Reproduce the bug locally in the relevant Laravel package.
- Describe the problem to a coding agent (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or any LLM-powered tool).
- Let the agent generate a patch, even if it is imperfect.
- Open a pull request — the PR itself becomes the documentation of the problem, and maintainers can iterate from there.
There are no new CLI commands or configuration files involved; the change is purely a process shift.
The Broader Open-Source Trend
Interestingly, not every major PHP project is moving in the same direction. Symfony is experimenting with an issue-first model — contributors file issues, and then Symfony's own team or AI tooling writes the fixes. Both approaches share the same underlying motivation: maintainer burnout from triaging a high volume of issues.
The two strategies just differ on who does the initial coding work:
- Laravel approach — contributor uses an AI agent to draft a PR.
- Symfony approach — contributor files an issue; project team or AI handles the code.
Key Takeaways
- GitHub Issues are disabled on most Laravel packages; the main
laravel/frameworkrepository is unaffected. - Bug reporters are now expected to open a pull request, ideally assisted by a coding agent.
- Imperfect PRs are explicitly welcome — they document the problem and give maintainers something concrete to iterate on.
- Symfony is taking the opposite approach, keeping issues open and having maintainers or AI write the fixes.
- The change is reversible; if it does not work out, issues can simply be re-enabled.
- AI-assisted contribution workflows are becoming a real expectation in open-source maintenance, not just a novelty.
What This Means for Laravel Developers
If you rely on a Laravel package and hit a bug, your first move should now be to reach for your preferred coding agent rather than the "New Issue" button. The barrier to contributing has arguably lowered — you do not need a perfect fix, just a PR that captures the problem. That is a reasonable trade-off that keeps maintainers focused on reviewing code rather than triaging text.
Whether this model spreads across the wider PHP ecosystem remains to be seen, but the direction of travel is clear: AI is becoming a first-class part of the open-source contribution loop.
Source: Laravel News — Taylor disabled GitHub Issues on most Laravel open-source packages
