Best approach to migrate Laravel 8 package-based project to Laravel 12 core structure?

I’m working on upgrading an existing Laravel 8 project to Laravel 12, and I need some guidance on the best approach.

The current project is structured using custom packages/modules (each feature is organized as a separate package with its own controllers, models, routes, service providers, etc.). However, the team now wants to move away from this package-based architecture and instead use a standard core Laravel structure in a fresh Laravel 12 project.

So instead of maintaining separate packages, all code should be refactored into Laravel’s default directories (app/Models, app/Http/Controllers, routes, database, etc.).

My current approach is:

Create a fresh Laravel 12 project

Move code from each package into the appropriate Laravel directories

Refactor namespaces and remove package-specific service providers

Migrate module by module and test each part

I would like to know:

Is this the correct or recommended approach for this kind of migration?

What are the common pitfalls when converting from package-based architecture to core Laravel structure?

Are there better patterns (e.g., service layer, modular folders inside app/) to keep the code organized without using packages?

I’m a junior Laravel developer, so any practical advice or real-world experience would be really helpful.

Thanks!