Laravel 11.x Google Authentication using Socialite: Target Class [google.auth] Does Not Exist

I'm trying to set up Google authentication using Laravel Socialite in a Laravel 11.x project. I followed the steps to create middleware for checking Google authentication but encountered an error: Target class [google.auth] does not exist.

Here are the relevant parts of my code:

Middleware: CheckGoogleAuth.php

<?php

namespace App\Http\Middleware;

use Closure;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth;

class CheckGoogleAuth
{
    public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next)
    {
        if (!Auth::check()) {
            return redirect('/auth/google');
        }

        return $next($request);
    }
}

Controller: GoogleController.php

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Laravel\Socialite\Facades\Socialite;
use App\Models\User;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth;

class GoogleController extends Controller
{
    public function redirectToGoogle()
    {
        return Socialite::driver('google')->redirect();
    }

    public function handleGoogleCallback()
    {
        $user = Socialite::driver('google')->user();

        $existingUser = User::where('email', $user->getEmail())->first();

        if ($existingUser) {
            Auth::login($existingUser);
        } else {
            $newUser = User::create([
                'name' => $user->getName(),
                'email' => $user->getEmail(),
                'google_id' => $user->getId(),
                'password' => encrypt('dummy-password')
            ]);

            Auth::login($newUser);
        }

        return redirect('/dashboard');
    }
}

**Kernel: Kernel.php **

<?php

namespace App\Http;

use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Kernel as HttpKernel;

class Kernel extends HttpKernel
{
    // Other properties and methods...

    /**
     * The application's route middleware.
     *
     * These middleware may be assigned to groups or used individually.
     *
     * @var array<string, class-string|string>
     */
    protected $routeMiddleware = [
        // Other middleware...

        'google.auth' => \App\Http\Middleware\CheckGoogleAuth::class,
    ];
}

Routes: web.php

<?php

use App\Http\Controllers\ProfileController;
use App\Http\Controllers\GoogleController;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
use Inertia\Inertia;

Route::get('/', function () {
    return Inertia::render('Welcome', [
        'canLogin' => Route::has('login'),
        'canRegister' => Route::has('register'),
        'laravelVersion' => app()->version(),
        'phpVersion' => PHP_VERSION,
    ]);
});

Route::middleware(['google.auth'])->group(function () {
    Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
        return Inertia::render('Dashboard');
    });

    Route::get('/create', function () {
        return Inertia::render('Create');
    });

    Route::get('/inquiry', function () {
        return Inertia::render('Inquiry');
    });
});

Route::get('/auth/google', [GoogleController::class, 'redirectToGoogle']);
Route::get('/auth/google/callback', [GoogleController::class, 'handleGoogleCallback']);

Route::middleware(['auth', 'google.auth'])->group(function () {
    Route::get('/profile', [ProfileController::class, 'edit'])->name('profile.edit');
    Route::patch('/profile', [ProfileController::class, 'update'])->name('profile.update');
    Route::delete('/profile', [ProfileController::class, 'destroy'])->name('profile.destroy');
});

require __DIR__.'/auth.php';

Services Configuration: services.php

<?php

return [

    'google' => [
        'client_id' => env('GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID'),
        'client_secret' => env('GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET'),
        'redirect' => env('GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URL'),
    ],
];

In Laravel 11 kernel.php has been removed. Have you created it manually? Check here. Create your middleware alias within the bootstrap/app.php