laravel-migrations-and-factories

name	laravel:migrations-and-factories
description	Safe database change patterns; when to modify vs add migrations; always pair models with migrations and factories; seeding guidance

Migrations and Factories

Keep schema changes safe, testable, and reversible.

Commands

# Create model with migration + factory
sail artisan make:model Post -mfc   # or: php artisan make:model Post -mfc

# Run/rollback
sail artisan migrate                # or: php artisan migrate
sail artisan migrate:rollback --step=1   # or: php artisan migrate:rollback --step=1

# Fresh DB (dangerous; dev only)
sail artisan migrate:fresh --seed   # or: php artisan migrate:fresh --seed

Rules

• Pair each new model with a migration and a factory
• If a migration was merged to main, never edit it—add a new one
• On feature branches, you may amend migrations created on that branch (if not merged)
• Seed realistic but minimal datasets in seeder classes; keep huge datasets external
• Laravel 13+: guard conditional schema changes with Schema::hasForeignKey('posts', 'posts_user_id_foreign'); use $table->vector('embedding', dimensions: 1536) for pgvector columns (see laravel:vector-search)

Factories

• Prefer state modifiers (e.g., ->state([...])) over boolean flags
• Use relationships (e.g., belongsTo) in factories to build realistic graphs
• Keep factories fast; move expensive setup to seeds where possible

Testing

• Use factories in tests; avoid manual inserts
• For integration tests touching DB, use transactions or RefreshDatabase