Class 'Carbon\Carbon' not found

Error Message

Class "Carbon\Carbon" not found

Cause

The Carbon library isn't installed or the class isn't imported. Carbon is included with Laravel but needs to be imported with use.

Solution

Add use Carbon\Carbon; at the top of the file. Run composer install if dependencies are missing. Check composer.json includes nesbot/carbon.

Code Example

Fix

<?php

use Carbon\Carbon; // Add this import

$date = Carbon::now();
$ago = Carbon::parse('2024-01-01')->diffForHumans();

// Or use the helper
$date = now(); // Returns Carbon instance
$ago = now()->subDays(7)->diffForHumans();

Debugging Steps

Add the use Carbon\Carbon; import statement
Run composer install to restore dependencies
Check composer.json for nesbot/carbon
Run composer dump-autoload

Prevention

Always import Carbon class. Use the now() and today() helpers for convenience. Keep dependencies up to date.