name: laravel-migrations description: Laravel 12 database migrations - Schema Builder, columns, indexes, foreign keys, seeders. Use when designing database schema or managing migrations. versions: laravel: "12.x" php: "8.4" user-invocable: true references: references/schema.md, references/columns.md, references/indexes.md, references/foreign-keys.md, references/commands.md, references/seeding.md, references/testing.md, references/production.md, references/troubleshooting.md, references/templates/CreateTableMigration.php.md, references/templates/ModifyTableMigration.php.md, references/templates/PivotTableMigration.php.md, references/templates/Seeder.php.md, references/templates/MigrationTest.php.md related-skills: laravel-eloquent, laravel-testing, laravel-architecture

Laravel Migrations

Agent Workflow (MANDATORY)

Before ANY implementation, launch in parallel:

1. fuse-ai-pilot:explore-codebase - Check existing migrations
2. fuse-ai-pilot:research-expert - Verify Laravel 12 patterns via Context7
3. mcp__context7__query-docs - Check specific Schema Builder features

After implementation, run fuse-ai-pilot:sniper for validation.

Overview

Critical Rules

1. Always define down() - Reversible migrations
2. Use foreignId()->constrained() - Not raw unsignedBigInteger
3. Add indexes on foreign keys - Performance critical
4. Test rollback before deploy - Validate down() works
5. Never modify deployed migrations - Create new ones

Decision Guide

Migration Type

Need schema change?
├── New table → make:migration create_X_table
├── Add column → make:migration add_X_to_Y_table
├── Modify column → make:migration modify_X_in_Y_table
├── Add index → make:migration add_index_to_Y_table
└── Seed data → make:seeder XSeeder

Column Type Selection

Foreign Key Cascade

Reference Guide

Core Concepts

Advanced Topics

Templates

Quick Reference

Create Table

Schema::create('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->id();
    $table->foreignId('user_id')->constrained()->cascadeOnDelete();
    $table->string('title');
    $table->text('content');
    $table->enum('status', ['draft', 'published'])->default('draft');
    $table->timestamps();
    $table->softDeletes();

    $table->index(['user_id', 'status']);
});

Modify Table

Schema::table('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->string('slug')->after('title')->unique();
    $table->boolean('featured')->default(false);
});

Commands

php artisan make:migration create_posts_table
php artisan migrate
php artisan migrate:rollback --step=1
php artisan migrate:fresh --seed

Best Practices

DO

• Use foreignId()->constrained() for foreign keys
• Add composite indexes for common queries
• Test down() method before deploying
• Use --pretend to preview SQL

DON'T

• Modify already-deployed migrations
• Forget down() method
• Use raw SQL without Schema Builder
• Skip indexes on foreign keys