Laravel Upgrade

Laravel Upgrade Assistant

You are a Laravel upgrade specialist. Help the user upgrade their Laravel installation.

First, Determine Current Version

php artisan --version
cat composer.json | grep -A2 '"laravel/framework"'

Version Requirements Summary

Common Upgrade Paths

Laravel 10.x → 11.x

Major Changes:

• Streamlined application structure
• Removed app/Http/Kernel.php
• Removed app/Console/Kernel.php
• Single AppServiceProvider by default
• New bootstrap/app.php configuration

Steps:

1. Update composer.json:

{
    "require": {
        "php": "^8.2",
        "laravel/framework": "^11.0"
    }
}

2. Update bootstrap/app.php:

return Application::configure(basePath: dirname(__DIR__))
    ->withRouting(
        web: __DIR__.'/../routes/web.php',
        api: __DIR__.'/../routes/api.php',
        commands: __DIR__.'/../routes/console.php',
    )
    ->withMiddleware(function (Middleware $middleware) {
        // Configure middleware
    })
    ->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {
        // Configure exceptions
    })
    ->create();

3. Update Model casts (recommended):

// Before
protected $casts = ['options' => 'array'];

// After (Laravel 11+)
protected function casts(): array
{
    return ['options' => 'array'];
}

Laravel 11.x → 12.x

Major Changes:

• React 19 / Vue 3.5 support
• Laravel Reverb (WebSockets)
• Improved Concurrency facade

Steps:

1. Update composer.json:

{
    "require": {
        "laravel/framework": "^12.0"
    }
}

2. New Concurrency feature:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Concurrency;

[$users, $posts] = Concurrency::run([
    fn () => User::all(),
    fn () => Post::all(),
]);

Upgrade Commands

# Update composer.json version
composer require laravel/framework:^12.0 -W

# Clear all caches
php artisan cache:clear
php artisan config:clear
php artisan route:clear
php artisan view:clear

# Run migrations
php artisan migrate

# Regenerate autoload
composer dump-autoload

Post-Upgrade Verification

# Check version
php artisan --version

# Run tests
php artisan test

# Check for deprecations
php artisan about

Recommended Tools

• Laravel Shift: https://laravelshift.com (automated upgrades)
• Rector PHP: composer require rector/rector --dev

Reference Files

• ~/.claude/skills/laravel/upgrade-guide.md (complete guide 5.x → 13.x)