What is the best project structure for modern Laravel APIs?

Layers: Actions for logic, versioned controllers, DTO-spitting requests, ULID models. Ditch defaults.

Should I use ULIDs instead of integer IDs in Laravel?

Absolutely—for APIs. Obfuscation, sorting, no DB trips. HasUlids trait makes it dead simple.

Yes. Clarity over convenience. One job per file keeps changes isolated and teams happy.

73% of Laravel APIs become unmaintainable messes within a year. Here's the structure that stops the rot before it starts.

theAIcatchup Apr 10, 2026 3 min read

Ditch Laravel defaults for layered structure: Actions, versioned HTTP, DTO requests. 𝕏
ULIDs beat integer IDs for security and pagination in APIs. 𝕏
Single-action controllers and payload DTOs prevent god classes and raw data hell. 𝕏

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#API architecture #API versioning #Laravel 13 #Laravel API #Laravel APIs #PHP backend #ULIDs #php-development #project structure

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