Laravel 12 Admin & User Separate Authentication (Step-by-Step Guide)

Laravel 12 introduced a cleaner architecture by removing Kernel.php. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to correctly implement Admin + User separate authentication using the latest Laravel 12 way.

• ✔ Default web guard → Users
• ✔ New admin guard
• ✔ Separate login system
• ✔ Laravel 12 middleware registration

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Step 1: Default User Authentication (No Change)

Laravel already provides user authentication using the web guard.

// config/auth.php 'guards' => [ 'web' => [ 'driver' => 'session', 'provider' => 'users', ], ],

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Step 2: Create Admin Model & Migration

php artisan make:model Admin -m

Schema::create('admins', function (Blueprint $table) { $table->id(); $table->string('name'); $table->string('email')->unique(); $table->string('password'); $table->timestamps(); });

php artisan migrate

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Step 3: Configure Admin Guard

// config/auth.php 'providers' => [ 'users' => [ 'driver' => 'eloquent', 'model' => App\Models\User::class, ], 'admins' => [ 'driver' => 'eloquent', 'model' => App\Models\Admin::class, ], ], 'guards' => [ 'web' => [ 'driver' => 'session', 'provider' => 'users', ], 'admin' => [ 'driver' => 'session', 'provider' => 'admins', ], ],

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Step 4: Admin Login Controller

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth; public function login(Request $request) { if (Auth::guard('admin')->attempt( $request->only('email','password') )) { return redirect()->route('admin.dashboard'); } return back()->withErrors(['email'=>'Invalid credentials']); } public function logout() { Auth::guard('admin')->logout(); return redirect()->route('admin.login'); }

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Step 5: Admin Middleware (Laravel 12)

php artisan make:middleware AdminAuth

public function handle($request, Closure $next) { if (!Auth::guard('admin')->check()) { return redirect()->route('admin.login'); } return $next($request); }

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Step 6: Register Middleware (No Kernel.php)

// bootstrap/app.php ->withMiddleware(function ($middleware) { $middleware->alias([ 'admin' => \App\Http\Middleware\AdminAuth::class, ]); });

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Step 7: Admin Routes

// routes/admin.php Route::get('/login', [AuthController::class,'showLogin'])->name('admin.login'); Route::post('/login', [AuthController::class,'login']); Route::middleware('admin')->group(function(){ Route::get('/dashboard', fn()=>view('admin.dashboard'))->name('admin.dashboard'); Route::post('/logout',[AuthController::class,'logout'])->name('admin.logout'); });

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How to Use This Setup

1. User login → Auth::check()
2. Admin login → Auth::guard('admin')->check()
3. Protect admin pages using admin middleware
4. Both can stay logged in same browser

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can admin and user login together?

Yes. Laravel guards are session-isolated, so no conflict occurs.

Is Kernel.php removed in Laravel 12?

Yes. Middleware is now registered inside bootstrap/app.php.

Is this approach interview-safe?

Absolutely. This is the recommended Laravel 12 pattern.

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✅ You are now fully Laravel 12 Admin-Auth ready.