Laravel API Helpers

This library simplifies the process of building API controllers by providing convenient classes for managing filtering, ordering, relationship loading, and pagination of resource collections.

Features

Easy management of request query filters for filtering resource collections based on allowed columns.
Simplified sorting of resource collections based on allowed columns.
Convenient loading of extra relationships for resource collections.
Pagination support for resource collections.

Installation

Dependencies

PHP >= 8.0
Laravel Framework >= 9.0

Via composer

composer require hds-solutions/laravel-api-helpers

Usage

To make use of the library, you will need to create specific classes that extend the provided abstract classes. The provided classes contain the implementation of the necessary logic for each feature (filtering, sorting, relationship loading, and pagination).

ResourceFilters

The ResourceFilters class manages the query filters for resource collections. It allows you to define the allowed columns and their corresponding filter operators.

In the extended class, you can define the list of allowed columns that can be used for filtering, along with their allowed operators.

The available operators are:

eq: Translates to a field_name = "value" filter.
ne: Translates to a field_name != "value" filter.
has: Translates to a field_name LIKE "%value%" filter.
lt: Translates to a field_name < "value" filter.
lte: Translates to a field_name <= "value" filter.
gt: Translates to a field_name > "value" filter.
gte: Translates to a field_name >= "value" filter.
in: Translates to a field_name IN ("value1", "value2", ...) filter.

Operators are also grouped by field type:

string: Translates to the operators eq, ne and has.
numeric: Translates to the operators eq, ne, lt, lte, gt, gte and in.
boolean: Translates to the operators eq and ne.
date: Translates to the operators eq, ne, lt, lte, gt, and gte.

Example implementation

You just need to extend the ResourceFilters class and define the allowed filtrable columns.

namespace App\Http\Filters;

class CountryFilters extends \HDSSolutions\Laravel\API\ResourceFilters {

    protected array $allowed_columns = [
        'name'      => 'string',
        'code'      => 'string',
        'something' => [ 'gt', 'lt' ],
    ];

}

You can also override the default filtering implementation of a column by defining a method with the same name as the filtrable column. The method must have the following arguments:

Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder: The current instance of the query builder.
string: The operator requested for filtering.
mixed: The value of the filter.

namespace App\Http\Filters;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;

class CountryFilters extends \HDSSolutions\Laravel\API\ResourceFilters {

    protected array $allowed_columns = [
        'name'          => 'string',
        'code'          => 'string',
        'something'     => [ 'gt', 'lt' ],
        'regions_count' => 'number',
    ];
    
    protected function regionsCount(Builder $query, string $operator, $value): void {
        return $query->whereHas('regions', operator: $operator, count: $value);
    }

}

Example requests

Filtering by country name:

GET https://localhost/api/countries?name[has]=aus
Accept: application/json

Example response:

{
    "data": [
        {
            "id": 123,
            "name": "Country name",
            ...
        },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        ...
    ],
    "links": {
        ...
    }
    "meta": {
        ...
    }
}

Filtering by countries that have more than N regions:

GET https://localhost/api/countries?regions_count[gte]=15
Accept: application/json

Example response:

{
    "data": [
        {
            "id": 123,
            "name": "Country name",
            ...
        },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        ...
    ],
    "links": {
        ...
    }
    "meta": {
        ...
    }
}

ResourceOrders

The ResourceOrders class manages the sorting of resource collections. It allows you to define the allowed columns to sort the resource collection and a default sorting fields.

In the extended class, you can define the list of allowed columns that can be used for sorting the resource collection.

Example implementation

You just need to extend the ResourceOrders class and define the allowed sortable columns.

namespace App/Http/Orders;

class CountryOrders extends \HDSSolutions\Laravel\API\ResourceOrders {

    protected array $default_order = [
        'name',
    ];

    protected array $allowed_columns = [
        'name',
    ];

}

You can also override the default sorting implementation of a column by defining a method with the studly version of the sortable column. The method must have the following arguments:

Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder: The current instance of the query builder.
string: The direction of the sort.

namespace App/Http/Orders;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;

class CountryOrders extends \HDSSolutions\Laravel\API\ResourceOrders {

    protected array $default_order = [
        'name',
    ];

    protected array $allowed_columns = [
        'name',
        'regions_count',
    ];
    
    protected function regionsCount(Builder $query, string $direction): void {
        $query->orderBy('regions_count', direction: $direction);
    }

}

Example requests

The request sorting parameters must follow the following syntax: order[{index}][{direction}]={field}

Sorting by country name:

