Seeding & Factories

Last modified on: September 4, 2025

<h1 data-start="135" data-end="186">🌱 Laravel Seeding &amp; Factories &ndash; Complete Guide</h1>
<p data-start="188" data-end="333">When building applications, you often need <strong data-start="231" data-end="246">sample data</strong> for testing or development. Instead of manually inserting records, Laravel provides:</p>
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<p data-start="337" data-end="394"><strong data-start="337" data-end="348">Seeders</strong> &rarr; Insert predefined data into the database.</p>
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<p data-start="397" data-end="465"><strong data-start="397" data-end="410">Factories</strong> &rarr; Generate fake/random data using the Faker library.</p>
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<p data-start="467" data-end="540">Together, they make development <strong data-start="499" data-end="537">faster, easier, and more realistic</strong>.</p>
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<h2 data-start="547" data-end="583">🔹 1. What is Database Seeding?</h2>
<p data-start="585" data-end="698">Seeding is the process of populating your database with test or default data.<br data-start="662" data-end="665" />All seed classes are stored in:</p>
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<div class="overflow-y-auto p-4" dir="ltr"><code class="whitespace-pre!">database/seeders/
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<h3 data-start="727" data-end="759">Example: Creating a Seeder</h3>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>php artisan make:seeder UserSeeder</code></pre>
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<p data-start="809" data-end="860">This generates <code data-start="824" data-end="857">database/seeders/UserSeeder.php</code>:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>namespace Database\Seeders;

use Illuminate\Database\Seeder;
use App\Models\User;

class UserSeeder extends Seeder
{
    public function run(): void
    {
        User::create([
            'name' =&gt; 'Admin User',
            'email' =&gt; 'admin@example.com',
            'password' =&gt; bcrypt('password'),
        ]);
    }
}</code></pre>
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<p data-start="1198" data-end="1215">Run the seeder:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>php artisan db:seed --class=UserSeeder</code></pre>
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<p data-start="1269" data-end="1301">Or run all registered seeders:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>php artisan db:seed</code></pre>
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<h2 data-start="1341" data-end="1371">🔹 2. DatabaseSeeder File</h2>
<p data-start="1373" data-end="1441"><code data-start="1373" data-end="1410">database/seeders/DatabaseSeeder.php</code> is the <strong data-start="1418" data-end="1438">main entry point</strong>.</p>
<p data-start="1443" data-end="1480">You can call other seeders from it:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>public function run(): void
{
    $this-&gt;call([
        UserSeeder::class,
        PostSeeder::class,
    ]);
}</code></pre>
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<p data-start="1606" data-end="1622">Then just run:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>php artisan db:seed</code></pre>
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<h2 data-start="1662" data-end="1692">🔹 3. What are Factories?</h2>
<p data-start="1694" data-end="1794">Factories allow you to quickly generate <strong data-start="1734" data-end="1752">fake test data</strong> for models using the <strong data-start="1774" data-end="1783">Faker</strong> library.</p>
<p data-start="1796" data-end="1830">All factory files are stored in:</p>
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<div class="overflow-y-auto p-4" dir="ltr"><code class="whitespace-pre!">database/factories/
</code></div>
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<h3 data-start="1866" data-end="1899">Example: Creating a Factory</h3>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>php artisan make:factory UserFactory --model=User</code></pre>
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<p data-start="1964" data-end="2018">This generates <code data-start="1979" data-end="2015">database/factories/UserFactory.php</code>:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>namespace Database\Factories;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\Factory;

class UserFactory extends Factory
{
    public function definition(): array
    {
        return [
            'name' =&gt; $this-&gt;faker-&gt;name(),
            'email' =&gt; $this-&gt;faker-&gt;unique()-&gt;safeEmail(),
            'password' =&gt; bcrypt('password'),
        ];
    }
}</code></pre>
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<h2 data-start="2389" data-end="2415">🔹 4. Using Factories</h2>
<p data-start="2417" data-end="2442">Generate 10 fake users:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>User::factory()-&gt;count(10)-&gt;create();</code></pre>
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<p data-start="2494" data-end="2519">Generate a single user:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>User::factory()-&gt;create();</code></pre>
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<h2 data-start="2565" data-end="2604">🔹 5. Factories with Relationships</h2>
<p data-start="2606" data-end="2636">If <code data-start="2609" data-end="2615">Post</code> belongs to <code data-start="2627" data-end="2633">User</code>:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>Post::factory()
    -&gt;count(5)
    -&gt;for(User::factory())
    -&gt;create();</code></pre>
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<p data-start="2724" data-end="2763">This creates 5 posts with a new user.</p>
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<h2 data-start="2770" data-end="2815">🔹 6. Using Seeders + Factories Together</h2>
<p data-start="2817" data-end="2844">Example: <code data-start="2826" data-end="2842">UserSeeder.php</code></p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>public function run(): void
{
    \App\Models\User::factory(10)-&gt;create();
}</code></pre>
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<p data-start="2935" data-end="2981">Now you get <strong data-start="2947" data-end="2964">10 fake users</strong> automatically.</p>
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<h2 data-start="2988" data-end="3029">🔹 7. Refreshing Database with Seeds</h2>
<p data-start="3031" data-end="3065">Run migrations + seed in one go:</p>
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<pre class="language-php"><code>php artisan migrate:fresh --seed</code></pre>
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<p data-start="3113" data-end="3176">This is great for resetting your database during development.</p>
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<h2 data-start="3183" data-end="3205">🔹 Best Practices</h2>
<p data-start="3207" data-end="3405">✅ Use <strong data-start="3213" data-end="3226">factories</strong> for test/dummy data.<br data-start="3247" data-end="3250" />✅ Use <strong data-start="3256" data-end="3267">seeders</strong> for default/admin data.<br data-start="3291" data-end="3294" />✅ Keep seeders reusable across environments.<br data-start="3338" data-end="3341" />✅ Always define relationships in factories for realistic data.</p>
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<h2 data-start="3412" data-end="3436">📌 Example Workflow</h2>
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<p data-start="3441" data-end="3474">Create a <strong data-start="3450" data-end="3461">factory</strong> for model.</p>
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<p data-start="3478" data-end="3513">Define <strong data-start="3485" data-end="3498">fake data</strong> using Faker.</p>
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<p data-start="3517" data-end="3559">Create a <strong data-start="3526" data-end="3536">seeder</strong> to call the factory.</p>
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<p data-start="3563" data-end="3591">Run <code data-start="3567" data-end="3588">php artisan db:seed</code>.</p>
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<p data-start="3595" data-end="3647">Use <code data-start="3599" data-end="3621">migrate:fresh --seed</code> to reset with new data.</p>
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