Uncategorized

Laravel Project Folder Structure Explained (Beginner to Practical Guide)

freeebooks

I’ll explain each folder simply and practically, so you understand what each part does and when you use it.

You ran:

tree -L 2

That shows the top 2 levels of your Laravel project.

🧠 Big Picture — How Laravel Works

Laravel follows:

MVC Architecture

  • Model → Database logic
  • View → UI (HTML pages)
  • Controller → Business logic

Your folders reflect this.

📁 Root-Level Files Explained

These are the main project files.

📄 README.md

Project documentation.

Used for:

  • Setup instructions
  • Project description

You usually edit this.

⚙️ artisan

artisan

This is Laravel’s command-line tool.

You use it for:

php artisan serve
php artisan migrate
php artisan make:model Product
php artisan route:list

Very important file.

📦 composer.json

This defines:

  • PHP dependencies
  • Laravel packages
  • Autoload settings

Example packages:

laravel/framework
guzzlehttp/guzzle

Used with:

composer install
composer update

📦 composer.lock

Locks exact versions of packages.

Do not edit manually.

📦 package.json

Frontend dependencies:

Used for:

npm install
npm run dev

Contains:

vite
axios
tailwind

🧪 phpunit.xml

Testing configuration.

Used when running:

php artisan test

⚡ vite.config.js

Frontend build config (Vite).

Used for:

npm run dev

📁 Important Folders Explained

Now the main Laravel directories.

📁 app/ — Core Application Logic

Your main backend code lives here.

app/
├── Http
├── Models
├── Providers

📁 app/Models

Contains:

User.php
Product.php
Order.php

Models represent database tables.

Example:

class Product extends Model
{
}

Linked to:

products table

📁 app/Http

Contains:

Controllers
Middleware
Requests

Controllers handle logic.

Example:

ProductController.php

Used in routes.

📁 app/Providers

Service providers.

Used to:

  • Register services
  • Configure application behavior

Advanced Laravel area.

📁 bootstrap/

Laravel startup files.

bootstrap/
├── app.php
├── cache

Used internally.

You rarely modify this.

📁 config/

Configuration files.

config/
├── app.php
├── database.php
├── mail.php
├── queue.php

Very important.

Example:

Database config

config/database.php

Controls:

MySQL
SQLite
PostgreSQL

📁 database/

Database-related files.

database/
├── database.sqlite
├── migrations
├── seeders
├── factories

Very important.

📄 database/database.sqlite

SQLite database file.

You are currently using:

SQLite database

📁 database/migrations

Database schema files.

Example:

create_users_table.php
create_products_table.php

Run using:

php artisan migrate

📁 database/seeders

Used to insert sample data.

Example:

UserSeeder.php

Run:

php artisan db:seed

📁 database/factories

Used for generating fake data.

Used in testing.

📁 public/

Public web-accessible files.

public/
├── index.php
├── favicon.ico

Very important.

📄 public/index.php

Entry point of Laravel.

All web requests start here.

📁 resources/

Frontend files.

resources/
├── css
├── js
├── views

Very important.

📁 resources/views

HTML templates.

Example:

home.blade.php
product.blade.php

Blade = Laravel templating engine.

📁 routes/

Defines URLs.

routes/
├── web.php
├── console.php

Very important.

📄 routes/web.php

Main web routes.

Example:

Route::get('/', function () {
    return view('welcome');
});

📁 storage/

Stores runtime files.

storage/
├── logs
├── framework

Contains:

  • Logs
  • Cache
  • Uploaded files

📄 Logs Location

storage/logs/laravel.log

Very useful for debugging.

📁 tests/

Testing files.

tests/
├── Feature
├── Unit

Run:

php artisan test

📁 vendor/

Composer dependencies.

vendor/
├── laravel
├── symfony
├── guzzlehttp

Very important but:

❌ Never edit manually.

🧠 How Everything Connects

Typical request flow:

User Request
     ↓
public/index.php
     ↓
routes/web.php
     ↓
Controller
     ↓
Model
     ↓
Database
     ↓
View
     ↓
Browser Output

🎯 Most Important Folders to Learn First

Focus here:

app/Models
app/Http/Controllers
resources/views
routes/web.php
database/migrations

These are used daily.

🧪 What Your Project Currently Has

From your output:

✔ Laravel installed
✔ SQLite database
✔ Vendor packages installed
✔ Default structure ready
✔ Ready for scaffolding

You’re in a good state 👍

🎯 Suggested Next Step (Very Useful)

Create a new model:

php artisan make:model Product -mcr

Then:

php artisan migrate

Then open:

app/Models/Product.php
app/Http/Controllers/ProductController.php
database/migrations/create_products_table.php

That will help you understand scaffolding practically.

Related Posts