---
url: /laravel-api-generator/guide/from-database.md
---
# From an Existing Database

Working on a legacy project? Point the generator at the database and get a complete, tested, documented API for every table, without retyping a single schema.

## Usage

::: code-group

```bash [All tables]
php artisan make:fullapi --from-database
```

```bash [Specific tables]
php artisan make:fullapi --from-database --tables=products,orders
```

```bash [With migrations]
php artisan make:fullapi --from-database --with-migrations
```

:::

The first form converts every user table; system tables are skipped automatically. `--tables=` narrows the run to the tables you list, and `--with-migrations` also writes the migration files, which is useful to version a hand-built database.

## What the introspection detects

The introspection reads far more than column names:

* **Columns** with their types and nullability, mapped to validation rules, casts, factories, DTO types and the model PHPDoc. A `VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL UNIQUE` becomes `required|string|max:255|unique:...` plus a unique factory value.
* **Foreign keys** (real constraints, plus the `<table>_id` naming convention) become `belongsTo` relations, with the inverse `hasMany` on the parent model: both sides typed in the PHPDoc.
* **Pivot tables** (two foreign keys, nothing else) become `belongsToMany` on both models instead of a useless intermediate entity.
* **Polymorphic pairs**: `commentable_type` + `commentable_id` columns are detected as a proper `morphTo` relation.
* **Enum columns** become native PHP backed enums with casts and `Rule::enum()` validation.
* **`deleted_at`** enables soft deletes (trait, restore/force-delete endpoints).

## Safety defaults

* Migrations are **not** regenerated by default: the tables already exist. Pass `--with-migrations` when you want them as code-of-record.
* The `users` table is skipped so your customized `app/Models/User.php` is never overwritten. Pass `--tables=users` explicitly if you really want it.

## Inspecting without generating

The `api-generator:introspect` command emits the schema as JSON, so any tooling can build on top of it. Run it bare to list every user table (`migrations`, `sessions` and `personal_access_tokens` are filtered out), or point it at a table to get its column names, normalized types and soft-deletes flag:

::: code-group

```bash [List tables]
php artisan api-generator:introspect
```

```bash [One table]
php artisan api-generator:introspect --table=products
```

:::

This powers the database imports of the [VS Code extension](/guide/extension/imports#from-the-database).

## The payoff

Legacy database at 9:00, documented and tested REST API at 9:15:

```bash
php artisan make:fullapi --from-database --tables=posts,categories,comments --pest --postman
php artisan test
php artisan serve
```

The test suite passes as generated, and if [Scramble](/guide/docs-and-postman) is installed the interactive documentation is already live at `/docs/api`.