There is no single safe command for moving a legacy website to modern Laravel. If the site already runs Laravel, upgrade it using the official guide for each version change. If it runs another framework, a CMS, or custom PHP, treat the work as a replatforming project: map the behavior and data you need to preserve, then rebuild and verify them in stages.
The right route depends on the source application, not just the Laravel version you want to reach. Start by recording what the current site does, choose an approach that fits its architecture, and plan how you will test and deploy before changing production.
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First, decide what kind of migration you are doing
“Migrating to Laravel” can mean two different projects. An existing Laravel application can be upgraded through framework versions, following the relevant official upgrade notes at each step. A site built on another PHP framework, a CMS, or custom PHP needs to be replatformed: Laravel’s upgrade guide cannot prescribe how to translate another system’s routes, data model, or business rules.
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|---|---|---|
| Upgrade an existing Laravel application | The application’s existing architecture and behavior, subject to compatibility changes. | Trace the path from the installed Laravel version through the applicable release-by-release upgrade guides; check package and PHP constraints at every stage. The current Laravel 13 guide covers Laravel 12 to 13, not every older starting version. Laravel 13 upgrade guide |
| Replatform from another framework, CMS, or custom PHP | Requirements and behavior you identify and deliberately reproduce; the source implementation does not become a Laravel upgrade automatically. | Design the Laravel application, map source data into its target model, and plan URL continuity, integrations, and user-facing workflows around the actual source system. No universal conversion recipe applies to an unspecified source site. |
Before choosing between these paths, identify the source framework and runtime, installed dependencies, database, integrations, routes, scheduled tasks, queues, authentication, and the user journeys the site must continue to support.
#1 Best Overall
Build a baseline before changing code
A migration is easier to assess when you can compare the new application with a record of the old one. Inventory the system and make the important behavior observable before you alter it.
- Runtime and dependencies: record PHP and framework versions, Composer packages, PHP extensions, and any constraints imposed by hosting.
- Data: identify the databases and important records, relationships, file storage, and any existing import or export processes.
- Routes and content: list public and authenticated URLs, forms, redirects, and pages that matter to users or external links.
- Work outside web requests: note scheduled tasks, queue jobs, notifications, and other background processes.
- Integrations: document external services, credentials and configuration ownership, plus what a user sees if an integration is unavailable.
- Critical journeys: write down the actions that must keep working, such as registering, signing in, searching, submitting a form, or completing a transaction if the site supports one.
- Operations: identify who deploys the site, how it is hosted, how logs and errors are monitored, and what downtime the project can tolerate.
Turn that inventory into a concise acceptance checklist. Where possible, capture representative current outputs and data counts so you can compare them after the migration. The source site’s architecture and requirements determine which checks matter; there is no universal checklist that substitutes for this baseline.
Choose a target version and check compatibility
For an existing Laravel application, use the official upgrade notes for the actual source-to-target path rather than applying a recipe written for a different starting release. The current official Laravel 13 guide covers the move from Laravel 12 to 13. Laravel says it attempts to document every possible breaking change, while noting that some changes may affect only a portion of applications. Read the full guide and inspect the application for behavior it calls out before changing dependencies.
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Laravel 13 items to audit when upgrading from Laravel 12
These are specific to the Laravel 12-to-13 upgrade guide. Do not treat them as a universal checklist for a different source version or a non-Laravel application.
- Dependency constraints: the guide lists
laravel/framework^13.0,laravel/boost^2.0,laravel/tinker^3.0,phpunit/phpunit^12.0, andpestphp/pest^4.0. These are listed upgrade constraints, not proof that every application uses each package or that its other dependencies are compatible. Check your Composer files and the complete guide before adjusting them. - CSRF middleware: the guide describes a rename to
PreventRequestForgeryand request-origin verification usingSec-Fetch-Site. Search for direct references to the old middleware name and verify relevant request flows. - Session serialization: the new skeleton uses JSON session serialization by default. Syncing that configuration can invalidate active sessions; retaining PHP serialization may be necessary if continuity of existing sessions is a requirement.
- Cache and session prefixes: Laravel 13 changes some defaults. Check whether application code or operational processes depend on the previous keys.
- Domain route matching: the guide notes a change in route matching precedence for domain routes. Test routes that could be affected by overlapping patterns or domains.
Use the complete, current Laravel 13 upgrade guide as the source for the full set of changes; the examples above are not a substitute for reading it.
