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Choose a foreign-key delete action based on what the child row should become if its parent is deleted: use cascadeOnDelete() to delete dependent child rows, restrictOnDelete() to block the parent deletion while children remain, or nullOnDelete() to keep children and clear their foreign-key value. For the last option, the foreign-key column must be nullable.

What Laravel’s delete actions do

Laravel migrations let you define a foreign-key constraint that protects referential integrity at the database level. The delete action specifies what the database should do to rows that reference a parent when that parent is deleted; it is not an Eloquent model deletion hook. See Laravel’s Database: Migrations documentation and the Laravel 13.x ForeignKeyDefinition API.

Action Effect when the referenced parent is deleted Appropriate when Decision check
cascadeOnDelete() Referencing child rows are deleted. Child rows have no useful independent existence or lifecycle apart from the parent. Could deleting the parent remove more data than an operator expects?
restrictOnDelete() The parent deletion is rejected while referencing rows remain. Children must be retained, reassigned, archived, or deliberately deleted first. Does the application explain the blocked deletion and provide a way to handle the children?
nullOnDelete() Child rows remain, and their foreign-key value becomes NULL. The relationship is optional and a child remains meaningful without its former parent. Is the column nullable, and can the rest of the application handle a missing parent?
noActionOnDelete() Laravel documents this as preventing deletion if child records exist. A no-action constraint behavior is desired. Check the target database’s semantics if constraint-check timing or deferrability matters.

How to choose an action

Use cascade for owned dependent data

Choose cascading deletion when the child has no useful purpose without the parent—for example, a dependent record whose lifecycle belongs entirely to that parent. Consider every relationship that may be affected before applying it: a parent deletion can remove all referencing child rows covered by the constraint.

Use restrict when children need an explicit decision

Choose restriction when a child must not disappear implicitly. The database blocks deletion while referencing rows exist, leaving the application or an operator to retain, reassign, archive, or deliberately remove them before trying again.

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Use set null for an optional relationship

Choose this action when the child should survive but no longer point to the deleted parent. The child’s foreign-key column must accept NULL, and application code must be able to handle the relationship being absent.

Define the constraint in a migration

For a nullable relationship that should be cleared when its parent is deleted, Laravel’s documented fluent syntax is:

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$table->foreignId('user_id')
    ->nullable()
    ->constrained()
    ->nullOnDelete();

Apply nullable() before constrained(), as in Laravel’s documented example. For the other choices, use cascadeOnDelete() or restrictOnDelete() after defining the constraint. Laravel also documents setting actions with methods such as onDelete('cascade'); update actions such as onUpdate(...) are separate decisions and do not control deletion.

Check the database connection and resulting schema

  • Confirm the column definition. If a migration was generated earlier or subsequently altered, inspect the resulting schema to ensure the foreign-key column is nullable when using nullOnDelete().
  • Verify foreign-key enforcement in each environment. Laravel 13.x lists MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and SQL Server as supported database systems. Laravel documents SQLite foreign keys as enabled by default for its connections, while DB_FOREIGN_KEYS=false disables them. Check the actual connection and test setup rather than assuming every environment enforces the constraint. See Laravel 13.x Database: Getting Started.
  • Use documentation for the installed Laravel version. SQLite guidance differs in older Laravel documentation; the Laravel 6.x migration page is historical, not a substitute for checking the version your application uses: Laravel 6.x Database: Migrations.

The migration declaration describes the intended constraint; by itself, it does not establish that the schema or deletion behavior has been tested in your application.

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Choose based on data ownership and retention

Laravel documents the mechanics, but does not prescribe one action for every relationship. Treat the choice as a data-ownership and retention decision: cascade when child data is genuinely dependent, restrict when deletion needs an explicit resolution, and set null when the child can remain without its former parent. Test the resulting behavior against the database connection your application actually uses.

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