#Deploying on Laravel Forge

Laravel Forge handles server provisioning and deployment so you can focus on your docs. This guide walks from a fresh Forge account to a live docs site.

#1. Provision a server

From the Forge dashboard, create a new App Server. An App Server gives you PHP, Nginx, and database support on a single machine — the right choice for most Laradocs setups.

Select your cloud provider, region, and instance size, then let Forge provision it. Provisioning typically takes a few minutes.

#2. Create a site

Once your server is ready, go to Sites and create a new site:

• Domain — your docs domain, or use the free on-forge.com subdomain for staging.
• Web Directory — /public.
• PHP version — 8.2 or higher (see System Requirements).

Connect your Git repository during site creation. Forge adds a deploy key to the repository automatically.

#3. Configure environment variables

Open the Environment tab for your site and fill in your production values. At minimum:

APP_URL=https://your-domain.com
APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false
APP_KEY=base64:...

LARADOCS_ENABLED=true
LARADOCS_ROUTE_PREFIX=docs

Generate APP_KEY locally with php artisan key:generate --show and paste it in.

See Configuration for the full list of Laradocs options.

#4. Set up a database

If you're using a Scout search driver or your app needs a database for other reasons, go to Storage → Database on your server and create a database. Then add the connection details to your site's environment:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_DATABASE=your_database
DB_USERNAME=forge
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

Forge shows the forge user password in the database panel.

#5. Customise the deploy script

Forge generates a deploy script for you. A solid baseline for a Laradocs site:

cd $FORGE_SITE_PATH

git pull origin $FORGE_SITE_BRANCH

$FORGE_COMPOSER install --no-dev --no-interaction --prefer-dist --optimize-autoloader

$FORGE_PHP artisan migrate --force
$FORGE_PHP artisan optimize

$RESTART_QUEUES

If you build frontend assets, add your build step before artisan optimize:

npm ci && npm run build

#Zero-downtime deployments

Enable zero-downtime deployments in Site Settings for production. Forge clones each release into a releases/ directory and only updates the symlink after every step completes — the previous release stays live if anything fails. Your deploy script gains the $CREATE_RELEASE() and $ACTIVATE_RELEASE() macros:

$CREATE_RELEASE()

cd $FORGE_RELEASE_DIRECTORY

$FORGE_COMPOSER install --no-dev --no-interaction --prefer-dist --optimize-autoloader

npm ci && npm run build

$FORGE_PHP artisan migrate --force
$FORGE_PHP artisan optimize

$ACTIVATE_RELEASE()
$RESTART_QUEUES

#6. Queue workers

If your app uses a Scout search driver or dispatches background jobs, set up a queue worker under Site → Queue Workers:

Forge manages workers under Supervisor, which restarts them automatically on crash or server reboot.

#7. Push to deploy

Push to Deploy is enabled by default — every push to your configured branch triggers a deployment. Disable it in Site → Deployments if you prefer manual or CI-driven deploys instead.

For CI integration, grab the deployment webhook URL from the Deployments tab and POST to it from your pipeline.

#8. SSL and custom domains

1. Point your domain's DNS A record to your Forge server's IP address.
2. In Forge, go to Site → SSL and issue a Let's Encrypt certificate.

Forge handles renewal automatically.