Laravel 12: what I actually adopt (and what I skip)

Laravel 12 shipped on 24 February 2025. Three days later I upgraded the portfolio locally — not for an “upgraded” badge, to see what actually breaks on a project with Spatie Translatable, Vite, and a populated Configuration admin.

What I tested first

1. composer update laravel/framework on a throwaway branch
2. php artisan test (Pest) — contact, newsletter, admin auth
3. A pass through /admin/configuration: SMTP, AI, maintenance

If RuntimeConfigApplier dies, the public site can still “work” while admin lies. I check both.

composer update laravel/framework --with-all-dependencies
php artisan optimize:clear
php artisan test --filter=Contact

What I deliberately ignore

Official starters (Livewire Flux, etc.) are fine for greenfield. For Vannalec or the portfolio, I do not migrate admin to a new UI kit “because it’s trendy”. Craft means shipping without breaking the client.

Decision

I adopt Laravel 12 for DX and long-term maintenance. I do not adopt rewrite theatre. Next on clients: the same bump on Allan / Vannalec once the portfolio has been stable for two weeks.