How to set default value in Laravel migration

We might run to cases where we need to set a default value to a column in Laravel migration.

this are some use cases that can inspire you to work on your Laravel application

Default value null (nullable)

First default we might need is a nullable column, which sets it to null on creation.

$table->string('title')->nullable();

Default value a string

Then other times we want to set a default value, that is a string. but this column would never be null.

$table->string('title')->default('the default value');

Default string with a nullable column

If we need a default nullable column, but we provide a value on creation.

$table->string('title')->nullable('the default value');

Default expression

Sometimes we want to set a value to a default json value, so we need to unwrap it from the quotes. Therefor we can use Illuminate\Database\Query\Expression.

Laravel documentation provides the example new Expression('(JSON_ARRAY())')

$table->json('movies')->default(new Expression('(JSON_ARRAY())'));

This can be a string or an array or anything, with Helpers in Laravel

$table->string('title')->default(STR::plural('some value')));
$table->string('title')->default(Str::between('This', 'that', 'other'))));

Default current timestamp

If we need time current time, to be the default of a column name, we can use

$table->timestamp('published_time')->useCurrent();

Default current timestamp when we update

$table->timestamp('published_time')->useCurrent()->useCurrentOnUpdate();

Default value to existing column

If we already created a column name, but we want to give it a default value, we can using the change method.

$table->string('title');
// we can change it to accept a default value
$table->string('title')->default('the default value')->change();