Add a new column to existing table in a migration

To create a migration, you may use the migrate:make command on the Artisan CLI. Use a specific name to avoid clashing with existing models

for Laravel 3:

php artisan migrate:make add_paid_to_users

for Laravel 5+:

php artisan make:migration add_paid_to_users_table --table=users

You then need to use the Schema::table() method (as you're accessing an existing table, not creating a new one). And you can add a column like this:

public function up()
{
    Schema::table('users', function($table) {
        $table->integer('paid');
    });
}

and don't forget to add the rollback option:

public function down()
{
    Schema::table('users', function($table) {
        $table->dropColumn('paid');
    });
}

Then you can run your migrations:

php artisan migrate

This is all well covered in the documentation for both Laravel 3:

• Schema Builder
• Migrations

And for Laravel 4 / Laravel 5:

• Schema Builder
• Migrations

Edit:

use $table->integer('paid')->after('whichever_column'); to add this field after specific column.

I'll add on to mike3875's answer for future readers using Laravel 5.1 and onward.

To make things quicker, you can use the flag "--table" like this:

php artisan make:migration add_paid_to_users --table="users"

This will add the up and down method content automatically:

/**
 * Run the migrations.
 *
 * @return void
 */
public function up()
{
    Schema::table('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
        //
    });
}

Similarily, you can use the --create["table_name"] option when creating new migrations which will add more boilerplate to your migrations. Small point, but helpful when doing loads of them!

laravel 5.6 and above

in case you want to add new column as a FOREIGN KEY to an existing table.

Create a new migration by executing this command : make:migration

Example :

php artisan make:migration add_store_id_to_users_table --table=users

---

In database/migrations folder you have new migration file, something like :

2018_08_08_093431_add_store_id_to_users_table.php (see the comments)

<?php

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;

class AddStoreIdToUsersTable extends Migration
{
    /**
     * Run the migrations.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function up()
    {
        Schema::table('users', function (Blueprint $table) {

            // 1. Create new column
            // You probably want to make the new column nullable
            $table->integer('store_id')->unsigned()->nullable()->after('password');

            // 2. Create foreign key constraints
            $table->foreign('store_id')->references('id')->on('stores')->onDelete('SET NULL');
        });
    }

    /**
     * Reverse the migrations.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function down()
    {
        Schema::table('users', function (Blueprint $table) {

            // 1. Drop foreign key constraints
            $table->dropForeign(['store_id']);

            // 2. Drop the column
            $table->dropColumn('store_id');
        });
    }
}

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After that run the command :

php artisan migrate

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In case you want to undo the last migration for any reason, run this command :

php artisan migrate:rollback

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You can find more information about migrations in the docs