{"id":456,"date":"2025-08-27T22:18:31","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T22:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1v0.net\/blog\/?p=456"},"modified":"2025-08-27T22:18:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T22:18:33","slug":"how-to-set-up-laravel-with-caddy-for-performance-https","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1v0.net\/blog\/how-to-set-up-laravel-with-caddy-for-performance-https\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Set Up Laravel with Caddy for Performance & HTTPS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How to Set Up Laravel with Caddy for Performance & HTTPS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Caddy<\/strong> is a modern web server that makes deploying Laravel 12 projects easier and faster. Unlike Nginx or Apache, Caddy has automatic HTTPS via Let\u2019s Encrypt built-in, simple configuration, and excellent support for HTTP\/2 and HTTP\/3 (QUIC). In this step-by-step guide, we\u2019ll set up Laravel behind Caddy, configure PHP-FPM, enable caching & compression, and add best practices for production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

1 \u2014 Install Caddy & PHP-FPM<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On Ubuntu, you can install Caddy from the official repository and PHP-FPM for Laravel.<\/p>\n\n\n

# Install Caddy<\/span>\nsudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https\ncurl -1sLf 'https:\/\/dl.cloudsmith.io\/public\/caddy\/stable\/gpg.key'<\/span> | sudo gpg --dearmor -o \/usr\/share\/keyrings\/caddy.gpg\ncurl -1sLf 'https:\/\/dl.cloudsmith.io\/public\/caddy\/stable\/debian.deb.txt'<\/span> | sudo tee \/etc\/apt\/sources.list.d\/caddy-stable.list\nsudo apt update\nsudo apt install caddy -y\n\n# Install PHP-FPM 8.3<\/span>\nsudo apt install php8.3-fpm php8.3-cli php8.3-mysql unzip -y<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This installs both Caddy and PHP-FPM. Caddy handles HTTP\/HTTPS while PHP-FPM executes PHP code for Laravel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
2 \u2014 Basic Caddyfile for Laravel<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Caddy uses a single Caddyfile<\/code> for configuration. Point the root to Laravel\u2019s public\/<\/code> folder, enable PHP, and set caching rules.<\/p>\n\n\n
# \/etc\/caddy\/Caddyfile<\/span>\nyour-domain.com<\/span> {\n    root<\/span> * \/var\/www\/current\/public\n\n    # PHP-FPM<\/span>\n    php_fastcgi unix\/\/run\/php\/php8.3<\/span>-fpm.sock\n\n    # Clean URLs<\/span>\n    try_files {path} {path}\/ \/index.php?{query}\n\n    # Static file caching<\/span>\n    @static<\/span> {\n        path_regexp<\/span> static \\.(?:ico|css|js|gif|jpg|jpeg|png|svg|woff2?)$\n    }\n    header @static<\/span> Cache-Control max-age=604800<\/span>\n\n    # Security headers<\/span>\n    header {\n        X-Frame-Options<\/span> SAMEORIGIN\n        X-Content-Type-Options nosniff\n        Referrer-Policy \"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"<\/span>\n    }\n\n    encode gzip zstd\n    file_server\n}<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Nginx<\/span> (<\/span>nginx<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This simple Caddyfile enables automatic TLS (no extra steps needed for Let\u2019s Encrypt), serves static assets with caching, enables gzip\/zstd compression, and configures PHP-FPM socket handling. Caddy automatically handles certificate renewals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
3 \u2014 Zero-Downtime Deploys with Symlinks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Just like Nginx, you can use a current\/<\/code> symlink for zero-downtime deployments. Upload new code to releases\/2025xxxx\/<\/code> and update the symlink.<\/p>\n\n\n
