events

name: events description: Decoupled communication between application layers. Events are plain data objects describing what happened; listeners react to those events with a single, specific side effect. compatible_agents: - architect - implement - refactor - review

Events & Listeners

When to Use

• One completed business action should trigger multiple independent side effects.
• You need decoupling between the producer and consumers of a domain event.
• Listeners can run asynchronously without changing core business result.

When Not to Use

• You only need one simple side effect; call the Action directly.
• The side effect must happen synchronously before returning control.
• Event chaining would obscure flow and make failures hard to reason about.

Rules

• Event classes live in app/Events/; listener classes live in app/Listeners/.
• Events are plain data containers; keep business logic out of events.
• Name events in past tense: InvoicePaid, UserRegistered, OrderShipped.
• Each listener handles one reaction only.
• Name listeners by reaction intent: SendInvoicePaidNotification, UpdateInventory.
• Dispatch events from an Action after successful operation.
• Register listeners in EventServiceProvider.
• Use ShouldQueue for deferrable listeners and provide failed() for critical paths.

Examples

// Event — data container only
namespace App\Events;

use App\Models\Invoice;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Events\Dispatchable;
use Illuminate\Queue\SerializesModels;

class InvoicePaid
{
    use Dispatchable, SerializesModels;

    public function __construct(
        public readonly Invoice $invoice,
    ) {}
}

// Listener — one reaction
namespace App\Listeners;

use App\Events\InvoicePaid;
use App\Notifications\InvoicePaidNotification;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldQueue;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log;

class SendInvoicePaidNotification implements ShouldQueue
{
    public function handle(InvoicePaid $event): void
    {
        $event->invoice->user->notify(new InvoicePaidNotification($event->invoice));
    }

    public function failed(InvoicePaid $event, \Throwable $exception): void
    {
        Log::error('Invoice paid notification listener failed.', [
            'invoice_id' => $event->invoice->id,
            'message' => $exception->getMessage(),
        ]);
    }
}

// Dispatching from an Action after successful state change
namespace App\Actions;

use App\Events\InvoicePaid;
use App\Models\Invoice;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;

class MarkInvoiceAsPaid
{
    public function execute(Invoice $invoice): void
    {
        DB::transaction(function () use ($invoice): void {
            $invoice->update(['paid_at' => now()]);
            InvoicePaid::dispatch($invoice);
        });
    }
}

// Registration — one event, many listeners
protected $listen = [
    InvoicePaid::class => [
        SendInvoicePaidNotification::class,
        UpdateAccountingRecords::class,
        NotifyAccountManager::class,
    ],
];

// Anti-pattern: listener bundles multiple unrelated reactions
class HandleInvoicePaid implements ShouldQueue
{
    public function handle(InvoicePaid $event): void
    {
        $event->invoice->user->notify(new InvoicePaidNotification($event->invoice));
        app(UpdateAccountingRecords::class)->execute($event->invoice);
    }
}

Checklist

• Event name is past tense and describes a completed fact.
• Event class contains data only.
• Each listener performs exactly one side effect.
• Deferred listeners implement ShouldQueue.
• Critical queued listeners implement failed().
• Event dispatch happens from an Action, not directly from controller/model.

Anti-Patterns

• Adding business logic inside an Event class
• Bundling multiple reactions in a single Listener (one listener, one reaction)
• Dispatching events from controllers or models directly — dispatch from Actions
• Using events for simple, single side effects that can be triggered directly
• Not implementing failed() on queued listeners for critical side effects
• Creating event chains that obscure control flow and make debugging hard

References

• Laravel Events
• Related: Actions/SKILL.md — events should be dispatched from Actions
• Related: Observers/SKILL.md — for model lifecycle reactions