Folder Structure

Last modified on: September 2, 2025

<h1 data-start="271" data-end="325">📂 Laravel Folder Structure &ndash; Complete Explanation</h1>
<p data-start="327" data-end="360">When you install Laravel using:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>composer create-project laravel/laravel blog</code></pre>
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<p data-start="420" data-end="661">you get a structured project with multiple folders. Understanding this structure is the <strong data-start="508" data-end="559">first step to becoming a good Laravel developer</strong> because it helps you know <strong data-start="586" data-end="658">where to write your code and how Laravel organizes things internally</strong>.</p>
<hr data-start="663" data-end="666" />
<h2 data-start="668" data-end="705">🗂 Root Directory (Project Base)</h2>
<p data-start="707" data-end="764">At the top level, your Laravel project looks like this:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>blog/  
│── app/  
│── bootstrap/  
│── config/  
│── database/  
│── public/  
│── resources/  
│── routes/  
│── storage/  
│── tests/  
│── vendor/  
│── artisan  
│── composer.json  
│── package.json  
│── .env  
</code></pre>
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</div>
</div>
</div>
<p data-start="992" data-end="1025">Now, let&rsquo;s go folder by folder.</p>
<hr data-start="1027" data-end="1030" />
<h2 data-start="1032" data-end="1049">📁 1. <code data-start="1041" data-end="1047">app/</code></h2>
<p data-start="1051" data-end="1156">This is the <strong data-start="1063" data-end="1100">heart of your Laravel application</strong>. Almost all the <strong data-start="1117" data-end="1138">application logic</strong> is stored here.</p>
<h3 data-start="1158" data-end="1189">Subfolders inside <code data-start="1180" data-end="1186">app/</code>:</h3>
<ul data-start="1191" data-end="1837">
<li data-start="1191" data-end="1317">
<p data-start="1193" data-end="1207"><strong data-start="1193" data-end="1205">Console/</strong></p>
<ul data-start="1210" data-end="1317">
<li data-start="1210" data-end="1263">
<p data-start="1212" data-end="1263">Holds <strong data-start="1218" data-end="1238">Artisan commands</strong> (custom CLI commands).</p>
</li>
<li data-start="1266" data-end="1317">
<p data-start="1268" data-end="1317">Example: <code data-start="1277" data-end="1314">php artisan make:command SendEmails</code>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li data-start="1319" data-end="1437">
<p data-start="1321" data-end="1338"><strong data-start="1321" data-end="1336">Exceptions/</strong></p>
<ul data-start="1341" data-end="1437">
<li data-start="1341" data-end="1381">
<p data-start="1343" data-end="1381">Contains exception handling classes.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="1384" data-end="1437">
<p data-start="1386" data-end="1437"><code data-start="1386" data-end="1399">Handler.php</code> manages how Laravel handles errors.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li data-start="1439" data-end="1711">
<p data-start="1441" data-end="1452"><strong data-start="1441" data-end="1450">Http/</strong></p>
<ul data-start="1455" data-end="1711">
<li data-start="1455" data-end="1518">
<p data-start="1457" data-end="1518">Contains <strong data-start="1466" data-end="1481">Controllers</strong>, <strong data-start="1483" data-end="1497">Middleware</strong>, and <strong data-start="1503" data-end="1515">Requests</strong>.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="1521" data-end="1711">
<p data-start="1523" data-end="1533">Example:</p>
<ul data-start="1538" data-end="1711">
<li data-start="1538" data-end="1582">
<p data-start="1540" data-end="1582"><code data-start="1540" data-end="1554">Controllers/</code> &rarr; All controller classes.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="1587" data-end="1666">
<p data-start="1589" data-end="1666"><code data-start="1589" data-end="1602">Middleware/</code> &rarr; Code that runs before/after requests (like authentication).</p>
</li>
<li data-start="1671" data-end="1711">
<p data-start="1673" data-end="1711"><code data-start="1673" data-end="1684">Requests/</code> &rarr; Form validation logic.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li data-start="1713" data-end="1837">
<p data-start="1715" data-end="1728"><strong data-start="1715" data-end="1726">Models/</strong></p>
<ul data-start="1731" data-end="1837">
<li data-start="1731" data-end="1798">
<p data-start="1733" data-end="1798">Contains <strong data-start="1742" data-end="1761">Eloquent models</strong> for interacting with the database.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="1801" data-end="1837">