Rank #3
Work in small, reviewable stages
Whether you are upgrading or replatforming, keep changes small enough to inspect and verify before proceeding. For an existing Laravel codebase, that usually means following the version path and resolving compatibility issues in sequence. For a replatform, it means implementing a coherent slice of functionality at a time—for example, a set of related pages and their data flow—rather than treating a framework change as a one-step conversion.
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- Establish a critical-path check. Choose a small number of essential journeys from your baseline and make them repeatable tests where practical. Record expected route responses and representative data behavior.
- Follow the right technical path. For Laravel upgrades, apply the official notes for the next version step. For a replatform, implement the required behavior and data mapping in Laravel rather than assuming the old application can be mechanically converted.
- Review each change. Run the checks you established and investigate failures before continuing. A passing dependency update alone does not show that the site’s behavior is preserved.
- Expand coverage. Add the remaining routes, data cases, integrations, background tasks, and user journeys from the baseline, then repeat the checks against the new application.
Automation can help with an existing Laravel upgrade, but it does not remove the review work. Laravel Shift describes its upgrades as incremental and says customized code or third-party dependencies can require manual attention. Treat it as an optional aid, not a guarantee that all changes will be handled automatically. See the Shift FAQ and Laravel’s upgrade guide.
Preserve data, URLs, and behavior deliberately
Data and user-visible behavior need separate checks. A page can render while returning incomplete records; a database can migrate successfully while a formerly important URL starts returning an error. Use the baseline to define what “preserved” means for this particular site.
- Data mapping: document how important source fields and relationships correspond to the target model. Check representative records and relationships after any transformation, rather than relying only on whether an import completed.
- Writes as well as reads: exercise the forms and workflows that create or update data, then verify the expected changes in the new application.
- URLs and redirects: compare important old routes with their intended destinations. Plan explicit redirects where URLs change, and test both the original path and the destination.
- Authentication and sessions: test sign-in, sign-out, protected routes, and session-dependent behavior. If continuity of existing sessions matters, account for the Laravel 13 serialization change when it applies to your upgrade.
- Integrations and background work: verify the actual service calls, scheduled tasks, and queue behavior the site relies on, including what happens when a dependency fails.
Backups and recovery procedures should match the data stores and infrastructure involved. The Laravel documentation does not provide a universal data-conversion or rollback plan for an unspecified legacy site, so decide these procedures with the system’s actual deployment and database setup in view.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Validate before cutover and decide how to recover
Do not make cutover depend on a vague impression that the new site “looks right.” Use a test checklist tied to the baseline and decide in advance who can stop or reverse the release.
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- Check critical public and authenticated routes, expected status codes, and important redirects.
- Run the essential user journeys from start to finish, including reads and writes.
- Compare representative migrated records and relationships with the source data.
- Verify authentication, session behavior, integrations, scheduled tasks, and queue jobs that apply to the site.
- Inspect the rendered front end on the pages and states users rely on.
- Confirm error logging and health monitoring work in the deployment environment.
- Write down the release decision criteria, the person responsible for it, and the recovery steps for this application’s code and data.
The acceptable cutover and rollback method depends on infrastructure, data writes, and downtime tolerance. For example, a site receiving writes during a release needs a recovery plan that accounts for those writes; a code-only rollback may not restore data consistency. Select and rehearse a plan appropriate to the actual system instead of assuming one strategy is safe for every migration.
Deploy Laravel with production settings in place
Production readiness is part of the migration, not a final cosmetic step. Follow the current Laravel deployment guide and verify the requirements for your host and application.
- Serve the correct directory: configure the web server to serve Laravel from its configured web-directory root, not from a subdirectory of that web directory that could expose sensitive files.
- Set writable directories: ensure the server process can write to
bootstrap/cacheandstorage. - Apply production optimizations appropriately: Laravel recommends running
php artisan optimizeduring deployment. Understand the effects of the cache commands used in your release process. - Account for configuration caching: after
config:cache, Laravel does not load.env; calls toenv()outside configuration files returnnull. Check application code for assumptions that conflict with this behavior. - Disable debug output: set
APP_DEBUG=falsein production. - Monitor the health endpoint: Laravel’s default
/uproute returns HTTP 200 when the application boots without exceptions and HTTP 500 otherwise. Confirm that your deployment and monitoring setup can reach and interpret it. - Reload long-running processes: after deployment, reload or restart applicable services such as queue workers, Reverb, or Octane so they run the new code.
Deployment details vary by hosting setup and by which services the application uses. Check the full current deployment documentation and your provider’s process rather than assuming every listed service applies.
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