I've always wanted Shift to be more of an everyday tool. Not just something you run once a year for upgrades. While upgrading Laravel is Shift's "bread and butter", Shift has so much more automation.
Over the years I've attempted to reach this goal with the Shift Workbench. Particular with the desktop application and CLI tool. Unfortunately, these never got much use.
I think it's because a lot of these operation are pull, not push. You have to know the automation to run, then open the browser/app/terminal, and run the application. Ideally, Shift would just run the automation for you.
I think the desktop and CLI tool missed the mark. They were still pull. It's actually why I removed them. But there's still an opportunity to push this automation to you. I just haven't figured out the channel.
In 2025, I realized the ground underneath Shift is, well, shifting. With a string of "optional" upgrades in recent Laravel versions, and powerful AI tools at your fingertips, Shift's future is less certain.
For those reasons, now more than ever it's more important that I figure out this channel.
It dawned on me. I think the next iteration is to leverage what Shift is good at - sending you a PR with curated changes.
So starting January 1, I sent out the first Monthly Shift. This Shift is automated for subscribers to a Shifty Plan. It contains a focused, curated set of refactors. If you like them, merge it. If you don't, close it. You'll get a fresh PR next month.
The one in January refactored to modern redirection helpers and assertions. Both of which I rolled up into a Shift Workbench task. Which you may run yourself, for free.
That will likely be the practice for these Monthly Shifts. Subscribers will receive the automated PR. If you're not a subscriber, the automation will likely become available in as a task (or set of tasks) within the Shift Workbench. Although they may not always be free.