Day 5 – Running Python Forecasts from Laravel via Artisan #SalesForecastAI #LaravelPythonBridge #ArtisanPython #ForecastAutomation #AIBackend

Today we’ll connect Laravel with the Python forecasting script, allowing you to run sales predictions directly via a button click or Artisan command.

Table of Contents

⚙️ Step 1: Store Python script inside Laravel

Create a folder:

mkdir -p app/AI

Move forecast_sales.py into it:

app/AI/forecast_sales.py

Also save the CSV export as:

storage/app/sales_data.csv

You can later auto-export this via Laravel instead of downloading manually.

🧪 Step 2: Create a Laravel Artisan command

php artisan make:command RunSalesForecast

In app/Console/Commands/RunSalesForecast.php:

namespace App\Console\Commands;

use Illuminate\Console\Command;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log;

class RunSalesForecast extends Command
{
    protected $signature = 'forecast:run';
    protected $description = 'Run the Python sales forecast script';

    public function handle()
    {
        $this->info('Running sales forecast...');

        $cmd = 'python3 ' . base_path('app/AI/forecast_sales.py');
        $output = shell_exec($cmd);

        if ($output === null) {
            $this->error('Forecast script failed.');
        } else {
            $this->info('Forecast completed.');
            Log::info('Forecast Output: ' . $output);
        }

        return 0;
    }
}

🖼 Step 3: Show forecast image in Laravel

In your controller (optional):

public function forecastImage()
{
    return response()->file(base_path('app/AI/forecast_plot.png'));
}

Route:

Route::get('/forecast/image', [SalesController::class, 'forecastImage'])->name('forecast.image');

🧪 Step 4: Run the forecast from Laravel

In terminal:

php artisan forecast:run

You’ll see:

Running sales forecast...
Forecast completed.

Now open:

http://localhost:8000/forecast/image

You’ll see the AI-generated 30-day forecast chart.

🧠 Bonus: Run forecast on button click (via queue or job)

In Blade:

<form method="POST" action="{{ route('forecast.run') }}">
    @csrf
    <button class="bg-indigo-500 text-white px-4 py-2 rounded">Run Forecast</button>
</form>

Add route/controller to dispatch Artisan::call('forecast:run').

✅ Up next (Day 6): we’ll save and display forecast data in Laravel, including prediction ranges and trendlines.

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