<p data-start="1803" data-end="1837">Example: <code data-start="1812" data-end="1822">User.php</code>, <code data-start="1824" data-end="1834">Post.php</code>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p data-start="1839" data-end="1956">👉 <strong data-start="1842" data-end="1860">Best Practice:</strong> Keep your application logic inside <code data-start="1896" data-end="1918">app/Http/Controllers</code> and database logic in <code data-start="1941" data-end="1953">app/Models</code>.</p>
<hr data-start="1958" data-end="1961" />
<h2 data-start="1963" data-end="1986">📁 2. <code data-start="1972" data-end="1984">bootstrap/</code></h2>
<ul data-start="1988" data-end="2164">
<li data-start="1988" data-end="2073">
<p data-start="1990" data-end="2073">Contains the <code data-start="2003" data-end="2012">app.php</code> file which bootstraps (initializes) the Laravel framework.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="2074" data-end="2164">
<p data-start="2076" data-end="2164">The <strong data-start="2080" data-end="2090">cache/</strong> folder here stores framework-generated bootstrap files for performance.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p data-start="2166" data-end="2208">👉 You rarely edit this folder directly.</p>
<hr data-start="2210" data-end="2213" />
<h2 data-start="2215" data-end="2235">📁 3. <code data-start="2224" data-end="2233">config/</code></h2>
<p data-start="2237" data-end="2305">This folder contains <strong data-start="2258" data-end="2281">configuration files</strong> for your Laravel app.</p>
<p data-start="2307" data-end="2318">Examples:</p>
<ul data-start="2319" data-end="2513">
<li data-start="2319" data-end="2362">
<p data-start="2321" data-end="2362"><code data-start="2321" data-end="2330">app.php</code> &rarr; App name, timezone, locale.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="2363" data-end="2404">
<p data-start="2365" data-end="2404"><code data-start="2365" data-end="2375">auth.php</code> &rarr; Authentication settings.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="2405" data-end="2454">
<p data-start="2407" data-end="2454"><code data-start="2407" data-end="2421">database.php</code> &rarr; Database connection details.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="2455" data-end="2513">
<p data-start="2457" data-end="2513"><code data-start="2457" data-end="2467">mail.php</code> &rarr; Mail configuration (SMTP, Mailgun, etc.).</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p data-start="2515" data-end="2604">👉 <strong data-start="2518" data-end="2536">Best Practice:</strong> Never hardcode values here. Use <code data-start="2569" data-end="2575">.env</code> file for sensitive values.</p>
<hr data-start="2606" data-end="2609" />
<h2 data-start="2611" data-end="2633">📁 4. <code data-start="2620" data-end="2631">database/</code></h2>
<p data-start="2635" data-end="2685">Handles everything related to your <strong data-start="2670" data-end="2682">database</strong>.</p>
<p data-start="2687" data-end="2700">Subfolders:</p>
<ul data-start="2701" data-end="2944">
<li data-start="2701" data-end="2811">
<p data-start="2703" data-end="2752"><strong data-start="2703" data-end="2718">migrations/</strong> &rarr; Defines your database schema.</p>
<ul data-start="2755" data-end="2811">
<li data-start="2755" data-end="2811">
<p data-start="2757" data-end="2811">Example: <code data-start="2766" data-end="2808">2025_09_01_000000_create_users_table.php</code>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li data-start="2812" data-end="2876">
<p data-start="2814" data-end="2876"><strong data-start="2814" data-end="2828">factories/</strong> &rarr; Used for creating fake data during testing.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="2877" data-end="2944">
<p data-start="2879" data-end="2944"><strong data-start="2879" data-end="2891">seeders/</strong> &rarr; Used to populate initial data into the database.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p data-start="2946" data-end="2969">👉 Example Migration:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>Schema::create('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table-&gt;id();
    $table-&gt;string('title');
    $table-&gt;text('content');
    $table-&gt;timestamps();
});</code></pre>
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<p data-start="3144" data-end="3155">Run with:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>php artisan migrate</code></pre>
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<hr data-start="3191" data-end="3194" />
<h2 data-start="3196" data-end="3216">📁 5. <code data-start="3205" data-end="3214">public/</code></h2>
<p data-start="3218" data-end="3275">This is the <strong data-start="3230" data-end="3272">only folder exposed to the web browser</strong>.</p>
<ul data-start="3277" data-end="3383">
<li data-start="3277" data-end="3331">
<p data-start="3279" data-end="3331"><code data-start="3279" data-end="3290">index.php</code> &rarr; Entry point of all Laravel requests.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="3332" data-end="3383">
