How to only use created_at in Laravel

Eloquent does not provide such functionality out of the box, but you can create it on your own using the creating event callback:

class User extends Eloquent {

    public $timestamps = false;

    public static function boot()
    {
        parent::boot();

        static::creating(function ($model) {
            $model->created_at = $model->freshTimestamp();
        });
    }

}

Use on the top:

const UPDATED_AT = null;

And for 'created_at' field, you can use:

const CREATED_AT = null;

UPDATE FOR LARAVEL 5.5.0 - 5.5.5

This was broken in Laravel 5.5.0 (and fixed again in 5.5.5).

If you are using 5.5.x, make sure you are on the newest version.

If for some reason you cannot be on the newest version, here is a workaround.

Set the public $timestamps to false:

public $timestamps = false;

And when necessary:

public function setCreatedAtAttribute($value) { 
    $this->attributes['created_at'] = \Carbon\Carbon::now(); 
}

OR

public function setUpdatedAtAttribute($value) { 
    $this->attributes['updated_at'] = \Carbon\Carbon::now(); 
}

When the two fields "created_at" and "updated_at" are required, you do not have to do anything, of course ;)

I have a better answer from here for Laravel 5.2 or above.

U can use this in model-

class User extends Model
{
    public $timestamps = false; // disable all behavior
    public $timestamps = true; // enable all behavior
    public $timestamps = [ "created_at" ]; // enable only to created_at
    public $timestamps = [ "updated_at" ]; // enable only to updated_at
    public $timestamps = [ "created_at", "updated_at" ]; // same as true, enable all behavior
}

So, for your question, the answer is -

public $timestamps = [ "created_at" ]; // enable only to created_at

Re-

public $timestamps = [ "created_at" ]; 

Not working in Laravel 6+