What API development services do you offer?

We offer REST API development, GraphQL APIs, third-party API integration, Laravel API development, and API security implementation. We also provide DevOps services including AWS infrastructure and CI/CD pipelines.

Where are you based and do you work with clients across the UK?

We're based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, but we work with clients across the entire United Kingdom including London, Manchester, Birmingham, and beyond. We work remotely with businesses throughout Britain.

What technologies do you specialise in?

We specialise in Laravel and PHP for backend development, along with RESTful APIs, GraphQL, Node.js, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, and CloudFlare. We also work with MySQL and PostgreSQL databases.

Do you provide ongoing support after project completion?

Yes, we offer ongoing support and maintenance packages to ensure your APIs and applications continue running smoothly. This includes monitoring, updates, security patches, and performance optimisation.

Filament v5 Is Here - What It Means for Laravel and FilamentPHP Developers

Filament v5 has officially landed, and if you are building admin panels, dashboards, or internal tools with Laravel, this is one to pay attention to. Released on 16th January 2026, this major version might surprise you - not because of sweeping new Filament features, but because of what it unlocks under the bonnet.

So What Actually Changed?

Here is the thing that catches most people off guard: Filament v5 introduces zero new Filament-specific features compared to v4. If you have been following along, Filament v4 was the substantial feature release - unified schemas, nested resources, built-in MFA, and significant performance gains. The v5 major version bump exists for one reason: Livewire v4 support.

The Filament team made a deliberate, semver-respecting decision here. Rather than quietly bumping Livewire to v4 in a minor release and risking breakage for projects with custom Livewire components, they chose to treat it as a clean major version. It is a conservative, responsible approach and we think that is the right call.

What Livewire v4 Brings to the Table

Livewire v4 is a substantial release in its own right, and upgrading to Filament v5 gives you access to all of it. Here are the highlights that matter most for Filament developers.

Islands are arguably the headline feature. They allow you to create isolated regions within a Livewire component that update independently. When an action occurs inside an island, only that island re-renders - not the entire component. For data-heavy admin panels and dashboards, this is a real performance win on top of the rendering improvements that v4 already delivered. You get the benefits of breaking components into smaller pieces without the overhead of creating separate child components or managing props.

Single-file components let you write your component class, template, styles, and JavaScript all in one file. If you have worked with Vue's single-file components, the concept will feel familiar. This is now the default when you run php artisan make:livewire, though the traditional multi-file format is still fully supported.

Async actions mean that parallel requests no longer block each other. If a user is typing in a form with wire:model.live, all requests run concurrently. The result is noticeably more responsive interfaces, particularly in forms with multiple interactive fields.

Scoped styles and scripts can now be added directly in your templates. Styles are automatically scoped to your component, and scripts have access to this for component context. Both are served as native files with browser caching.

The Upgrade Path

If you are already on Filament v4, the upgrade to v5 is remarkably straightforward. The Filament team provides an automated upgrade script that handles most of the work:

composer require filament/upgrade:"^5.0" -W --dev

vendor/bin/filament-v5

The script analyses your project and outputs specific composer commands tailored to your setup. There are no manual migration steps required for Filament itself. If you have custom Livewire components, you will also want to follow the Livewire v4 upgrade guide, but for most projects this should be a smooth transition.

Worth noting: Filament v5 requires Tailwind CSS v4.1+. If you upgraded to Tailwind v4 as part of your move to Filament v4, you may just need a minor bump. If you are still on Tailwind v3 with a custom theme, you will need to upgrade Tailwind first, which may be the bigger task.

Filament Blueprint - AI-Assisted Development

Alongside v5, the Filament team also launched Filament Blueprint, a tool designed to help AI coding agents produce better implementation plans for Filament projects. If you are using tools like Codex, Cursor, or GitHub Copilot to build Filament applications, Blueprint feeds your AI agent comprehensive knowledge about Filament's components and best practices.

It is a Laravel Boost extension that works with both Filament v4 and v5, generating detailed specifications with exact component references, CLI commands, and configuration chains rather than vague implementation plans.

Should You Upgrade Now?

If you are actively developing a Filament project and your dependencies are compatible, there is very little reason not to. The upgrade path is painless, the ecosystem is catching up quickly, and the Livewire v4 features - particularly Islands and async actions - can meaningfully improve the performance and user experience of your admin panels.

If you are mid-project or relying on plugins that have not yet added v5 compatibility, there is no rush either. The Filament team has confirmed they will continue pushing features to both v4 and v5, so you are not being left behind.

Our Take

At The API Guys, we are fans of this approach. A major version that prioritises stability and ecosystem alignment over flashy new features shows maturity in the project. Filament v4 delivered the big feature work, and v5 ensures the framework is running on the best foundations available. The Filament team has consistently demonstrated good judgement in how they evolve the framework, and v5 is no exception.

For Laravel developers building admin interfaces, Filament remains one of the best tools available. With Livewire v4 now powering it, the performance ceiling just got a lot higher.

If you are planning an upgrade or starting a new Filament project and want some guidance, get in touch. We are always happy to chat about Laravel and the tools that make it brilliant.