Fix Laravel "Composer Detected Issues" Platform Requirement Error

There is nothing more frustrating than starting a new project, feeling motivated, and getting blocked by an error message before you even write a single line of code.

You run composer install to set up your Laravel project, and suddenly your terminal screams at you:

Your Composer dependencies require a PHP version ">= 8.1.0". You are running 8.0.2.

But wait, you checked your XAMPP or Laragon control panel, and it clearly says "PHP 8.2 is running". What is going on? This confusion happens because the Command Line Interface (CLI) often uses a different PHP version than your Web Server (Apache/Nginx).

Getting "Your Composer dependencies require a PHP version >= 8.1.0" error? Learn how to fix platform-reqs issues and update PHP CLI version in Laragon

Method 1: The "Ignore" Cheat (Quick Fix)

If you are in a rush and just want to install the packages to see the code, you can force Composer to ignore the version check. This is useful if you are sure your production server has the correct version.

composer install --ignore-platform-reqs

Warning: Use this with caution. This might cause runtime errors if your actual PHP is too old to understand modern syntax.

Method 2: The Real Fix (Update System Path)

To fix this permanently, you need to tell Windows to use the correct PHP executable path.

First, check which PHP you are currently using by typing php -v or where php in your terminal.
In Laragon, go to Menu > PHP > Version. Select the latest one (e.g., 8.2).
Open your Environment Variables in Windows Settings.
Edit the Path variable in the System variables section.
Change the old path (e.g., C:\laragon\bin\php\php-8.0...) to your new 8.2 folder.
Restart your Terminal. This is important; otherwise, the terminal won't load the new config.