🚀 Laravel Artisan Commands: The Ultimate Guide

A comprehensive, categorized guide to the most essential Laravel Artisan commands. From cache optimization to database management, this guide explains what each command does and when to use it.

🧹 1. Cache & Optimization (Performance)

Use these commands to clear stuck memory in development or speed up your application in production.

Command	Environment	When & How to Use
`php artisan optimize:clear`	Development	When code changes aren't showing up. Clears config, route, view, and event caches all at once.
`php artisan optimize`	Production	Run this after deploying to a live server. It caches routes and config for maximum speed.
`php artisan config:clear`	Any	When you change variables in your .env file, run this to apply them.
`php artisan route:clear`	Any	When you add a new route in web.php or api.php but get a 404 error.
`php artisan view:clear`	Any	When HTML/Blade design changes are not updating in the browser.
`php artisan cache:clear`	Any	Clears application cache (Redis, File, Memcached). Run if dynamic data is stuck.

🗄️ 2. Database & Migrations

Commands to manage your database schema, rollbacks, and dummy data.

Command	Warning Level	When & How to Use
`php artisan migrate`	Safe	Runs all pending database migrations (creates missing tables/columns).
`php artisan migrate:rollback`	Caution	Undoes the very last migration batch. Good for fixing a recent mistake.
`php artisan migrate:fresh`	DANGER	Drops ALL tables and re-runs all migrations. Destroys all data! (Dev only).
`php artisan migrate:fresh --seed`	DANGER	Drops tables, re-migrates, and injects dummy data from Seeders. (Dev only).
`php artisan db:seed`	Safe	Runs the `DatabaseSeeder` to populate database with fake/starting data.

🛠️ 3. Make / Generators (Coding)

Speed up your workflow by generating boilerplate code instantly.

Command	Creates	When & How to Use
`php artisan make:model Post -mcr`	All-in-one	Best Command: Creates a Model, Migration, Controller & Resource perfectly linked.
`php artisan make:controller Name`	Controller	Creates a basic controller in `app/Http/Controllers`.
`php artisan make:middleware Name`	Middleware	Creates a new middleware file to filter HTTP requests (e.g. AdminCheck).
`php artisan make:mail Name`	Mailable	Generates an email class for sending emails easily.

⚙️ 4. Setup, Maintenance & Queue

Commands to manage storage, live status, and background tasks.

Command	Category	When & How to Use
`php artisan storage:link`	Setup	Crucial: Run this once to make uploaded files visible to the public internet.
`php artisan key:generate`	Setup	Generates the secure `APP_KEY` in your .env file upon initial install.
`php artisan down`	Maintenance	Puts your website into Maintenance Mode (shows 503 error to users).
`php artisan up`	Maintenance	Takes your website out of maintenance mode (Back online).
`php artisan queue:work`	Jobs	Starts processing background tasks (like sending emails without freezing the UI).
`php artisan queue:restart`	Jobs	Restarts the queue worker safely after you update your code.

💡 Pro Tip for "Cache Clearing": If your website is acting weird, loading old data, or CSS isn't updating, just run php artisan optimize:clear. It is the ultimate "refresh" button for Laravel.

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