Laravel Development Patterns

Production-grade Laravel architecture patterns for scalable, maintainable applications.

When to Use

• Building Laravel web applications or APIs
• Structuring controllers, services, and domain logic
• Working with Eloquent models and relationships
• Designing APIs with resources and pagination
• Adding queues, events, caching, and background jobs

How It Works

• Structure the app around clear boundaries (controllers -> services/actions -> models).
• Use explicit bindings and scoped bindings to keep routing predictable; still enforce authorization for access control.
• Favor typed models, casts, and scopes to keep domain logic consistent.
• Keep IO-heavy work in queues and cache expensive reads.
• Centralize config in config/* and keep environments explicit.

Examples

Project Structure

Use a conventional Laravel layout with clear layer boundaries (HTTP, services/actions, models).

Recommended Layout

app/
├── Actions/            # Single-purpose use cases
├── Console/
├── Events/
├── Exceptions/
├── Http/
│   ├── Controllers/
│   ├── Middleware/
│   ├── Requests/       # Form request validation
│   └── Resources/      # API resources
├── Jobs/
├── Models/
├── Policies/
├── Providers/
├── Services/           # Coordinating domain services
└── Support/
config/
database/
├── factories/
├── migrations/
└── seeders/
resources/
├── views/
└── lang/
routes/
├── api.php
├── web.php
└── console.php

Controllers -> Services -> Actions

Keep controllers thin. Put orchestration in services and single-purpose logic in actions.

php
final class CreateOrderAction
{
    public function __construct(private OrderRepository $orders) {}

    public function handle(CreateOrderData $data): Order
    {
        return $this->orders->create($data);
    }
}

final class OrdersController extends Controller
{
    public function __construct(private CreateOrderAction $createOrder) {}

    public function store(StoreOrderRequest $request): JsonResponse
    {
        $order = $this->createOrder->handle($request->toDto());

        return response()->json([
            'success' => true,
            'data' => OrderResource::make($order),
            'error' => null,
            'meta' => null,
        ], 201);
    }
}

Routing and Controllers

Prefer route-model binding and resource controllers for clarity.

php
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::middleware('auth:sanctum')->group(function () {
    Route::apiResource('projects', ProjectController::class);
});

Route Model Binding (Scoped)

Use scoped bindings to prevent cross-tenant access.

php
Route::scopeBindings()->group(function () {
    Route::get('/accounts/{account}/projects/{project}', [ProjectController::class, 'show']);
});

Nested Routes and Binding Names

• Keep prefixes and paths consistent to avoid double nesting (e.g., conversation vs conversations).
• Use a single parameter name that matches the bound model (e.g., {conversation} for Conversation).
• Prefer scoped bindings when nesting to enforce parent-child relationships.

php
use App\Http\Controllers\Api\ConversationController;
use App\Http\Controllers\Api\MessageController;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::middleware('auth:sanctum')->prefix('conversations')->group(function () {
    Route::post('/', [ConversationController::class, 'store'])->name('conversations.store');

    Route::scopeBindings()->group(function () {
        Route::get('/{conversation}', [ConversationController::class, 'show'])
            ->name('conversations.show');

        Route::post('/{conversation}/messages', [MessageController::class, 'store'])
            ->name('conversation-messages.store');

        Route::get('/{conversation}/messages/{message}', [MessageController::class, 'show'])
            ->name('conversation-messages.show');
    });
});

If you want a parameter to resolve to a different model class, define explicit binding. For custom binding logic, use Route::bind() or implement resolveRouteBinding() on the model.

php
use App\Models\AiConversation;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::model('conversation', AiConversation::class);

Service Container Bindings

Bind interfaces to implementations in a service provider for clear dependency wiring.

php
use App\Repositories\EloquentOrderRepository;
use App\Repositories\OrderRepository;
use Illuminate\Support\ServiceProvider;

final class AppServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
    public function register(): void
    {
        $this->app->bind(OrderRepository::class, EloquentOrderRepository::class);
    }
}

