Laravel upgrades
Which Laravel version do you need for the AI SDK?
The Laravel AI SDK (laravel/ai) needs Laravel 12 or 13 and PHP 8.3 or later. If your application is older than that, adding AI is partly an upgrade project. Here’s what to do from where you are now.
By itmarkerz Technologies. Updated 30 October 2026.
The requirements
The package’s published constraints for laravel/ai v1.3.0, checked on 2026-10-30, are ^12.0|^13.0 for the framework and ^8.3 for PHP. Laravel’s AI SDK documentation covers installing it with composer require laravel/ai.
One detail catches people out. Laravel 12 supports PHP 8.2–8.5, so a Laravel 12 application on PHP 8.2 can’t install the SDK, even though the framework version is fine.
What to do from where you are
| You’re on | Can you install it? | What we’d do |
|---|---|---|
| Laravel 13 | Yes | Install it. Laravel 13 requires PHP 8.3, so that’s covered |
| Laravel 12, PHP 8.3 or later | Yes | Install it, and plan Laravel 13 before February 24, 2027 |
| Laravel 12, PHP 8.2 | No | Move PHP first. You needed to anyway, as 8.2 security support ends on 31 December 2026 |
| Laravel 11 | No | Upgrade to 13. It’s out of security support, so this is overdue regardless of AI |
| Laravel 10 or older | No | Upgrade first, and consider the alternatives below if the AI feature can’t wait |
For the steps, see our guides to PHP 8.2, Laravel 11 and Laravel 10. Your other packages can also set the pace, so check them against the package compatibility matrix.
If you can’t upgrade yet
| Option | Laravel | PHP | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
prism-php/prism v0.102.0 | ^12.61.1|^13.12.0 | ^8.2 | A community package, if you’re on recent Laravel 12 or 13 and prefer it |
openai-php/laravel v0.21.0 | ^11.29|^12.12|^13.0 | ^8.2.0 | One provider, starting from Laravel 11.29 |
| Laravel’s HTTP client | Laravel 7 or later | Whatever your Laravel version supports | One or two simple calls to a provider’s API, on applications too old for the packages |
The HTTP client route is less work than it sounds if your feature only sends text and reads an answer. You lose the SDK’s agents, tool calls and provider switching, and you’ll write your own retries and logging. Keep that code in one class, so you can replace it when you upgrade.
Upgrade first, or add AI first?
If you’re already on Laravel 12 with PHP 8.3 or later, add the feature when you’re ready. Upgrading to 13 and adding AI are separate pieces of work, and shipping them separately makes faults easier to trace.
If you’re older than that, we’d usually upgrade first. An AI feature adds a new dependency, new data flows and new costs, and you’ll want a supported framework under it. It also helps to look at what you’d send to a provider, such as customer data, before you pick one. Laravel’s MCP package, laravel/mcp v1.1.2, has its own floor of ^11.45.3|^12.41.1|^13.0 if you plan to expose your application to AI clients.
Our Laravel AI development team can take on both parts, and our upgrade service covers the framework move at a fixed price. See Laravel versions for where 13 stands, including security fixes until March 17, 2028.
Laravel work we have delivered
UK telecom billing and revenue-assurance platform for resellers and MSPs: CDR rating, locked bill runs, Stripe card and Direct Debit collection, full receivables and ledger, Xero/QuickBooks/Sage sync, supplier-invoice reconciliation. Laravel + Next.js, two and a half years and ongoing.
- Sector
- Telecom & IT services
- Region
- UK
- Stack
- Laravel, Next.js
- Engagement
- Long-term engineering partner, 2.5 years and ongoing
Multi-tenant EMR for an Indian healthtech company preparing to sell internationally, designed and built to HIPAA Security Rule requirements: encryption, immutable audit logging, RBAC and MFA in place; pilot planned mid-2027.
- Sector
- Healthcare
- Region
- India
- Stack
- Laravel
- Engagement
- Product build, in development; pilot planned mid-2027
Platform for Indian insurance brokers, run for about five years: broker and sub-broker hierarchy, policy and claims management, customer login, supervisor reports, IRDAI regulatory reporting and reinsurance lead management.
- Sector
- Insurance & financial services
- Region
- India
- Year
- About 2014–2019
- Stack
- PHP, Laravel
- Engagement
- Built and run for about five years
Questions
Does the Laravel AI SDK need Laravel 13?
No. It was introduced with Laravel 13, but laravel/ai v1.3.0 declares ^12.0|^13.0 on Packagist, so Laravel 12 can install it. It needs PHP 8.3 or later on either version.
Can I use the Laravel AI SDK on Laravel 11?
Not according to its published constraint. Laravel 11 security fixes ended on March 12, 2026 in any case, so the better move is to upgrade. If you can’t, you can call an AI provider’s API from Laravel’s HTTP client, which has been in the framework since Laravel 7.
Does Laravel 12 make sense for a new AI feature?
It will work, but Laravel 12 security fixes end on February 24, 2027. If you’re about to add AI features, moving to Laravel 13 first means you won’t need another framework project soon after.
More on Laravel upgrades
- Laravel package compatibility matrixWhich release of each common package allows which Laravel and PHP version.
- Laravel 12 end of life: what to do firstThe security deadline, and the two things that block Laravel 13.
- PHP 8.2 end of life for Laravel teamsChoosing between PHP 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5 before the deadline.
- Laravel on PHP 8.5: what actually breaksDeprecations to search for, including the PDO constants.
- Upgrading from Laravel 11 to 12Carbon 3, UUIDs and file paths: the changes that throw no errors.
- Upgrading from Laravel 10 to 11You can keep your structure. Here’s what you can’t keep.
- Upgrading Laravel 5–9Step through each version, move to a fresh install, or rebuild.
- Laravel Shift or an upgrade teamWhen an automated tool is enough, and when it isn’t.
- Filament upgrade path to Laravel 13Which order to move in from Filament 2, 3, 4 or 5.
- Laravel 14: release window and how to planWhat’s known, what isn’t, and what to do today.
- Inherited a Laravel app? The first 10 daysAccess, backups, an inventory and a safe deploy, before any new features.
- Laravel 11 end of life: what to do nowStop at Laravel 12 or go straight to 13.
- Laravel 10 end of life: your upgrade optionsFour routes off Laravel 10, and the breaking changes in the first step.
- How much does a Laravel upgrade cost?Our published prices by application size, and what moves a quote.
- Upgrading from Laravel 12 to 13The changes that matter, in the order we would check them.
- PHP 8.1 end of life and LaravelWhy PHP can move before the framework does.
- Laravel upgrade checklistEvery step from inventory to the first week after release.
- Laravel vs Symfony: an upgrade decisionSupport windows compared, and when changing framework makes sense.
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