<p data-start="3334" data-end="3383">Stores assets like <strong data-start="3353" data-end="3380">images, CSS, JavaScript</strong>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p data-start="3385" data-end="3451">👉 In production, your domain points to the <code data-start="3429" data-end="3438">public/</code> directory.</p>
<hr data-start="3453" data-end="3456" />
<h2 data-start="3458" data-end="3481">📁 6. <code data-start="3467" data-end="3479">resources/</code></h2>
<p data-start="3483" data-end="3532">This is where all your <strong data-start="3506" data-end="3523">frontend code</strong> lives.</p>
<p data-start="3534" data-end="3547">Subfolders:</p>
<ul data-start="3548" data-end="3749">
<li data-start="3548" data-end="3638">
<p data-start="3550" data-end="3602"><strong data-start="3550" data-end="3560">views/</strong> &rarr; Blade templates (<code data-start="3580" data-end="3592">.blade.php</code> files).</p>
<ul data-start="3605" data-end="3638">
<li data-start="3605" data-end="3638">
<p data-start="3607" data-end="3638">Example: <code data-start="3616" data-end="3635">welcome.blade.php</code>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li data-start="3639" data-end="3697">
<p data-start="3641" data-end="3697"><strong data-start="3641" data-end="3650">lang/</strong> &rarr; Localization files for multiple languages.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="3698" data-end="3749">
<p data-start="3700" data-end="3749"><strong data-start="3700" data-end="3712">css, js/</strong> (if using Vite) &rarr; Frontend assets.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p data-start="3751" data-end="3769">👉 Example View:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>&lt;!DOCTYPE html&gt;
&lt;html&gt;
&lt;head&gt;
    &lt;title&gt;Laravel App&lt;/title&gt;
&lt;/head&gt;
&lt;body&gt;
    &lt;h1&gt;Welcome {{ $name }}&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;/body&gt;
&lt;/html&gt;</code></pre>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<hr data-start="3911" data-end="3914" />
<h2 data-start="3916" data-end="3936">📁 7. <code data-start="3925" data-end="3934">routes/</code></h2>
<p data-start="3938" data-end="3987">Defines <strong data-start="3946" data-end="3964">all the routes</strong> of your application.</p>
<ul data-start="3989" data-end="4168">
<li data-start="3989" data-end="4032">
<p data-start="3991" data-end="4032"><code data-start="3991" data-end="4000">web.php</code> &rarr; Web routes (browser-based).</p>
</li>
<li data-start="4033" data-end="4074">
<p data-start="4035" data-end="4074"><code data-start="4035" data-end="4044">api.php</code> &rarr; API routes (return JSON).</p>
</li>
<li data-start="4075" data-end="4120">
<p data-start="4077" data-end="4120"><code data-start="4077" data-end="4090">console.php</code> &rarr; Console (Artisan) routes.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="4121" data-end="4168">
<p data-start="4123" data-end="4168"><code data-start="4123" data-end="4137">channels.php</code> &rarr; Event broadcasting routes.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p data-start="4170" data-end="4202">👉 Example Route in <code data-start="4190" data-end="4199">web.php</code>:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>Route::get('/about', function () {
    return view('about');
});</code></pre>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<hr data-start="4282" data-end="4285" />
<h2 data-start="4287" data-end="4308">📁 8. <code data-start="4296" data-end="4306">storage/</code></h2>
<p data-start="4310" data-end="4350">Stores <strong data-start="4317" data-end="4347">files generated by the app</strong>.</p>
<p data-start="4352" data-end="4365">Subfolders:</p>
<ul data-start="4366" data-end="4494">
<li data-start="4366" data-end="4399">
<p data-start="4368" data-end="4399"><strong data-start="4368" data-end="4376">app/</strong> &rarr; Application files.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="4400" data-end="4444">
<p data-start="4402" data-end="4444"><strong data-start="4402" data-end="4416">framework/</strong> &rarr; Cache, sessions, views.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="4445" data-end="4494">
<p data-start="4447" data-end="4494"><strong data-start="4447" data-end="4456">logs/</strong> &rarr; Application logs (<code data-start="4477" data-end="4490">laravel.log</code>).</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p data-start="4496" data-end="4558">👉 Example: Upload files are stored in <code data-start="4535" data-end="4555">storage/app/public</code>.</p>
<hr data-start="4560" data-end="4563" />
<h2 data-start="4565" data-end="4584">📁 9. <code data-start="4574" data-end="4582">tests/</code></h2>
<p data-start="4586" data-end="4617">Contains <strong data-start="4595" data-end="4614">automated tests</strong>.</p>
<ul data-start="4619" data-end="4728">
<li data-start="4619" data-end="4674">
