When I started with Laravel, I thought it would be smooth sailing after composer create-project. Instead, I spent hours fighting silly mistakes. Looking back, those mistakes taught me more than any tutorial. Here are 10 of them and how I fixed each one.What to expect: Real-world errors, the exact fixes I used, and quick lessons you can apply immediately.

1) Leaving .env in public_html

• What happened: I accidentally uploaded .env to the web root, making it publicly accessible.
• Why it’s bad: Exposes DB credentials, API keys, and secrets.
• Fix: Keep .env in the project root (outside public_html) and ensure it’s in .gitignore.
  # .gitignore .env
• Lesson: Security first always check what’s public.

2) Forgetting APP_KEY

• Symptom: Sessions/auth broke; error: “No application encryption key has been specified.”
• Fix: Generate and cache the key.
  

  php artisan key:generate --force
  php artisan config:cache

• Lesson: APP_KEY is foundational — set it before testing auth and sessions.

3) Not clearing config/cache after .env changes

• Symptom: I edited .env but nothing changed in the app.
• Fix: Clear caches after environment/config updates.
  

  php artisan config:clear
  php artisan cache:clear
  php artisan route:clear
  php artisan view:clear

• Lesson: Laravel caches aggressively; clear first, then re-test.

4) Skipping storage:link (broken images/files)

• Symptom: Uploaded files existed but wouldn’t display from the browser.
• Fix: Create the public storage symlink.

  php artisan storage:link

• Lesson: Public access to storage/app/public requires the symlink.

5) Mixing API and web routes

• What happened: I put API-style endpoints in web.php, hit CSRF issues and middleware confusion.
• Fix: Use the right files and middleware.
  

  // routes/web.php (session + CSRF)
  Route::get('/', [HomeController::class, 'index'])->name('home');
  // routes/api.php (stateless)
  Route::get('/posts', [PostApiController::class, 'index']);

• Lesson: Keep web routes (CSRF/session) separate from stateless API routes.

6) Hardcoding URLs instead of helpers

• Symptom: Moved from local to production and links broke.
• Fix: Use route and asset helpers.
• Lesson: Helpers make URLs environment-agnostic.

7) N+1 query hell

• Symptom: Slow page rendering when looping related models.
• Fix: Eager load relationships.
  

  $users = User::with('posts')->get();
  @foreach($users as $user)
  {{ $user->posts->count() }}
  @endforeach

• Lesson: Learn to spot N+1 early; use with(), debug bar, and query logs.

8) Forgetting to run migrations

• Symptom: “Base table or view not found” while testing features.
• Fix: Run migrations (and seed if needed) before debugging logic.
  

  php artisan migrate --force
  php artisan db:seed --force

• Lesson: Schema first, code second.

9) Putting too much logic in Blade

• What happened: I crammed queries and conditionals into Blade, making views hard to test and maintain.
• Fix: Move logic to controllers, services, or view composers.
  

  // Controller$posts = Post::published()->latest()->paginate(10);
  return view('posts.index', compact('posts'));
  // Blade (presentation only)
  @foreach($posts as $post)
  {{ $post->title }}
  @endforeach

• Lesson: Keep Blade declarative; test logic in PHP classes.

10) Deploying without optimizations

• Symptom: First production load was slow and inconsistent.
• Fix: Add optimization steps to your deploy script.
  composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
  

  php artisan config:cache
  php artisan route:cache
  php artisan view:cache

• Lesson: Treat optimizations as mandatory in production.

Bonus: Where to look first when things break

• Check logs: storage/logs/laravel.log
• Clear caches: php artisan config:clear, cache:clear, route:clear, view:clear
• Permissions: storage and bootstrap/cache must be writable

Outro

Mistakes are part of the learning curve. If you’re a junior like me, don’t be afraid of breaking things, just make sure you learn how to fix them.