seed:export

Export records from the database to JSON seed files.

Signature

bash

php artisan seed:export {--seeder=} {--with-relations}

Options

--seeder

Specify a single seeder to export (by class name or without namespace).

bash

php artisan seed:export --seeder=UserSeeder
php artisan seed:export --seeder=Database\\Seeders\\UserSeeder

If not provided and auto_discover is enabled, all seeders are exported.

--with-relations

Include related data when exporting. Relations are embedded in the JSON output.

bash

php artisan seed:export --with-relations
php artisan seed:export --seeder=UserSeeder --with-relations

Relations are exported as nested arrays in the JSON file. See Exporting Relations for details.

Usage Examples

Export a Single Seeder

bash

php artisan seed:export --seeder=UserSeeder

Output:

Exporting UserSeeder...
Exported 5 records to storage/app/private/seeders/users.json

Export All Seeders

When auto_discover is enabled in config, export all seeders:

bash

php artisan seed:export

Output:

Discovering exportable seeders...
Exporting TenantSeeder...
Exported 3 records to storage/app/private/seeders/tenants.json
Exporting RoleSeeder...
Exported 5 records to storage/app/private/seeders/roles.json
Exporting UserSeeder...
Exported 12 records to storage/app/private/seeders/users.json
All seeders exported successfully.

The order depends on seeder dependencies (topological sort).

Export with Relations

Export a seeder including its relations:

bash

php artisan seed:export --seeder=UserSeeder --with-relations

Output:

Exporting UserSeeder with relations...
Exported 5 records (with relations) to storage/app/private/seeders/users.json

Example JSON with relations (posts and comments):

json

[
    {
        "id": 1,
        "name": "John Doe",
        "email": "[email protected]",
        "created_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z",
        "updated_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z",
        "posts": [
            {
                "id": 10,
                "title": "My First Post",
                "content": "Hello world",
                "created_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z",
                "updated_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z"
            }
        ],
        "comments": [
            {
                "id": 100,
                "body": "Great article!",
                "created_at": "2025-01-02T00:00:00.000000Z",
                "updated_at": "2025-01-02T00:00:00.000000Z"
            }
        ]
    }
]

Export Respects Dependencies

When exporting all seeders, the command respects seeder dependencies via topological sort:

If UserSeeder depends on RoleSeeder:

php

protected array $dependencies = [RoleSeeder::class];

Running php artisan seed:export exports seeders in the correct order:

Exporting RoleSeeder...
Exporting UserSeeder...

This ensures seeders with dependencies are exported after their dependencies.

Dependency Resolution

If seeder dependencies form a cycle, the command fails with an error:

Error: Circular dependency detected between seeders

Fix circular dependencies before exporting.

File Output

Exported JSON files are written to the configured storage path (default: storage/app/private/seeders/).

Files are overwritten if they already exist.

JSON Format

By default, JSON is formatted with:

Pretty printing (indentation)
Unescaped Unicode characters
All model attributes except those filtered by getExportableAttributes()

Configure JSON formatting in config/oi-laravel-seeds.php:

php

'json_options' => JSON_PRETTY_PRINT | JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE,

Exit Codes

0 — Export successful
1 — Export failed (missing seeder, file write error, circular dependency, etc.)

Filtering Data

Customize which attributes are exported by overriding getExportableAttributes() in your seeder:

php

protected function getExportableAttributes(mixed $model): array
{
    return [
        'id',
        'name',
        'email',
        'created_at',
        'updated_at',
    ];
}

This removes sensitive fields like password and remember_token from exports.

See Exporting Data for more details.

Common Workflows

Update Seed Files After Database Changes

bash

# Make changes to your database
php artisan seed:export --seeder=UserSeeder

Version Control Seed Data

Export all seeders and commit to version control:

bash

php artisan seed:export
git add storage/app/private/seeders/
git commit -m "Update seed data"

Backup Production Data (with caution)

bash

php artisan seed:export --with-relations > backup.json

Next Steps

seed:import — Import seed data from JSON
Exporting Data — Learn filtering and customization
Exporting Relations — Export related data

make:exportable-seeder

seed:import