In 2025, Sublime Text remains one of the fastest, most elegant editors available, especially when customized into a full-featured IDE for PHP and Laravel development. Here’s how I have my environment configured, complete with language server support, AI assistance, and a beautiful UI.
📁 Folder Structure & Philosophy
I work primarily on modular Laravel applications, where performance, code navigation, and contextual intelligence are critical. That’s why my Sublime setup emphasizes:
· Fast navigation with fuzzy search
· LSP-based autocomplete and diagnostics
· Laravel-friendly Blade highlighting
· AI-powered code generation
🌟 Core Packages
1. LSP
Client implementation of the Language Server Protocol for Sublime Text.
2. LSP-intelephense
Adds PHP intelligence: autocomplete, go-to-definition, diagnostics, and more. If you’re serious about PHP, this is essential.
Tip: I use a licensed version of Intelephense for full feature support, including Laravel facades and Eloquent models.
3. Laravel Blade AutoComplete
Adds autocomplete for common Blade directives, components, and syntax.
4. GitGutter
Shows git diffs in the gutter, useful for quickly spotting changes.
5. SideBarEnhancements
Adds essential options to the sidebar context menu (rename, duplicate, open in terminal, etc).
6. Material Theme + FileIcons
My go-to combo for a visually pleasant UI. I use JetBrains Mono at size 18 for maximum readability.
⚙️ Preferences Settings
Here’s a snippet from my Preferences.sublime-settings:
{
"font_face": "JetBrains Mono",
"font_size": 18,
"theme": "Material-Theme.sublime-theme",
"color_scheme": "Packages/Material Theme/schemes/Material-Theme.sublime-color-scheme",
"line_padding_top": 10,
"save_on_focus_lost": true,
"format_on_save": true,
"auto_complete": true,
"scroll_past_end": true,
"ignored_packages": ["Vintage"]
}
🔧 LSP + Intelephense Settings
Go to Preferences → Package Settings → LSP-intelephense → Settings and paste the following in the User pane:
{
"initializationOptions": {
"storagePath": "${home}/.intelephense",
"licenseKey": "YOUR_LICENSE_KEY",
"environment": {
"includePaths": [
"Modules",
"vendor/laravel/framework/src",
"vendor/illuminate",
"vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Foundation"
]
},
"files": {
"maxSize": 5000000
}
},
"env": {
"INTELEPHENSE_LICENSE_KEY": "YOUR_LICENSE_KEY"
},
"settings": {
"intelephense": {
"files": {
"associations": ["*.php", "*.blade.php", "*.phpstub"],
"exclude": []
},
"phpdoc": {
"enable": true
},
"completion": {
"autoImport": true,
"insertUseDeclaration": true,
"fullyQualifyGlobalConstantsAndFunctions": false,
"triggerParameterHints": true
},
"diagnostics": {
"undefinedTypes": true,
"undefinedFunctions": true,
"undefinedMethods": true,
"undefinedConstants": true,
"undefinedVariables": true,
"undefinedClassConstants": true
},
"format": {
"enable": true
},
"stubs": ["standard", "pdo", "json", "mbstring", "curl", "openssl", "Reflection", "SPL", "exception"]
}
}
}
⚖️ Laravel IDE Helper (optional but recommended)
To improve Intelephense’s awareness of dynamic Laravel methods (e.g., facades and Eloquent model scopes), install:
composer require --dev barryvdh/laravel-ide-helper
php artisan ide-helper:generate
php artisan ide-helper:models -M
Add the generated files to your .gitignore or commit them depending on your team’s workflow.
🧵 AI Assistance with Ollama for Sublime Text
I also use Ollama for Sublime, a custom plugin that brings AI capabilities directly into Sublime Text.
Note: You can configure the default model and prompt behavior in the plugin’s Package Settings → Ollama menu.
🔗 Key Bindings
[
{ "keys": ["super+shift+i"], "command": "lsp_symbol_action", "args": {"kind": "source.addMissingImports"} },
{ "keys": ["f12"], "command": "lsp_symbol_definition" },
{ "keys": ["super+alt+r"], "command": "lsp_rename" },
{ "keys": ["super+alt+f"], "command": "lsp_format_document" },
{ "keys": ["ctrl+cmd+enter"], "command": "ollama_custom_prompt" }
]
📄 Suggested .sublime-project Setup
{
"folders": [
{ "path": ".", "folder_exclude_patterns": ["vendor", "node_modules", "storage"] }
],
"settings": {
"LSP": { "intelephense": { "enabled": true } },
"build_system": "Pint"
}
}
🎨 Final Result
This Sublime Text setup in 2025 gives you:
· blazing fast editor performance
· Laravel-intelligent completions via Intelephense
· Blade and Artisan integration
· AI code generation via Ollama
· Clean and elegant UI
If you’re a Laravel developer who prefers speed, focus, and local-first tools — this setup will serve you extremely well.
Happy coding! 🚀