Step-by-Step Guide: Setting Up a Fresh Laravel 12 Project

When you’re starting a new Laravel project, it’s important to set things up correctly from the very beginning. Laravel 12 is a powerful framework, but to take full advantage of its features you need the right environment, a clean installation, and an understanding of how routes, controllers, and views fit together.

This guide will walk you step-by-step through setting up a fresh Laravel 12 project — from checking server requirements and choosing an installation method, all the way to building your first route, controller, and view.

By the end, you’ll have a working Laravel app running locally and the confidence to start adding your own features.

1 – Server Requirements

PHP >= 8.2
Composer (dependency manager)
Database: MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, or SQL Server
Extensions: OpenSSL, PDO, Mbstring, Tokenizer, XML, Ctype, JSON, BCMath
Node.js >= 18 (with npm) if compiling frontend assets

These tools and extensions allow Laravel to run properly, connect to databases, handle strings, and compile assets.

2 – Installation Options

There are several ways to install a fresh Laravel 12 project. Pick the one that best matches your workflow and environment.

Option A — Composer Create-Project (recommended for most cases)

composer create-project laravel/laravel laravel12-app
cd laravel12-app

What this does: create-project downloads the latest Laravel skeleton into a new folder named laravel12-app. The second line moves you into that project directory so you can run Artisan commands.

Option B — Laravel Installer (fast scaffolding)

composer global require laravel/installer
laravel new laravel12-appCode language: PHP (php)

What this does: Installs a global laravel command on your system. Running laravel new creates a new Laravel project quickly and can offer extra interactive options in some setups.

Option C — Laravel Sail (Docker environment)

curl -s "https://laravel.build/laravel12-app" | bash
cd laravel12-app
./vendor/bin/sail upCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

What this does: Uses Laravel’s official Docker setup to spin up containers (PHP, MySQL, Redis, etc.) so you don’t need to install those services directly on your machine. sail up starts the containers.

3 – Run the Development Server

php artisan serve

What this does: Starts Laravel’s built-in development web server (by default at http://localhost:8000). Open that URL in your browser to see the Laravel welcome page.

4 – Create a Sample Route

// routes/web.php

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
use App\Http\Controllers\HelloController;

Route::get('/hello', [HelloController::class, 'index']);
Code language: PHP (php)

What this does: Registers a GET route at /hello. When someone visits that URL, Laravel calls the index method on HelloController. Routes connect URLs to your application logic.

5 – Create a Controller

php artisan make:controller HelloControllerCode language: CSS (css)

What this does: Uses Laravel’s CLI (Artisan) to generate a new controller class file. Controllers group related request-handling logic in one place.

Open app/Http/Controllers/HelloController.php and add the following method:

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class HelloController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        return view('hello');
    }
}
Code language: PHP (php)

What this does: Defines an index action that returns a Blade view named hello. When the /hello route is hit, this method runs and loads that view.

6 – Create a View

// resources/views/hello.blade.php

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Hello Laravel</title>
    <link href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/bootstrap@5.3.3/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
</head>
<body class="container py-5">
    <h1 class="text-primary">Hello from Laravel 12!</h1>
    <p>This is your first custom page.</p>
</body>
</html>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

What this does: Creates a simple HTML page styled with Bootstrap. Blade files (ending in .blade.php) are Laravel’s templating system for rendering HTML. Visiting /hello now shows this page.

Conclusion

You now have a fresh Laravel 12 project installed using the method that fits your workflow, plus a working route, controller, and view. Routes map URLs, controllers handle requests, and views render HTML — the core building blocks you’ll use in every Laravel app.

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