1# Routing & API Resources
2 
3## Route Patterns
4 
5```php
6// routes/web.php
7use App\Http\Controllers\PostController;
8use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
9 
10// Resource routes
11Route::resource('posts', PostController::class);
12 
13// API resource (excludes create/edit)
14Route::apiResource('posts', PostController::class);
15 
16// Partial resource
17Route::resource('posts', PostController::class)->only(['index', 'show']);
18Route::resource('posts', PostController::class)->except(['destroy']);
19 
20// Nested resources
21Route::resource('posts.comments', CommentController::class);
22 
23// Route groups
24Route::prefix('admin')->middleware('auth')->group(function () {
25    Route::get('/dashboard', [DashboardController::class, 'index']);
26    Route::resource('users', UserController::class);
27});
28 
29// Named routes
30Route::get('/posts/{post}', [PostController::class, 'show'])->name('posts.show');
31 
32// Route model binding
33Route::get('/posts/{post:slug}', [PostController::class, 'show']);
34 
35// Multiple bindings
36Route::get('/users/{user}/posts/{post:slug}', function (User $user, Post $post) {
37    return view('posts.show', compact('user', 'post'));
38});
39```
40 
41## API Routes
42 
43```php
44// routes/api.php
45use App\Http\Controllers\Api\V1\PostController;
46 
47Route::prefix('v1')->group(function () {
48    // Public routes
49    Route::get('/posts', [PostController::class, 'index']);
50    Route::get('/posts/{post}', [PostController::class, 'show']);
51 
52    // Protected routes
53    Route::middleware('auth:sanctum')->group(function () {
54        Route::post('/posts', [PostController::class, 'store']);
55        Route::put('/posts/{post}', [PostController::class, 'update']);
56        Route::delete('/posts/{post}', [PostController::class, 'destroy']);
57    });
58});
59 
60// Rate limiting
61Route::middleware('throttle:60,1')->group(function () {
62    Route::apiResource('posts', PostController::class);
63});
64```
65 
66## Controllers
67 
68```php
69namespace App\Http\Controllers\Api;
70 
71use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
72use App\Http\Requests\StorePostRequest;
73use App\Http\Requests\UpdatePostRequest;
74use App\Http\Resources\PostResource;
75use App\Http\Resources\PostCollection;
76use App\Models\Post;
77use Illuminate\Http\Response;
78 
79class PostController extends Controller
80{
81    public function index()
82    {
83        $posts = Post::with('user')
84            ->published()
85            ->paginate(15);
86 
87        return new PostCollection($posts);
88    }
89 
90    public function store(StorePostRequest $request)
91    {
92        $post = Post::create($request->validated());
93 
94        return new PostResource($post);
95    }
96 
97    public function show(Post $post)
98    {
99        $post->load(['user', 'comments.user']);
100 
101        return new PostResource($post);
102    }
103 
104    public function update(UpdatePostRequest $request, Post $post)
105    {
106        $post->update($request->validated());
107 
108        return new PostResource($post);
109    }
110 
111    public function destroy(Post $post)
112    {
113        $post->delete();
114 
115        return response()->noContent();
116    }
117}
118```
119 
120## Form Requests
121 
122```php
123namespace App\Http\Requests;
124 
125use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\FormRequest;
126use Illuminate\Validation\Rule;
127 
128class StorePostRequest extends FormRequest
129{
130    public function authorize(): bool
131    {
132        return true; // Or check user permissions
133    }
134 
135    public function rules(): array
136    {
137        return [
138            'title' => ['required', 'string', 'max:255'],
139            'slug' => ['required', 'string', 'unique:posts,slug'],
140            'content' => ['required', 'string'],
141            'category_id' => ['required', 'exists:categories,id'],
142            'tags' => ['array'],
143            'tags.*' => ['exists:tags,id'],
144            'published_at' => ['nullable', 'date', 'after:now'],
145        ];
146    }
147 
148    public function messages(): array
149    {
150        return [
151            'title.required' => 'Please provide a post title',
152            'slug.unique' => 'This slug is already taken',
153        ];
154    }
155 
156    // Prepare data before validation
157    protected function prepareForValidation(): void
158    {
159        $this->merge([
160            'slug' => str($this->title)->slug(),
161        ]);
162    }
163}
164 
165class UpdatePostRequest extends FormRequest
166{
167    public function rules(): array
168    {
169        return [
170            'title' => ['sometimes', 'string', 'max:255'],
171            'slug' => [
172                'sometimes',
173                'string',
174                Rule::unique('posts', 'slug')->ignore($this->post)
