How to Update the Laravel Installer to the Latest Version

Updating the Laravel installer is essential for your workflow, and Composer makes it easy to install a new version, but what if you already have it installed?

The Laravel team has released a new major version of the Laravel installer that includes Jetstream support. The new version uses the composer create-project command behind the scenes instead of downloading an archive from Laravel's build server.

Because of this change, Taylor Otwell plans to shut down the build server within a month or two, so you should upgrade the installer as soon as possible.

Update the Installer

If you have globally required laravel/installer on your local machine, you can update it to the latest version using one of the following methods:

1. Composer Require

Run the following command to globally require the next major version:

composer global require "laravel/installer:^4.0"

If there are no dependency conflicts, you should now have the latest 4.x installer. It is recommended to update weekly, at least initially, to receive Laravel 8 merge updates and bug fixes.

2. Uninstall and Reinstall

If you encounter issues when updating with composer require, you can uninstall the old version globally and reinstall it:

composer global remove laravel/installer

composer global require laravel/installer

3. Update the Global composer.json File

Another approach is to edit your global composer.json (usually located at ~/.composer/composer.json) and set the required version to ^4.0:

{
    "require": {
        "laravel/installer": "^4.0"
    }
}

Then run a global update:

composer global update

Verify the Update

Regardless of the method you used, confirm that you have the correct version by running:

laravel --version

Laravel Installer 4.0.3

Bonus Options

The Laravel installer received additional options on the day Laravel 8 was released, such as --stack and --teams. The --stack option lets you configure the stack type to livewire or inertia:

laravel new myapp --jet --stack=inertia --team