<p data-start="4621" data-end="4674"><code data-start="4621" data-end="4631">Feature/</code> &rarr; Tests that simulate real user actions.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="4675" data-end="4728">
<p data-start="4677" data-end="4728"><code data-start="4677" data-end="4684">Unit/</code> &rarr; Tests for individual functions/classes.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p data-start="4730" data-end="4743">👉 Example:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>public function test_home_page_is_accessible() {
    $response = $this-&gt;get('/');
    $response-&gt;assertStatus(200);
}</code></pre>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p data-start="4876" data-end="4887">Run with:</p>
<div class="contain-inline-size rounded-2xl relative bg-token-sidebar-surface-primary">
<div class="sticky top-9">
<div class="absolute end-0 bottom-0 flex h-9 items-center pe-2">
<div class="bg-token-bg-elevated-secondary text-token-text-secondary flex items-center gap-4 rounded-sm px-2 font-sans text-xs">
<pre class="language-php"><code>php artisan test</code></pre>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<hr data-start="4920" data-end="4923" />
<h2 data-start="4925" data-end="4946">📁 10. <code data-start="4935" data-end="4944">vendor/</code></h2>
<p data-start="4948" data-end="4995">This is where <strong data-start="4962" data-end="4987">Composer dependencies</strong> live.</p>
<ul data-start="4997" data-end="5105">
<li data-start="4997" data-end="5060">
<p data-start="4999" data-end="5060">Example: Laravel framework core files, PHPUnit, Faker, etc.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="5061" data-end="5105">
<p data-start="5063" data-end="5105">You <strong data-start="5067" data-end="5081">never edit</strong> this folder directly.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<hr data-start="5107" data-end="5110" />
<h2 data-start="5112" data-end="5143">🗂 Important Files in Root</h2>
<ul data-start="5145" data-end="5476">
<li data-start="5145" data-end="5221">
<p data-start="5147" data-end="5221"><code data-start="5147" data-end="5153">.env</code> &rarr; Environment variables (DB credentials, app key, mail settings).</p>
</li>
<li data-start="5222" data-end="5287">
<p data-start="5224" data-end="5287"><code data-start="5224" data-end="5233">artisan</code> &rarr; Command-line tool for Laravel (Artisan commands).</p>
</li>
<li data-start="5288" data-end="5333">
<p data-start="5290" data-end="5333"><code data-start="5290" data-end="5305">composer.json</code> &rarr; Lists PHP dependencies.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="5334" data-end="5401">
<p data-start="5336" data-end="5401"><code data-start="5336" data-end="5350">package.json</code> &rarr; Lists JavaScript dependencies (for Vite, npm).</p>
</li>
<li data-start="5402" data-end="5476">
<p data-start="5404" data-end="5476"><code data-start="5404" data-end="5420">webpack.mix.js</code> / <code data-start="5423" data-end="5439">vite.config.js</code> &rarr; Build tools for frontend assets.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<hr data-start="5478" data-end="5481" />
<h2 data-start="5483" data-end="5526">⚡ Example Workflow (Request Lifecycle)</h2>
<ol data-start="5528" data-end="5952">
<li data-start="5528" data-end="5575">
<p data-start="5531" data-end="5575">User visits <code data-start="5543" data-end="5572">http://127.0.0.1:8000/posts</code>.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="5576" data-end="5616">
<p data-start="5579" data-end="5616">Request goes to <code data-start="5595" data-end="5613">public/index.php</code>.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="5617" data-end="5656">
<p data-start="5620" data-end="5656">Bootstraps Laravel (<code data-start="5640" data-end="5652">bootstrap/</code>).</p>
</li>
<li data-start="5657" data-end="5712">
<p data-start="5660" data-end="5712">Routes defined in <code data-start="5678" data-end="5694">routes/web.php</code> catch <code data-start="5701" data-end="5709">/posts</code>.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="5713" data-end="5788">
<p data-start="5716" data-end="5788">Controller (<code data-start="5728" data-end="5769">app/Http/Controllers/PostController.php</code>) executes logic.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="5789" data-end="5845">
<p data-start="5792" data-end="5845">Model (<code data-start="5799" data-end="5820">app/Models/Post.php</code>) fetches data from DB.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="5846" data-end="5912">
<p data-start="5849" data-end="5912">Blade view (<code data-start="5861" data-end="5894">resources/views/posts.blade.php</code>) displays HTML.</p>
</li>
<li data-start="5913" data-end="5952">
<p data-start="5916" data-end="5952">Response sent back to the browser.</p>
</li>
</ol>

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