Generate from Schema

CRUD Templates for Laravel allows you to generate CRUD files from existing database tables. This is especially useful when you're adding the package to an existing project or want to generate CRUDs for tables that already exist.

Basic Usage

Use the --table option to specify an existing database table:

php artisan crud:generate Post --table=posts

This will:

1. Connect to your database
2. Read the table schema
3. Detect column types and generate appropriate field types
4. Create all CRUD files based on the existing structure

Column Type Mapping

The package automatically maps database column types to field types:

Database Column	Field Type	Model Cast
varchar, char	string	-
text, longtext	text	-
int, integer	integer	-
decimal, float	decimal	decimal:2
boolean, tinyint(1)	boolean	boolean
date	date	immutable_date
datetime, timestamp	datetime	immutable_datetime
json	json	array

Nullable Columns

Nullable columns in the database are automatically detected and handled:

CREATE TABLE posts (
    id BIGINT UNSIGNED PRIMARY KEY,
    title VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
    content TEXT NOT NULL,
    excerpt TEXT NULL,  -- This will be detected as nullable
    published_at DATETIME NULL  -- This will also be nullable
);

Running generate from schema:

php artisan crud:generate Post --table=posts

The generated model will properly handle nullable fields in validation and allow null values.

Foreign Keys

Foreign key columns (typically ending with _id) are detected and converted to belongsTo relationships:

CREATE TABLE posts (
    id BIGINT UNSIGNED PRIMARY KEY,
    category_id BIGINT UNSIGNED,
    author_id BIGINT UNSIGNED,
    FOREIGN KEY (category_id) REFERENCES categories(id),
    FOREIGN KEY (author_id) REFERENCES users(id)
);

The package will generate:

• category:belongsTo relationship
• author:belongsTo relationship

Polymorphic Relationships

Polymorphic columns (*_type and *_id pairs) are automatically detected. For example, if your table has commentable_type and commentable_id columns, a morphTo relation will be created with the name commentable.

Nullable Polymorphic Relationships: If both the *_type and *_id columns are nullable, the generated migration will use nullableMorphs() instead of morphs().

Example table:

CREATE TABLE comments (
    id BIGINT UNSIGNED PRIMARY KEY,
    content TEXT NOT NULL,
    commentable_type VARCHAR(255) NULL,
    commentable_id BIGINT UNSIGNED NULL
);

Running generate from schema will automatically generate:

php artisan crud:generate Comment --table=comments

The generated model will include:

public function commentable(): MorphTo
{
    return $this->morphTo();
}

Other Relationships

You can combine generate from schema with --fields option to specify other relationship types:

php artisan crud:generate Post --table=posts --fields="featured:boolean,tags:belongsToMany,comments:morphMany"

Overriding Table Fields

If you specify a field that already exists in the table, your custom definition will override the default field type:

php artisan crud:generate Post --table=posts --fields="status:enum:PostStatus"

If the posts table has a status column, it will be replaced with your enum definition instead of defaulting to a string field.

Migration Behavior with --table

When using the --table option, the migration file is automatically skipped since the table already exists:

php artisan crud:generate User --table=users

You'll see a warning message:

⚠ --table used so the table already exists. Skipping migration generation

This prevents creating duplicate migrations for existing tables. All other CRUD files (models, controllers, etc.) will still be generated normally.

Database Connection

Generate from schema uses your default database connection defined in config/database.php. Make sure:

1. Your database connection is properly configured
2. The database is accessible
3. The table exists before running the command

Next Steps

• Explore the API Template to understand generated structure
• Learn about Customizing Stubs to modify generated code
• Check Troubleshooting for common issues