# Example deployment script<\/span>\ncd<\/span> \/var\/www\/releases\nmkdir 20250828\nunzip \/tmp\/app.zip -d 20250828\nln -sfn \/var\/www\/releases\/20250828 \/var\/www\/current\nphp \/var\/www\/current\/artisan migrate --force\nphp \/var\/www\/current\/artisan config:cache\nphp \/var\/www\/current\/artisan route:cache<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
The ln -sfn<\/code> command atomically switches the current<\/code> symlink to the new release. No downtime\u2014requests are served by the old code until the new one is ready. For a more advanced and automated approach, check out Automating Laravel Deployments with Deployer<\/a> .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
4 \u2014 Handling Queues & Scheduler<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Shared hosting often won\u2019t give you Supervisor. With Caddy on VPS, you can configure Supervisor for workers and cron for scheduled tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n
# \/etc\/supervisor\/conf.d\/laravel-worker.conf<\/span>\n[program:laravel-worker]\nprocess_name=%(program_name)s_%(process_num)02d\ncommand<\/span>=php \/var\/www\/current\/artisan queue:work --sleep=3 --tries=3 --max-time=3600\nautostart=true<\/span>\nautorestart=true<\/span>\nnumprocs=3\nredirect_stderr=true<\/span>\nstdout_logfile=\/var\/www\/current\/storage\/logs\/worker.log<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Bash<\/span> (<\/span>bash<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This keeps 3 queue workers always alive. Pair with Laravel Horizon  for UI monitoring. For scheduled tasks, add a cron entry to call artisan schedule:run<\/code> every minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
5 \u2014 UI: TLS & Header Checker<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Caddy\u2019s automatic TLS is great, but you might want a simple Laravel admin page to confirm HTTPS and headers are applied correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n
\/\/ routes\/web.php<\/span>\nRoute::middleware(['auth'<\/span>,'can:viewAdmin'<\/span>])->get('\/caddy-status'<\/span>, function<\/span> ()<\/span> <\/span>{\n    return<\/span> view('admin.caddy-status'<\/span>, [\n        'scheme'<\/span> => request()->getScheme(),\n        'headers'<\/span> => [\n            'X-Frame-Options'<\/span> => request()->header('X-Frame-Options'<\/span>),\n            'X-Content-Type-Options'<\/span> => request()->header('X-Content-Type-Options'<\/span>),\n            'Referrer-Policy'<\/span> => request()->header('Referrer-Policy'<\/span>),\n            'Content-Encoding'<\/span> => request()->header('Content-Encoding'<\/span>),\n        ]\n    ]);\n});<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This route passes key header and scheme info to a Blade view for inspection. You\u2019ll see if the request is truly over HTTPS and whether compression headers (gzip\/zstd) are active.<\/p>\n\n\n
<!-- resources\/views\/admin\/caddy-status.blade.php --><\/span>\n@extends('layouts.app')\n@section('content')\n<div<\/span> class<\/span>=\"container\"<\/span>><\/span>\n  <h1<\/span> class<\/span>=\"mb-4\"<\/span>><\/span>Caddy Status<\/h1<\/span>><\/span>\n  <p<\/span>><\/span><strong<\/span>><\/span>Scheme:<\/strong<\/span>><\/span> {{ $scheme }}<\/p<\/span>><\/span>\n  <ul<\/span> class<\/span>=\"list-group\"<\/span>><\/span>\n    @foreach($headers as $key => $value)\n      <li<\/span> class<\/span>=\"list-group-item\"<\/span>><\/span><strong<\/span>><\/span>{{ $key }}:<\/strong<\/span>><\/span> {{ $value ?? '\u2014' }}<\/li<\/span>><\/span>\n    @endforeach\n  <\/ul<\/span>><\/span>\n<\/div<\/span>><\/span>\n@endsection<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This UI confirms your Caddy TLS and security headers are correctly applied, helping you quickly verify production readiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Wrapping Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Caddy is an excellent alternative to Nginx for Laravel deployments: it\u2019s easy to configure, has automatic HTTPS, and supports HTTP\/2 and HTTP\/3 out of the box. By combining Caddy with PHP-FPM, caching, compression, Supervisor for queues, and good deployment practices, you\u2019ll have a modern, fast, and secure Laravel production setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s Next<\/h2>\n\n\n\n