What is the release date of Laravel 12?

Laravel 12 was released on February 24, 2025. This release is in line with the annual release cycle of Laravel, which offers 18 months of bug fixes until August 2026 and two years of security fixes until February 2027.

What are the key new features in Laravel 12?

The most exciting part of Laravel 12 is that it comes with new Starter Kits for React, Vue, and Livewire with shadcn/ui and Inertia 2, a new application structure, and integration with WorkOS AuthKit for passwordless authentication and SSO. It also brings better debugging tools and improved support for real-time WebSockets with Laravel Reverb.

Does Laravel 12 have breaking changes?

Not really, but one of the most interesting things about Laravel 12 is that it is a "zero-breaking change" release. The team has worked on quality-of-life enhancements and updates to dependencies such as Symfony 7 and Carbon 3, ensuring that most Laravel 11 applications can be upgraded without changing their code.

What are the PHP version requirements for Laravel 12?

Laravel 12 has a minimum requirement of PHP 8.2. It is fully compatible with PHP 8.3 and PHP 8.4, which enables developers to take advantage of the latest performance improvements and type safety capabilities of the modern PHP stack.

How do the new Laravel 12 Starter Kits work?

Starter kits in previous versions of Laravel were packages. Laravel 12, on the other hand, introduces new React, Vue, and Livewire kits that are fetched from their own GitHub repositories. This enables developers to have full control over the authentication code, UI components (which are implemented using Tailwind CSS and shadcn), and logic because the files are copied directly into the application instead of being hidden in the vendor directory.

What is WorkOS AuthKit in Laravel 12?

WorkOS AuthKit is a new authentication solution that comes with Laravel 12's starter kits. It offers enterprise-level security functionality. It enables developers to easily integrate social login (Google, Microsoft), passkey, and Single Sign-On (SSO) functionality for free for applications with up to 1 million monthly active users.

Is it worth upgrading to Laravel 12?

Yes, upgrading is highly recommended for performance and future-proofing. Since there are minimal breaking changes, the transition is seamless. Upgrading ensures your application benefits from the latest security patches, faster request handling via Symfony 7 components, and access to modern tools like the AI-powered debugging assistant.