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Laravel 12: Complete Guide to the Latest Features (2025)

Explore Laravel 12's groundbreaking features including automatic eager loading, session cache, failover queues, AI-powered packages, and the new starter kits with WorkOS AuthKit integration.

Laravel 12: Complete Guide to the Latest Features (2025)

Laravel 12 was officially released on February 24, 2025, marking another milestone in the framework's evolution. While described as a "maintenance release," it introduced several powerful features that enhance developer productivity and application performance.

What's New in Laravel 12

New Starter Kits with WorkOS AuthKit

Laravel 12 introduces redesigned starter kits for React, Vue, and Livewire. The standout addition is WorkOS AuthKit integration, providing:

Social Authentication - Google, GitHub, Microsoft, and more
Passkeys Support - Passwordless authentication
Single Sign-On (SSO) - Enterprise-ready authentication
Shadcn Components - Modern, accessible UI components
Flux Components - Free version available for Livewire

bash

# Create a new Laravel 12 project with React starter kit
laravel new my-app --kit=react

# With WorkOS AuthKit
laravel new my-app --kit=react --auth=workos

Automatic Eager Loading (Laravel 12.8)

The most impactful feature is automatic eager loading, solving the infamous N+1 query problem without manual with() calls:

php

// In AppServiceProvider
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

public function boot()
{
    Model::automaticallyEagerLoadRelationships();
}

Before automatic eager loading:

php

// 302 queries for 100 posts with authors and comments
$posts = Post::all();
foreach ($posts as $post) {
    echo $post->author->name;
    echo $post->comments->count();
}

After automatic eager loading:

php

// Just 5 queries - Laravel detects and loads relationships automatically
$posts = Post::all();
foreach ($posts as $post) {
    echo $post->author->name; // Auto-loaded!
    echo $post->comments->count(); // Auto-loaded!
}

You can also enable it per-query or per-model:

php

// Per-query
$users = User::all()->withRelationshipAutoloading();

// Per-model
class Invoice extends Model
{
    protected $autoLoadRelations = true;
}

Session Cache

A new session-scoped caching mechanism that automatically isolates data per user:

php

// Cache data for the current user session
session()->cache()->put('user_preferences', $preferences, now()->addHours(24));

// Retrieve session-cached data
$preferences = session()->cache()->get('user_preferences');

// Automatically cleaned up when session expires

This is perfect for:

User-specific calculations
Temporary shopping carts
Form wizard progress
User dashboard stats

Failover Queue Driver

Laravel 12 introduces automatic queue failover for high-availability applications:

php

// config/queue.php
'connections' => [
    'failover' => [
        'driver' => 'failover',
        'connections' => [
            'redis',
            'sqs',
            'database',
        ],
    ],
],

If Redis fails, Laravel automatically pushes jobs to SQS, then database. No more lost jobs during infrastructure issues.

Route Attributes

Define routes directly using PHP 8 attributes:

php

use Illuminate\Routing\Attributes\Get;
use Illuminate\Routing\Attributes\Post;
use Illuminate\Routing\Attributes\Middleware;

#[Middleware('auth')]
class UserController extends Controller
{
    #[Get('/users', name: 'users.index')]
    public function index()
    {
        return view('users.index');
    }

    #[Post('/users', name: 'users.store')]
    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        // Create user
    }

    #[Get('/users/{user}', name: 'users.show')]
    public function show(User $user)
    {
        return view('users.show', compact('user'));
    }
}

Laravel Boost (AI-Powered Dev Assistant)

Laravel's first official AI package, powered by Model Context Protocol (MCP):

bash

composer require laravel/boost

Features:

Versioned Documentation - AI knows your Laravel version
Laravel-Curated Rules - Best practices built-in
MCP Server Setup - Easy AI integration in your app

Health Check Improvements

Enhanced system health monitoring:

php

// bootstrap/app.php
->withRouting(
    web: __DIR__.'/../routes/web.php',
    health: '/up',
)

// Custom health checks
use Illuminate\Foundation\Events\DiagnosingHealth;

Event::listen(DiagnosingHealth::class, function () {
    // Check database
    DB::connection()->getPdo();

    // Check Redis
    Redis::ping();

    // Check external services
    Http::get('https://api.example.com/health')->throw();
});

PHP Requirements

Laravel 12 requires PHP 8.2 or higher. PHP 8.4 is recommended for best performance and access to property hooks.

Upgrading from Laravel 11

Most applications can upgrade without code changes:

bash

# Update composer.json
"laravel/framework": "^12.0"

# Run update
composer update

# Clear caches
php artisan optimize:clear

Conclusion

Laravel 12 may be called a "maintenance release," but features like automatic eager loading and session cache are game-changers. Combined with WorkOS AuthKit starter kits and AI-powered tooling, Laravel continues to be the most developer-friendly PHP framework.

Resources

Laravel 12 Automatic Eager Loading: Say Goodbye to N+1 Forever

Laravel 12: Complete Guide to the Latest Features (2025)

Laravel 12: Complete Guide to the Latest Features (2025)

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