You inherit a gigantic legacy codebase from a previous developer. You open the project, eager to get started, when reality hits hard. There is not a single migration file in sight. Your only reference is either a raw database or an SQL dump. The idea of manually recreating migrations for fifty tables feels overwhelming. You simply do not have the time or patience for it. At this point, the need to convert database tables to Laravel migrations becomes impossible to ignore.
Fortunately, there is a far better approach available. You can automatically generate Laravel migrations directly from an existing database structure. This saves a significant amount of time and effort while ensuring consistency between production and local environments. Any schema mismatches quickly become a thing of the past. With the right tools, you can seamlessly bridge the gap between raw SQL tables and a clean, maintainable Laravel migration workflow.
Introduction of Laravel Migration Generator
We use a powerful tool called the Laravel Migrations Generator package, written by Kit Loong. This package functions like a reverse-engineer wizard. Your tables are viewed, and then the PHP codes are written automatically. This package does the heavy lifting so that the programmer can build other things instead.
Here is why developers love this tool:
- Saves hours of manual coding time immediately.
- Accurately detects indexes and foreign key constraints.
- Produces clean and readable migration files.
- Supports multiple database connections effortlessly.
Package Installation
Getting started requires a simple installation via Composer. Since you typically only need this for development purposes, we install it as a dev dependency. Open your terminal and run the command below.
composer require --dev kitloong/laravel-migrations-generatorAuto Generate Laravel Migrations from Database Tables
Once the installation finishes, the package is ready to use. Ensure your .env file contains the correct database credentials. The generator connects to the database defined in your configuration to read the schema.
To convert your entire database into migration files, you execute a single Artisan command. This command triggers the generator to scan all tables and create the corresponding files in your database/migrations directory.
php artisan migrate:generateThe terminal will ask if you want to run the migrations immediately. Usually, you check the files first, so you might choose to wait.
Migrating Specific Tables
In real-life projects, you might not always need to convert existing database to Laravel migrations for every single table. Perhaps you are integrating a legacy user system into a new app and only need the user and permission tables.
The package allows you to pick exactly what you need. You can specify a comma-separated list of tables to generate.
php artisan migrate:generate --tables=customers,products,sales,sale_itemIt keeps your migration folder clean and focused on the data structures relevant to your current task or requirements. Let’s see some of generated migration files with this command.
database/migrations/2026_01_06_161955_create_products_table.php
<?php
use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
return new class extends Migration
{
/**
* Run the migrations.
*/
public function up(): void
{
Schema::create('products', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->bigIncrements('id');
$table->string('name');
$table->string('sku')->nullable()->unique();
$table->text('description')->nullable();
$table->decimal('price', 10);
$table->integer('min_stock_alert')->default(10);
$table->timestamps();
});
}
/**
* Reverse the migrations.
*/
public function down(): void
{
Schema::dropIfExists('products');
}
};database/migrations/2026_01_06_161955_create_sales_table.php
<?php
use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
return new class extends Migration
{
/**
* Run the migrations.
*/
public function up(): void
{
Schema::create('sales', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->bigIncrements('id');
$table->string('client_name')->nullable();
$table->decimal('total_amount', 10);
$table->string('payment_method')->default('money');
$table->string('status')->default('completed');
$table->timestamps();
$table->unsignedBigInteger('user_id')->nullable()->index('sales_user_id_foreign');
$table->unsignedBigInteger('customer_id')->nullable()->index('sales_customer_id_foreign');
});
}
/**
* Reverse the migrations.
*/
public function down(): void
{
Schema::dropIfExists('sales');
}
};database/migrations/2026_01_06_161958_add_foreign_keys_to_sales_table.php
<?php
use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
return new class extends Migration
{
/**
* Run the migrations.
*/
public function up(): void
{
Schema::table('sales', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->foreign(['customer_id'])->references(['id'])->on('customers')->onUpdate('no action')->onDelete('no action');
$table->foreign(['user_id'])->references(['id'])->on('users')->onUpdate('no action')->onDelete('cascade');
});
}
/**
* Reverse the migrations.
*/
public function down(): void
{
Schema::table('sales', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->dropForeign('sales_customer_id_foreign');
$table->dropForeign('sales_user_id_foreign');
});
}
};Ignoring Unwanted Tables
Similarly, some databases contain temporary tables or views that you do not want in your codebase. Or sometime that feature is not required into updated version of application. You can easily instruct the generator to skip these. This ensures that when you create Laravel migration files from existing database sources, you only get clean, usable schema definitions.
php artisan migrate:generate --ignore=failed_jobs,migrationsAs per this example it will not create migration file for failed_jobs and migrations table. You can even customize this as per your requirements.
Conclusion
Current development needs to happen quickly and efficiently. You do not need to write code by hand when such tools can do the work for you. This code generator will enable you to reverse engineer database to Laravel migration. This generator will provide an interface that connects traditional SQL dump to current Laravel.
Automating the process means that you eliminate human error and ensure that the architecture of your application is always strong and resilient. Try this process on the next legacy application you work on and see the time it takes to set up go from days to minutes.