# Release Notes

- [Versioning Scheme](#versioning-scheme)
- [Support Policy](#support-policy)
- [Laravel 12](#laravel-12)

<a name="versioning-scheme"></a>
## Versioning Scheme

Laravel and its other first-party packages follow [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org). Major framework releases are released every year (~Q1), while minor and patch releases may be released as often as every week. Minor and patch releases should **never** contain breaking changes.

When referencing the Laravel framework or its components from your application or package, you should always use a version constraint such as `^12.0`, since major releases of Laravel do include breaking changes. However, we strive to always ensure you may update to a new major release in one day or less.

<a name="named-arguments"></a>
#### Named Arguments

[Named arguments](https://www.php.net/manual/en/functions.arguments.php#functions.named-arguments) are not covered by Laravel's backwards compatibility guidelines. We may choose to rename function arguments when necessary in order to improve the Laravel codebase. Therefore, using named arguments when calling Laravel methods should be done cautiously and with the understanding that the parameter names may change in the future.

<a name="support-policy"></a>
## Support Policy

For all Laravel releases, bug fixes are provided for 18 months and security fixes are provided for 2 years. For all additional libraries, including Lumen, only the latest major release receives bug fixes. In addition, please review the database versions [supported by Laravel](/docs/{{version}}/database#introduction).

<div class="overflow-auto">

| Version | PHP (*) | Release | Bug Fixes Until | Security Fixes Until |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 9 | 8.0 - 8.2 | February 8th, 2022 | August 8th, 2023 | February 6th, 2024 |
| 10 | 8.1 - 8.3 | February 14th, 2023 | August 6th, 2024 | February 4th, 2025 |
| 11 | 8.2 - 8.4 | March 12th, 2024 | September 3rd, 2025 | March 12th, 2026 |
| 12 | 8.2 - 8.4 | February 24th, 2025 | August 13th, 2026 | February 24th, 2027 |

</div>

<div class="version-colors">
    <div class="end-of-life">
        <div class="color-box"></div>
        <div>End of life</div>
    </div>
    <div class="security-fixes">
        <div class="color-box"></div>
        <div>Security fixes only</div>
    </div>
</div>

(*) Supported PHP versions

<a name="laravel-12"></a>
## Laravel 12

Laravel 12 continues the improvements made in Laravel 11.x by updating upstream dependencies and introducing new starter kits for React, Vue, and Livewire, including the option of using [WorkOS AuthKit](https://authkit.com) for user authentication. The WorkOS variant of our starter kits offers social authentication, passkeys, and SSO support.

<a name="minimal-breaking-changes"></a>
### Minimal Breaking Changes

Much of our focus during this release cycle has been minimizing breaking changes. Instead, we have dedicated ourselves to shipping continuous quality-of-life improvements throughout the year that do not break existing applications.

Therefore, the Laravel 12 release is a relatively minor "maintenance release" in order to upgrade existing dependencies. In light of this, most Laravel applications may upgrade to Laravel 12 without changing any application code.

<a name="new-application-starter-kits"></a>
### New Application Starter Kits

Laravel 12 introduces new [application starter kits](/docs/{{version}}/starter-kits) for React, Vue, and Livewire. The React and Vue starter kits utilize Inertia 2, TypeScript, [shadcn/ui](https://ui.shadcn.com), and Tailwind, while the Livewire starter kits utilize the Tailwind-based [Flux UI](https://fluxui.dev) component library and Laravel Volt.

The React, Vue, and Livewire starter kits all utilize Laravel's built-in authentication system to offer login, registration, password reset, email verification, and more. In addition, we are introducing a [WorkOS AuthKit-powered](https://authkit.com) variant of each starter kit, offering social authentication, passkeys, and SSO support. WorkOS offers free authentication for applications up to 1 million monthly active users.

With the introduction of our new application starter kits, Laravel Breeze and Laravel Jetstream will no longer receive additional updates.

To get started with our new starter kits, check out the [starter kit documentation](/docs/{{version}}/starter-kits).