GET https://localhost/api/countries?order[0][asc]=name
Accept: application/json

Example response:

{
    "data": [
        {
            "id": 123,
            "name": "Country name",
            ...
        },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        ...
    ],
    "links": {
        ...
    }
    "meta": {
        ...
    }
}

Sorting by country name and regions count in descending order:

GET https://localhost/api/countries?order[0][asc]=name&order[1][desc]=regions_count
Accept: application/json

Example response:

{
    "data": [
        {
            "id": 123,
            "name": "Country name",
            ...
        },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        ...
    ],
    "links": {
        ...
    }
    "meta": {
        ...
    }
}

ResourceRelations

The ResourceRelations class manages the loading of extra relationships for resource collections. It allows you to specify the allowed relationships to be loaded and the relationships that should always be loaded.

In the extended class, you can define the list of allowed relationships that can be added to the resource collection.

Example implementation

namespace App/Http/Relations;

class CountryRelations extends \HDSSolutions\Laravel\API\ResourceRelations {

    protected array $with_count = [
        'regions',
    ];

    protected array $allowed_relations = [
        'regions',
    ];

}

You can also capture the loaded relationship to add filters, sorting, or any action that you need. The method must have the following arguments:

Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\Relation: The instance of the relationship being loaded.

namespace App/Http/Relations;

class CountryRelations extends \HDSSolutions\Laravel\API\ResourceRelations {

    protected array $with_count = [
        'regions',
    ];

    protected array $allowed_relations = [
        'regions',
    ];
    
    protected function regions(Relation $regions): void {
        $regions->where('active', true);
    }

}

Example requests

Loading countries with their regions relationship collection:

GET https://localhost/api/countries?with[]=regions
Accept: application/json

Example response:

{
    "data": [
        {
            "id": 123,
            "name": "Country name",
            "regions_count": 5,
            "regions": [
                { ... },
                { ... },
                { ... },
                ...
            ]
        },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        ...
    ],
    "links": {
        ...
    }
    "meta": {
        ...
    }
}

PaginateResults

The PaginateResults class handles the pagination of resource collections. It provides support for paginating the results or retrieving all records.

Example requests

Request all countries:

GET https://localhost/api/countries?all=true
Accept: application/json

Example response:

{
    "data": [
        {
            "id": 123,
            "name": "Country name",
            "regions_count": 5
        },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... },
        { ... }
    ]
}

Controller implementation

Here is an example of a controller using the Pipeline facade to implement all the previous features.

namespace App/Http/Controllers/Api;

use App\Models\Country;

use App\Http\Filters;
use App\Http\Relations;
use App\Http\Orders;

use HDSSolutions\Laravel\API\Actions\PaginateResults;

use Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\JsonResource;
use Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\ResourceCollection;
use Illuminate\Routing\Controller;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Pipeline;

class CountryController extends Controller {

    public function index(Request $request): ResourceCollection {
        return new ResourceCollection(
            Pipeline::send(Country::query())
                ->through([
                    Filters\CountryFilters::class,
                    Relations\CountryRelations::class,
                    Orders\CountryOrders::class,
                    PaginateResults::class,
                ])
                ->thenReturn()
        );
    }
    
    public function show(Request $request, int $country_id): JsonResource {
        return new Resource(
            Pipeline::send(Country::where('id', $country_id))
                ->through([
                    Relations\CountryRelations::class,
                ])
                ->thenReturn()
                ->firstOrFail()
            )
        );
    }

}

More request examples

GET https://localhost/api/regions
Accept: application/json

Example response:

{
    "data": [
        {
            "id": 5,
            "name": "Argentina",
            "code": "AR",
            "regions_count": 24
        },
        {
            "id": 1,
            "name": "Canada",
            "code": "CA",
            "regions_count": 13
        },
        {
            "id": 3,
            "name": "Germany",
            "code": "DE",
            "regions_count": 16
        },
        ...
    ],
    "links": {
        "first": "https://localhost/api/regions?page=1",
        "last": "https://localhost/api/regions?page=13",
        "prev": null,
        "next": "https://localhost/api/regions?page=2"
    },
    "meta": {
        "current_page": 1,
        "from": 1,
        "last_page": 13,
        "links": [
            {
                "url": null,
                "label": "&laquo; Previous",
                "active": false
            },
            {
                "url": "https://localhost/api/regions?page=1",
                "label": "1",
                "active": true
            },
            {
                "url": "https://localhost/api/regions?page=2",
                "label": "2",
                "active": false
            },
            {
                "url": null,
                "label": "...",
                "active": false
            },
            {
                "url": "https://localhost/api/regions?page=12",
                "label": "12",
                "active": false
            },
            {
                "url": "https://localhost/api/regions?page=13",
                "label": "13",
                "active": false
            },
            {
                "url": "https://localhost/api/regions?page=2",
                "label": "Next &raquo;",
                "active": false
            }
        ],
        "path": "https://localhost/api/regions",
        "per_page": 15,
        "to": 15,
        "total": 195
    }
}

