Migrating Legacy PHP to AI-Ready Infrastructure

Refactoring legacy PHP is no longer just about stability—it's about preparing for the Agentic future.

Defining Context Boundaries

LLMs suffer from limited context windows. If you feed a 10,000 line "God Class" controller to an agent, it will hallucinate.

The first step in migration is Vertical Slicing.

The Strangler Fig Pattern

Don't rewrite. Replace.

1. Identify a seam (e.g., Shipping Calculation)
2. Write a new microservice or module in a modern framework (Next.js/Laravel)
3. Route traffic to the new service for that specific context

Why This Matters for AI

When you break down monoliths into clear boundaries, you're not just improving maintainability—you're creating AI-friendly contexts.

Each module becomes a potential MCP server or API endpoint that an agent can understand and interact with safely.

Practical Steps

Start small:

• Pick one feature (e.g., product search)
• Extract it into a standalone service
• Document the API clearly
• Test with an AI agent

The goal isn't perfection—it's progressive enhancement toward an AI-ready architecture.