Check Laravel version in CMD, Terminal, or Ubuntu

• How to Check Laravel Version in Your Project (CMD / Terminal / Ubuntu)
• 1. Check via Artisan (fastest)
• 2. Use artisan about
• 3. Using Composer
• 4. Check composer.json or composer.lock
• 5. Inspect Application.php
• 6. Get it in Code
• TL;DR

How to Check Laravel Version in Your Project (CMD / Terminal / Ubuntu)

Need to know which Laravel version your project is running? Here are the quickest ways.

1. Check via Artisan (fastest)

In your project root, run:

php artisan --version

Output looks like:

Laravel Framework 10.5.2

👉 On Laravel Sail / Docker:

sail artisan --version

2. Use artisan about

Newer Laravel versions support:

php artisan about

This shows the version plus PHP, environment, and more.

3. Using Composer

Another quick way is via Composer:

composer show laravel/framework

This will display details of the Laravel framework package, including the installed version.

4. Check composer.json or composer.lock

• Open composer.json → search "laravel/framework".
• For the exact installed version, open composer.lock and search "laravel/framework".

5. Inspect Application.php

If no terminal access: Open vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Application.php and look for:

const VERSION = '9.42.1';

6. Get it in Code

For debugging or admin panels:

echo app()->version();

⚠️ Don’t expose version info publicly in production.

TL;DR

👉 If you just want the answer: Run php artisan --version in your project root.

The other methods are fallbacks when the CLI isn’t available.