GET https://localhost/api/regions?name[has]=aus
Accept: application/json

Example response:

{
    "data": [
        {
            "id": 34,
            "name": "Australia",
            "code": "AU",
            "regions_count": 8
        },
        {
            "id": 12,
            "name": "Austria",
            "code": "AT",
            "regions_count": 9
        }
    ],
    "links": {
        ...
    },
    "meta": {
        ...
    }
}

GET https://localhost/api/regions?regions_count[gt]=15&order[][desc]=name
Accept: application/json

Example response:

{
    "data": [
        ...
        {
            "id": 3,
            "name": "Germany",
            "code": "DE",
            "regions_count": 16
        },
        {
            "id": 5,
            "name": "Argentina",
            "code": "AR",
            "regions_count": 24
        },
        ...
    ],
    "links": {
        ...
    },
    "meta": {
        ...
    }
}

Extras

Before and after callbacks

The ResourceFilters and ResourceOrders classes have two methods (before & after) that allow a better customization on the query builder. You can override them to make more manipulations to the query builder.

ResourceRequest

The ResourceRequest class has the following features:

The hash() method gives you a unique identifier based on the query parameters.
The authorize() method is a WIP feature that will handle resource access authorization.

Caching requests

You can use the hash() method of the ResourceRequest class and use it as a cache key. The parameter cache is ignored and not used to build the request identifier.

In the following example, we capture the cache request parameter to force the cache to be cleared.

namespace App/Http/Controllers/Api;

use App\Models\Country;

use App\Http\Filters;
use App\Http\Relations;
use App\Http\Orders;

use HDSSolutions\Laravel\API\Actions\PaginateResults;
use HDSSolutions\Laravel\API\ResourceRequest;

use Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\JsonResource;
use Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\ResourceCollection;
use Illuminate\Routing\Controller;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Pipeline;

class CountryController extends Controller {

    public function index(ResourceRequest $request): JsonResponse | ResourceCollection {
        // forget cached data if is requested
        if ($request->boolean('cache', true) === false) {
            cache()->forget($request->hash(__METHOD__));
        }

        // remember data for 8 hours, using request unique hash as cache key
        return cache()->remember(
            key: $request->hash(__METHOD__),
            ttl: new DateInterval('PT8H'),
            callback: fn() => (new ResourceCollection($request,
                Pipeline::send(Country::query())
                    ->through([
                        Filters\CountryFilters::class,
                        Relations\CountryRelations::class,
                        Orders\CountryOrders::class,
                        PaginateResults::class,
                    ])
                    ->thenReturn()
                )
            )->response($request)
        );
    }

    public function show(Request $request, int $country_id): JsonResponse | JsonResource {
        if ($request->boolean('cache', true) === false) {
            cache()->forget($request->hash(__METHOD__));
        }

        return cache()->remember(
            key: $request->hash(__METHOD__),
            ttl: new DateInterval('PT8H'),
            callback: fn() => (new Resource(
                Pipeline::send(Model::where('id', $country_id))
                    ->through([
                        Relations\CountryRelations::class,
                    ])
                    ->thenReturn()
                    ->firstOrFail()
                )
            )->response($request)
        );
    }

}

Security Vulnerabilities

If you encounter any security-related issues, please feel free to raise a ticket on the issue tracker.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you find any issues or would like to add new features or improvements, please feel free to submit a pull request.

Contributors

Hermann D. Schimpf

Licence

This library is open-source software licensed under the MIT License. Please see the License File for more information.

hds-solutions/laravel-api-helpers

A package with helpers to generate APIs on your Laravel project

Laravel API Helpers

Features

Installation

Dependencies

Via composer

Usage

ResourceFilters

Example implementation

Example requests

ResourceOrders

Example implementation

Example requests

ResourceRelations

Example implementation

Example requests

PaginateResults

Example requests

Controller implementation

More request examples

Extras

Before and after callbacks

ResourceRequest

Caching requests

Security Vulnerabilities

Contributing

Contributors

Licence

Author

hschimpf