Laravel 13 Routing Complete Guide: Routes, Parameters, Groups, Named Routes, Route Model Binding & Resource Controllers

Routing — The GPS of Your Laravel Application

In the previous article, we installed Laravel 13 and created our first route. Now it's time to go deep. Routing is the most fundamental concept in Laravel — every single request your application receives passes through the routing system first.

Think of routing like a restaurant's menu. When a customer (browser) asks for something (URL), the waiter (router) checks the menu (routes file), finds the right dish (controller action), and serves it. Without a proper menu, the waiter has no idea what to do with the order.

By the end of this article, you'll understand every routing concept Laravel offers — from basic GET routes to advanced route model binding. You'll write routes like a professional Laravel developer.

Where Do Routes Live in Laravel 13?

In Laravel 13 (and 11+), the routing architecture changed significantly from older versions. Routes are configured in bootstrap/app.php:

// bootstrap/app.php
return Application::configure(basePath: dirname(__DIR__))
    ->withRouting(
        web: __DIR__.'/../routes/web.php',
        api: __DIR__.'/../routes/api.php',
        commands: __DIR__.'/../routes/console.php',
        health: '/up',
    )
    ->withMiddleware(function (Middleware $middleware) {
        // middleware configuration
    })
    ->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {
        // exception handling
    })
    ->create();

Key change from Laravel 10 and earlier: There's no more RouteServiceProvider. Everything is configured in bootstrap/app.php using the fluent withRouting() method.

Important: In Laravel 13, api.php is NOT included by default. You must run php artisan install:api to create it. This also installs Laravel Sanctum for token authentication.

Basic Routes — The Foundation

Every route maps a URL + HTTP method to a piece of code. Let's start with the simplest form: