Generate Fake Data for Laravel with the MockHero API

The Problem

Laravel ships with model factories and Faker, which is great until you need relational data. You define a UserFactory and a PostFactory, but connecting them requires afterCreating callbacks, state methods, and careful orchestration. For a real app with 10+ models, the factory system becomes hard to maintain.

Faker itself generates random data that often fails validation. Email domains do not resolve, phone numbers have wrong formats, and addresses mix countries with zip codes.

The Solution: MockHero API

MockHero generates validated, relational data in one API call. Define your models as a MockHero schema, use ref fields for foreign keys, and get back JSON you can insert through Eloquent.

Quick Setup

curl -X POST https://api.mockhero.dev/api/v1/generate \
  -H "x-api-key: mh_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "tables": [
    {
      "name": "users",
      "count": 10,
      "fields": [
        { "name": "id", "type": "uuid" },
        { "name": "name", "type": "full_name" },
        { "name": "email", "type": "email" },
        { "name": "created_at", "type": "datetime" }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "posts",
      "count": 30,
      "fields": [
        { "name": "id", "type": "uuid" },
        { "name": "user_id", "type": "ref", "params": { "ref": "users.id" } },
        { "name": "title", "type": "sentence" },
        { "name": "body", "type": "paragraphs" },
        { "name": "status", "type": "enum", "params": { "values": ["draft","published","archived"] } }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "format": "json"
}'

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Install dependencies

Laravel includes Guzzle by default. No extra packages needed.

2. Get your MockHero API key

Sign up at mockhero.dev/sign-up and add the key to your .env.

3. Create an Artisan command

Run php artisan make:command SeedFromMockHero and write a command that calls MockHero's API and inserts the data through Eloquent models.

4. Run it

php artisan seed:mockhero

5. Verify

Open Tinker or your admin panel to confirm the data was inserted with proper relationships.

Complete Example

The Artisan command replaces factories and seeders with a single API call that handles relational consistency through ref fields.

Why MockHero vs Faker / Factories

• No factory maintenance — schema changes are JSON updates, not PHP refactors.
• Relational out of the box — ref fields replace complex afterCreating callbacks.
• Consistent data — pass a seed parameter for deterministic output across environments.

Get Started

Free tier, no credit card. Sign up at mockhero.dev and seed your Laravel app in one Artisan command.