To fix CORS issues in Laravel when accessing the API from a browser-based frontend, install and configure the fruitcake/laravel-cors package. 1. Install the package via Composer. 2. Publish the config file and adjust settings like allowed origins, methods, and headers. 3. Ensure the middleware is applied globally or manually to specific routes. 4. Avoid common mistakes such as misconfigured origins, missing OPTIONS request handling, overly restrictive headers, and caching issues.
When your Laravel API is accessed from a browser-based app (like a frontend built with Vue, React, or plain JavaScript), you might run into CORS issues. The problem usually shows up as an error in the browser console saying something like “No 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header present.” Fixing this involves making sure Laravel sends the correct headers to allow cross-origin requests.

What is CORS and why does it matter?
CORS stands for Cross-Origin Resource Sharing. It’s a security feature implemented by browsers that restricts how web pages can make requests to a different domain than the one that served the page. For example:
- Your frontend runs on
http://localhost:3000
- Your Laravel API runs on
http://localhost:8000
A request from the frontend to the API will be blocked unless the API includes proper CORS headers.

This helps prevent malicious websites from making unauthorized requests to APIs on your behalf, but it also means you need to configure your backend properly to allow legitimate requests.
How to enable CORS in Laravel
Laravel provides a simple way to handle CORS using middleware. Out of the box, Laravel doesn’t include a CORS middleware by default, but there’s a popular package called fruitcake/laravel-cors
that makes handling this easy.

Steps:
-
Install the package via Composer:
composer require fruitcake/laravel-cors
Publish the config file:
php artisan vendor:publish --tag="cors"
Open
config/cors.php
and adjust the settings. A basic setup might look like this:'paths' => ['api/*'], 'allowed_methods' => ['*'], 'allowed_origins' => ['http://localhost:3000'], 'allowed_headers' => ['*'], 'exposed_headers' => [], 'max_age' => 0, 'supports_credentials' => false,
Make sure to match the paths and origins to your specific app needs.
Where to apply the CORS middleware
Once the package is installed and configured, the middleware should already be registered globally via a service provider. That means any route under the api/*
path will automatically get the CORS headers based on your config.
If you want more control, you can apply the middleware manually in app/Http/Kernel.php
. You’ll find it listed under $middlewareGroups
or $routeMiddleware
.
You can also apply it directly to specific routes or route groups in routes/api.php
like this:
Route::group(['prefix' => 'v1', 'middleware' => 'cors'], function () { Route::get('users', [UserController::class, 'index']); });
Just remember: if you're applying it manually, remove it from the global middleware stack to avoid duplication.
Common mistakes and troubleshooting tips
Even after setting up CORS, things might still go wrong. Here are a few common pitfalls:
Wildcard vs specific domains: Using
['*']
for allowed origins works fine unless you're using credentials (withCredentials
). In that case, you must specify the exact origin.Preflight OPTIONS requests not handled: Laravel should automatically respond to
OPTIONS
requests when the middleware is active. If you’re seeing 405 Method Not Allowed errors, make sure your routes acceptOPTIONS
or double-check your middleware setup.Headers or methods too restrictive: If your frontend uses custom headers (like
Authorization
orContent-Type: application/json
), make sure they’re included inallowed_headers
.Caching issues: Sometimes browsers cache CORS responses. Try disabling cache in DevTools or test in Incognito mode.
Testing from Postman or curl works, but browser fails: This is normal. Tools like Postman ignore CORS — the browser is the one enforcing it.
That’s basically how you handle CORS in Laravel. It's not complicated once everything is set up correctly, but it can trip you up if you miss even one small detail.
The above is the detailed content of How to handle CORS issues with Laravel API routes?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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