Seeding data in Laravel

Introduction

Seeding data helps you quickly fill your database with sample information. This makes testing and development easier without typing data manually.

You want to test your app with example users and posts.

You need to reset your database with fresh sample data.

You want to share a ready-to-use database setup with your team.

You want to fill lookup tables like countries or categories automatically.

Syntax

Laravel

php artisan make:seeder SeederName

// Inside database/seeders/SeederName.php
public function run()
{
    DB::table('table_name')->insert([
        'column1' => 'value1',
        'column2' => 'value2',
    ]);
}

// Run all seeders
php artisan db:seed

Seeder classes go inside database/seeders folder.

Use php artisan db:seed to run all seeders or php artisan db:seed --class=SeederName for one.

Examples

This creates a seeder to add one user named Alice.

Laravel

php artisan make:seeder UsersTableSeeder

// In UsersTableSeeder.php
public function run()
{
    DB::table('users')->insert([
        'name' => 'Alice',
        'email' => '[e-mail]',
        'password' => bcrypt('password123'),
    ]);
}

Use Laravel factories to create 10 random users easily.

Laravel

public function run()
{
    User::factory()->count(10)->create();
}

Run only the UsersTableSeeder without running all seeders.

Laravel

php artisan db:seed --class=UsersTableSeeder

Sample Program

This seeder adds one user named John Doe with a hashed password. You run it with the artisan command shown in the comment.

Laravel

<?php

namespace Database\Seeders;

use Illuminate\Database\Seeder;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Hash;

class UsersTableSeeder extends Seeder
{
    public function run()
    {
        DB::table('users')->insert([
            'name' => 'John Doe',
            'email' => '[e-mail]',
            'password' => Hash::make('secret123'),
        ]);
    }
}

// To run this seeder, use:
// php artisan db:seed --class=UsersTableSeeder

Important Notes

Always hash passwords before inserting users to keep data safe.

You can call other seeders inside DatabaseSeeder.php to organize data setup.

Use factories for large amounts of fake data to save time.

Summary

Seeding fills your database with sample data automatically.

Create seeders with php artisan make:seeder and run them with php artisan db:seed.

Use factories for easy generation of many fake records.