Introduction

In Laravel 11, route and middleware registration have been modernized with a cleaner and more fluent syntax. While this new structure streamlines your application setup, it's easy to miss critical configurations—like applying the web middleware group to your custom route files. In this post, we’ll explore how to properly register route files with necessary middleware and how to create your own custom middleware group based on web in Laravel 11.

The Error: Undefined Variable $errors

One common issue developers face is the "undefined variable $errors" error in Laravel Blade views. This typically occurs when the web middleware group is not applied to the route, which means features like session and validation errors aren't available in the view.

This issue often arises when using a custom route file—like admin.php—without registering it properly under the web middleware group.

Laravel 11 Style Routing

Laravel 11 introduces a new approach to route and middleware registration via the bootstrap/app.php file using ->withRouting() and ->withMiddleware(). Here's how you can register your custom route file with the web middleware:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
use App\Http\Middleware\Authenticate;

return Application::configure(basePath: dirname(__DIR__))
    ->withRouting(
        web: __DIR__.'/../routes/web.php',
        commands: __DIR__.'/../routes/console.php',
        health: '/up',
        then: function () {
            Route::middleware('web')
                ->prefix('admin')
                ->name('admin.')
                ->group(base_path('routes/admin.php'));
        },
    )
    ->create();
    

This ensures that all routes in admin.php are wrapped in the web middleware group, resolving issues like the undefined $errors variable in Blade views.

Creating a Custom Middleware Group Based on web

If you want to create your own middleware group that inherits everything from web but adds custom middleware, Laravel 11 makes it easy using the ->withMiddleware() method:

use Illuminate\Foundation\Configuration\Middleware;
use App\Http\Middleware\LogRequests;

return Application::configure(basePath: dirname(__DIR__))
    ->withMiddleware(function (Middleware $middleware) {
        $middleware->appendToGroup('custom-web', [
            \Illuminate\Session\Middleware\StartSession::class,
            \Illuminate\View\Middleware\ShareErrorsFromSession::class,
            LogRequests::class, // Your custom middleware
        ]);
    })
    ->withRouting(
        web: __DIR__.'/../routes/web.php',
        then: function () {
            Route::middleware('custom-web')
                ->prefix('admin')
                ->group(base_path('routes/admin.php'));
        },
    )
    ->create();
    

Now, routes using custom-web have everything web provides, plus your additional logic.

Tips for Avoiding Middleware Issues

• Always double-check that your routes use the web or a custom middleware group that includes necessary features like session and error sharing.
• If you're using multiple route files, register them clearly inside the then callback of withRouting().
• Use descriptive names when defining custom middleware groups for clarity and maintainability.

Conclusion

Laravel 11’s modern route and middleware setup improves clarity and flexibility—but only if configured correctly. Missing the web middleware group can break session-based features and validation. By following this guide, you can confidently create new route files and custom middleware groups without running into unexpected issues. Make sure you use the new Laravel 11 style and you’ll have a smooth and scalable project structure from the start.

Happy coding!