175            ],
176            'content' => ['sometimes', 'string'],
177        ];
178    }
179}
180```
181 
182## API Resources
183 
184```php
185namespace App\Http\Resources;
186 
187use Illuminate\Http\Request;
188use Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\JsonResource;
189 
190class PostResource extends JsonResource
191{
192    public function toArray(Request $request): array
193    {
194        return [
195            'id' => $this->id,
196            'title' => $this->title,
197            'slug' => $this->slug,
198            'excerpt' => $this->excerpt,
199            'content' => $this->when($request->route()->named('posts.show'), $this->content),
200            'published_at' => $this->published_at?->toISOString(),
201            'created_at' => $this->created_at->toISOString(),
202 
203            // Relationships
204            'author' => new UserResource($this->whenLoaded('user')),
205            'comments' => CommentResource::collection($this->whenLoaded('comments')),
206            'comments_count' => $this->when($this->comments_count !== null, $this->comments_count),
207 
208            // Conditional fields
209            'is_published' => $this->when($request->user()?->isAdmin(), $this->isPublished()),
210 
211            // Pivot data
212            'role' => $this->whenPivotLoaded('role_user', function () {
213                return $this->pivot->role_name;
214            }),
215 
216            // Links
217            'links' => [
218                'self' => route('api.posts.show', $this->id),
219            ],
220        ];
221    }
222 
223    public function with(Request $request): array
224    {
225        return [
226            'meta' => [
227                'version' => '1.0.0',
228            ],
229        ];
230    }
231}
232```
233 
234## Resource Collections
235 
236```php
237namespace App\Http\Resources;
238 
239use Illuminate\Http\Request;
240use Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\ResourceCollection;
241 
242class PostCollection extends ResourceCollection
243{
244    public function toArray(Request $request): array
245    {
246        return [
247            'data' => $this->collection,
248            'meta' => [
249                'total' => $this->total(),
250                'current_page' => $this->currentPage(),
251                'last_page' => $this->lastPage(),
252            ],
253            'links' => [
254                'self' => $request->url(),
255            ],
256        ];
257    }
258}
259 
260// Or use anonymous collection
261return PostResource::collection($posts);
262```
263 
264## Middleware
265 
266```php
267namespace App\Http\Middleware;
268 
269use Closure;
270use Illuminate\Http\Request;
271 
272class EnsureUserIsAdmin
273{
274    public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next)
275    {
276        if (!$request->user()?->isAdmin()) {
277            abort(403, 'Unauthorized action.');
278        }
279 
280        return $next($request);
281    }
282}
283 
284// Register in app/Http/Kernel.php
285protected $middlewareAliases = [
286    'admin' => \App\Http\Middleware\EnsureUserIsAdmin::class,
287];
288 
289// Use in routes
290Route::middleware('admin')->group(function () {
291    Route::resource('users', UserController::class);
292});
293```
294 
295## Response Helpers
296 
297```php
298// JSON responses
299return response()->json(['data' => $posts], 200);
300 
301// Created response
302return response()->json($post, 201);
303 
304// No content
305return response()->noContent();
306 
307// Custom headers
308return response()->json($data)->header('X-Custom-Header', 'Value');
309 
310// Download
311return response()->download($pathToFile);
312 
313// Stream
314return response()->streamDownload(function () {
315    echo 'CSV content...';
316}, 'export.csv');
317```
318 
319## Route Caching
320 
321```bash
322# Generate route cache
323php artisan route:cache
324 
325# Clear route cache
326php artisan route:clear
327 
328# List all routes
329php artisan route:list
330 
331# Filter routes
332php artisan route:list --name=api
333php artisan route:list --path=posts
334```
335 
336## API Versioning
337 
338```php
339// routes/api.php
340Route::prefix('v1')->name('v1.')->group(function () {
341    Route::apiResource('posts', \App\Http\Controllers\Api\V1\PostController::class);
342});
343 
344Route::prefix('v2')->name('v2.')->group(function () {
345    Route::apiResource('posts', \App\Http\Controllers\Api\V2\PostController::class);
346});
347```
348 
349## CORS Configuration
350 
351```php
352// config/cors.php
353return [
354    'paths' => ['api/*', 'sanctum/csrf-cookie'],
355    'allowed_methods' => ['*'],
356    'allowed_origins' => ['http://localhost:3000'],
357    'allowed_headers' => ['*'],
358    'exposed_headers' => [],
359    'max_age' => 0,
360    'supports_credentials' => true,
361];
362```
363