Laravel Default Database Tables Explained

A fresh Laravel install creates 7-8 tables depending on your packages. The core ones are users, password_resets, failed_jobs, and personal_access_tokens. The cache, sessions, jobs, and batches tables are only created if you run the corresponding Artisan commands. None of them are sacred -- you can rename, extend, or replace any of them.

The core tables

users

Column	Type	What it means
id	bigint (PK)	Auto-incrementing primary key.
name	varchar(255)	User's display name.
email	varchar(255)	Unique email address.
email_verified_at	timestamp	When email was verified. Null if unverified.
password	varchar(255)	Hashed password (bcrypt). Never store plain text.
remember_token	varchar(100)	Token for "remember me" functionality.
created_at	timestamp	Registration time.
updated_at	timestamp	Last profile update.

password_resets

Column	Type	What it means
email	varchar(255)	The email requesting a reset.
token	varchar(255)	The reset token (hashed).
created_at	timestamp	When the token was generated.

This table is self-cleaning -- old tokens are garbage collected.

failed_jobs

Column	Type	What it means
id	bigint (PK)	Auto-incrementing ID.
uuid	varchar(255)	Unique identifier for the job.
connection	text	Queue connection that failed.
queue	queue name	Which queue the job was on.
payload	longText	The job's serialized data.
exception	longText	The full exception stack trace.
failed_at	timestamp	When it failed.

Use this table to debug failed queue jobs. The exception column has the full stack trace.

personal_access_tokens

Created by Laravel Sanctum for API token authentication.

Column	Type	What it means
id	bigint (PK)	Auto-incrementing ID.
tokenable_type	varchar(255)	The model this token belongs to (e.g., App\Models\User).
tokenable_id	bigint	The ID of that model.
name	varchar(255)	Token name (e.g., "Mobile App").
token	varchar(60)	The hashed token value.
abilities	text	JSON array of allowed abilities (e.g., ["*"]).
last_used_at	timestamp	When the token was last used.
expires_at	timestamp	When the token expires (null = never).

Optional tables

sessions

Created by php artisan session:table. Stores HTTP session data in the database instead of files.

Column	Type	What it means
id	varchar(255) (PK)	Session ID (from the cookie).
user_id	bigint (FK)	The user this session belongs to. Null for guests.
ip_address	varchar(45)	Client IP.
user_agent	text	Browser user agent string.
payload	longText	Serialized session data.
last_activity	integer	Unix timestamp of last activity.

cache

Created by php artisan cache:table. Stores key-value cache entries in the database.

Column	Type	What it means
key	varchar(255) (PK)	Cache key.
value	longText	Serialized cache value.
expiration	integer	Unix timestamp when it expires.

jobs

Created by php artisan queue:table. Stores pending queue jobs.

Column	Type	What it means
id	bigint (PK)	Auto-incrementing ID.
queue	varchar(255)	Queue name.
payload	longText	Serialized job data.
attempts	integer	How many times it's been tried.
reserved_at	integer	When it was reserved by a worker.
available_at	integer	When it can be picked up.
created_at	integer	When it was dispatched.

batches

Created by php artisan queue:batches-table. Tracks batch progress for parallel job processing.

Column	Type	What it means
id	bigint (PK)	Auto-incrementing ID.
name	varchar(255)	Batch name.
total_jobs	integer	Total jobs in the batch.
pending_jobs	integer	Jobs still to run.
failed_jobs	integer	Jobs that failed.
failed_job_ids	longText	JSON array of failed job IDs.
options	longText	Serialized batch options.
cancelled_at	timestamp	When cancelled (null if not).
created_at	timestamp	When the batch was created.
finished_at	timestamp	When the batch completed.

What to change

• Add a role column to users for role-based access.
• Add a phone_number column for SMS auth.
• Add an avatar_url column for profile pictures.
• Rename password_resets to password_reset_tokens (Laravel 8+ convention).

What to leave alone

• Don't modify the failed_jobs.exception column -- it needs to hold full stack traces.
• Don't remove personal_access_tokens.tokenable_type -- it's a polymorphic relation.
• Don't add indexes to cache.key -- it's already the primary key.

FAQ

Does Laravel create all these tables automatically?

No. Only users, password_resets, and failed_jobs are created by php artisan migrate. The others (sessions, cache, jobs, batches) require separate Artisan commands.

Can I use Redis instead of the database tables?

Yes. Laravel supports Redis for sessions, cache, and queues out of the box. Switch your .env driver to redis and the database tables become unnecessary.

What's the difference between password_resets and password_reset_tokens?

Same table, different names. Laravel 8+ renamed it to password_reset_tokens. If you're on an older version, it's still password_resets.

How do I visualize my Laravel schema?

Use dbdiagramr -- paste your connection string and get a visual schema of all your Laravel tables.