UUID in Laravel: A Simple Guide

Looking to upgrade from basic database auto-increment IDs? Consider UUID! In this easy-to-follow guide, let's dive into understanding UUID columns in Laravel and explore the various tools and methods.

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Using UUID as Your Primary Key in Laravel

Laravel has made using UUIDs as primary keys a breeze since version v9.30. Here's a quick breakdown to get you started:

Swap out your usual ID creation with:

// Don't use: $table->id();
$table->uuid('id')->primary();

Add the Laravel-provided UUID trait:

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Concerns\HasUuids;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Article extends Model {
    use HasUuids;
}

Save your record with Eloquent, and a UUID will be auto-generated: