Artisan is the command-line interface of Laravel that automates common tasks. In this guide, you will learn all the important Artisan commands that you can use via SSH on your hosting.

What is Artisan

Artisan is built into Laravel and offers:

  • Migrations and database management
  • Cache management
  • Code generation (make commands)
  • Queue and job management
  • Maintenance mode
  • Much more via custom commands

Connecting via SSH

Before you can use Artisan, connect via SSH.

Connect

ssh username@yourdomain.nl
# Or with specific port
ssh -p 7777 username@server.theory7.net

cd ~/domains/yourdomain.nl/project

Test Artisan

php artisan --version
# Output: Laravel Framework 11.x.x
php artisan list
# Shows all available commands

Cache Commands

Cache management is essential for performance.

Clear all caches

# Clear all caches at once
php artisan optimize:clear

This combines:

  • config:clear
  • route:clear
  • view:clear
  • cache:clear

Configuration cache

# Cache configuration
php artisan config:cache
# Clear configuration cache
php artisan config:clear

Note: After config:cache, .env is no longer read directly. Changes require caching again.

Route cache

# Cache routes
php artisan route:cache
# Clear route cache
php artisan route:clear

Significantly speeds up route resolution.

View cache

# Pre-compile all Blade views
php artisan view:cache
# Clear view cache
php artisan view:clear

Application cache

# Clear application cache
php artisan cache:clear
# With specific store
php artisan cache:clear --store=file

Production optimization

# Cache everything for production
php artisan optimize
# Or extensively
php artisan config:cache
php artisan route:cache
php artisan view:cache

Database Commands

Manage your database structure and data.

Migrations

# Run pending migrations
php artisan migrate
# With force for production
php artisan migrate --force
# Rollback last batch
php artisan migrate:rollback
# Rollback specific number
php artisan migrate:rollback --step=3
# Reset all migrations
php artisan migrate:reset
# Reset and re-run (destructive!)
php artisan migrate:fresh

Database seeding

# Run all seeders
php artisan db:seed
# Specific seeder
php artisan db:seed --class=UserSeeder
# Fresh migrate with seeding
php artisan migrate:fresh --seed

Migration status

# View migration status
php artisan migrate:status

Schema dump

# Dump schema to SQL
php artisan schema:dump
# With pruning of old migrations
php artisan schema:dump --prune

Make Commands

Quickly generate code with make commands.

Controllers

# Basic controller
php artisan make:controller UserController
# Resource controller (CRUD)
php artisan make:controller PostController --resource
# API controller
php artisan make:controller Api/ProductController --api

Models

# Basic model
php artisan make:model Post
# With migration
php artisan make:model Post -m
# With everything (migration, factory, seeder, controller)
php artisan make:model Post --all

Migrations

# New migration
php artisan make:migration create_posts_table
# Modification to existing table
php artisan make:migration add_status_to_posts_table --table=posts

Other resources

# Request validation
php artisan make:request StorePostRequest
# Middleware
php artisan make:middleware AuthenticateAdmin
# Event and listener
php artisan make:event OrderShipped
php artisan make:listener SendOrderNotification
# Job
php artisan make:job ProcessPodcast
# Mail
php artisan make:mail OrderConfirmation
# Notification
php artisan make:notification InvoicePaid

Queue Commands

Manage background jobs.

Queue worker

# Start queue worker
php artisan queue:work
# With specific connection
php artisan queue:work database
# With timeout and memory limit
php artisan queue:work --timeout=60 --memory=128
# Process only N jobs
php artisan queue:work --once
php artisan queue:work --max-jobs=100

Queue management

# View failed jobs
php artisan queue:failed
# Retry failed job
php artisan queue:retry {id}
php artisan queue:retry all
# Remove failed job
php artisan queue:forget {id}
php artisan queue:flush  # All failed jobs
# Restart workers (after code change)
php artisan queue:restart

Maintenance Mode

Temporarily take your site offline.

Activate

# Basic maintenance mode
php artisan down
# With custom message
php artisan down --message="We'll be back soon!"
# With retry header (seconds)
php artisan down --retry=60
# Allow specific IPs
php artisan down --allow=123.456.789.0
# With secret bypass URL
php artisan down --secret="bypass-token"

With the secret, you can view the site via:

https://yourdomain.nl/bypass-token

Deactivate

php artisan up

Debugging Commands

Useful commands for debugging.

View routes

# List all routes
php artisan route:list
# Filter by name
php artisan route:list --name=admin
# Filter by method
php artisan route:list --method=GET

Environment info

# Show current environment
php artisan env
# Encrypt .env values
php artisan env:encrypt

Tinker (REPL)

# Start interactive shell
php artisan tinker
# In tinker:
> User::count()
> User::find(1)
> App::environment()

Schedule Commands

Manage scheduled tasks.

Run schedule

# Manually run scheduler
php artisan schedule:run
# View scheduled tasks
php artisan schedule:list
# Test specific command
php artisan schedule:test

Schedule in cronjob

Add to crontab:

* * * * * cd /path/to/project && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

Storage Commands

Manage storage and files.

# Create public storage link
php artisan storage:link
# Verify links
ls -la public/storage

Storage cleanup

Custom command or manually:

# Remove temp files older than X days
find storage/app/temp -mtime +7 -delete

Deployment Commands

Typical deployment workflow:

# 1. Activate maintenance
php artisan down
# 2. Update dependencies (if needed)
composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
# 3. Migrations
php artisan migrate --force
# 4. Build cache
php artisan config:cache
php artisan route:cache
php artisan view:cache
# 5. Restart queue workers
php artisan queue:restart
# 6. Deactivate maintenance
php artisan up

One-liner for deployment

php artisan down && composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader && php artisan migrate --force && php artisan optimize && php artisan up

Custom Artisan Commands

Create your own commands:

php artisan make:command SendWeeklyReport

This creates `app/Console/Commands/SendWeeklyReport.php`.

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