Laravel migrate model using artisan

Posted under » Laravel on 16 June 2026

php artisan migrate

The command php artisan migrate is a built-in Laravel Artisan command that executes all pending database migrations. It functions as a type of version control for your database, updating your database schema based on the PHP files located in your database/migrations directory. It will

1. Tracking changes: When run for the first time, Laravel automatically creates a special migrations table in your database.
2. Executing pending files: Every time you run the command, Laravel checks this table to see which migration files have already been executed. It then runs only the new or outstanding files.
3. Idempotency: If your database is already perfectly up to date, running it again will safely output "Nothing to migrate"

Depending on your workflow, you might need variations of the migration command:

1. php artisan migrate:status – Displays a table showing which migrations have run and which ones are pending.
2. php artisan migrate:rollback – Reverts the last batch of migrations that were run.
3. php artisan migrate:reset – Rolls back all migrations, leaving your database completely empty.
4. php artisan migrate:refresh – Rolls back all migrations and then runs them from the beginning.
5. php artisan migrate:fresh – Drops all tables entirely and runs all migrations from scratch (faster than refresh).

For Django migrate.