Laravel API Response

A Laravel package that provides a standardized, consistent way to format API responses with proper status codes, messages, and error handling.

Features

• Modern PHP 8.0+ implementation with type hints and return types
• Consistent JSON response structure
• Automatic handling of Laravel Models, Collections, and Paginated responses
• Configurable resource naming for collections
• Comprehensive exception handling
• Debug mode with stack traces
• Support for custom headers and messages

Installation

Install the package via composer:

composer require faridibin/laravel-api-response

Configuration

Publish the configuration file:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag="api-response-config"

Configuration Options

The config/api-response.php file includes:

return [
    // Exception handlers
    'exceptions' => [
        ModelNotFoundException::class => [
            'setStatusCode' => 404,
            'setModelNotFoundMessage' => 'Resource not found'
        ],
        ValidationException::class => function($exception, $handler) {
            $handler
                ->setStatusCode(422)
                ->setMessage('Validation failed')
                ->mergeErrors($exception->errors());
        }
    ],

    // Enable stack traces in local environment
    'trace' => env('APP_ENV') === 'local',

    // Use plural resource names for collections
    'resource_name' => true,
];

Basic Usage

Add the middleware to your API routes in app/Http/Kernel.php:

protected $middlewareGroups = [
    'api' => [
        \Faridibin\LaravelApiResponse\Http\Middleware\EnsureApiResponse::class,
    ],
];

Response Structure

The package provides a consistent response structure:

{
	"data": {},
	"message": "Optional message",
	"errors": [],
	"success": true,
	"status": "success",
	"status_code": 200,
	"status_text": "OK"
}

Examples

Returning Models

Single Model

public function show(User $user)
{
    return $user;
}

Response:

{
	"data": {
		"user": {
			"id": 1,
			"name": "Crystal Farrell",
			"email": "[email protected]",
			"email_verified_at": "2025-02-02T02:20:17.000000Z",
			"created_at": "2025-02-02T02:20:17.000000Z",
			"updated_at": "2025-02-02T02:20:17.000000Z"
		}
	},
	"errors": [],
	"success": true,
	"status": "success",
	"status_code": 200,
	"status_text": "OK"
}

Collection Handling

Basic Collection

public function index()
{
    return User::all();
}

Response includes automatically pluralized resource name:

{
	"data": {
		"users": [
			{
				"id": 1,
				"name": "Crystal Farrell",
				"email": "[email protected]",
				"email_verified_at": "2025-02-02T02:20:17.000000Z",
				"created_at": "2025-02-02T02:20:17.000000Z",
				"updated_at": "2025-02-02T02:20:17.000000Z"
			}
		]
	},
	"success": true,
	"status": "success",
	"status_code": 200,
	"status_text": "OK"
}

Pagination

public function index()
{
    return User::paginate();
}

Upgrading from laravel-json-response

Key changes when upgrading from the previous version:

1. Namespace Change:

   • Old: Faridibin\LaravelJsonResponse
   • New: Faridibin\LaravelApiResponse

2. Middleware:

   • Old: OutputJsonResponse
   • New: EnsureApiResponse

3. Trait:

   • Old: HasJson
   • New: HasApiResponse

4. Method Changes:

   // Old
   json_response()->error('message');
   
   // New
   $this->setMessage('message')->mergeErrors(['error']);
   

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Response Not Formatting

   // Ensure middleware is registered correctly in Kernel.php
   protected $middlewareGroups = [
       'api' => [
           \Faridibin\LaravelApiResponse\Http\Middleware\EnsureApiResponse::class,
       ],
   ];
   

2. Resource Names Not Working

   // Verify config/api-response.php has:
   'resource_name' => true,
   

3. Exception Handler Not Working

   // Check exception configuration:
   'exceptions' => [
       YourException::class => [
           'setStatusCode' => 404,
           'setMessage' => 'Custom message'
       ]
   ]
   

4. Stack Traces Not Showing

   • Ensure your environment is set to 'local'
   • Check trace config is enabled

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This package is open-sourced software licensed under the MIT license.