Eloquent Model Patterns

Model Configuration

php
final class Project extends Model
{
    use HasFactory;

    protected $fillable = ['name', 'owner_id', 'status'];

    protected $casts = [
        'status' => ProjectStatus::class,
        'archived_at' => 'datetime',
    ];

    public function owner(): BelongsTo
    {
        return $this->belongsTo(User::class, 'owner_id');
    }

    public function scopeActive(Builder $query): Builder
    {
        return $query->whereNull('archived_at');
    }
}

Custom Casts and Value Objects

Use enums or value objects for strict typing.

php
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Casts\Attribute;

protected $casts = [
    'status' => ProjectStatus::class,
];

php
protected function budgetCents(): Attribute
{
    return Attribute::make(
        get: fn (int $value) => Money::fromCents($value),
        set: fn (Money $money) => $money->toCents(),
    );
}

Eager Loading to Avoid N+1

php
$orders = Order::query()
    ->with(['customer', 'items.product'])
    ->latest()
    ->paginate(25);

Query Objects for Complex Filters

php
final class ProjectQuery
{
    public function __construct(private Builder $query) {}

    public function ownedBy(int $userId): self
    {
        $query = clone $this->query;

        return new self($query->where('owner_id', $userId));
    }

    public function active(): self
    {
        $query = clone $this->query;

        return new self($query->whereNull('archived_at'));
    }

    public function builder(): Builder
    {
        return $this->query;
    }
}

Global Scopes and Soft Deletes

Use global scopes for default filtering and SoftDeletes for recoverable records. Use either a global scope or a named scope for the same filter, not both, unless you intend layered behavior.

php
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\SoftDeletes;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;

final class Project extends Model
{
    use SoftDeletes;

    protected static function booted(): void
    {
        static::addGlobalScope('active', function (Builder $builder): void {
            $builder->whereNull('archived_at');
        });
    }
}

Query Scopes for Reusable Filters

php
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;

final class Project extends Model
{
    public function scopeOwnedBy(Builder $query, int $userId): Builder
    {
        return $query->where('owner_id', $userId);
    }
}

// In service, repository etc.
$projects = Project::ownedBy($user->id)->get();

Transactions for Multi-Step Updates

php
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;

DB::transaction(function (): void {
    $order->update(['status' => 'paid']);
    $order->items()->update(['paid_at' => now()]);
});

Migrations

Naming Convention

• File names use timestamps: YYYY_MM_DD_HHMMSS_create_users_table.php
• Migrations use anonymous classes (no named class); the filename communicates intent
• Table names are snake_case and plural by default

Example Migration

php
use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;

return new class extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        Schema::create('orders', function (Blueprint $table): void {
            $table->id();
            $table->foreignId('customer_id')->constrained()->cascadeOnDelete();
            $table->string('status', 32)->index();
            $table->unsignedInteger('total_cents');
            $table->timestamps();
        });
    }

    public function down(): void
    {
        Schema::dropIfExists('orders');
    }
};

Form Requests and Validation

Keep validation in form requests and transform inputs to DTOs.

php
use App\Models\Order;

final class StoreOrderRequest extends FormRequest
{
    public function authorize(): bool
    {
        return $this->user()?->can('create', Order::class) ?? false;
    }

    public function rules(): array
    {
        return [
            'customer_id' => ['required', 'integer', 'exists:customers,id'],
            'items' => ['required', 'array', 'min:1'],
            'items.*.sku' => ['required', 'string'],
            'items.*.quantity' => ['required', 'integer', 'min:1'],
        ];
    }

    public function toDto(): CreateOrderData
    {
        return new CreateOrderData(
            customerId: (int) $this->validated('customer_id'),
            items: $this->validated('items'),
        );
    }
}

API Resources

Keep API responses consistent with resources and pagination.

php
$projects = Project::query()->active()->paginate(25);

return response()->json([
    'success' => true,
    'data' => ProjectResource::collection($projects->items()),
    'error' => null,
    'meta' => [
        'page' => $projects->currentPage(),
        'per_page' => $projects->perPage(),
        'total' => $projects->total(),
    ],
]);

Events, Jobs, and Queues

• Emit domain events for side effects (emails, analytics)
• Use queued jobs for slow work (reports, exports, webhooks)
• Prefer idempotent handlers with retries and backoff

Caching

• Cache read-heavy endpoints and expensive queries
• Invalidate caches on model events (created/updated/deleted)
• Use tags when caching related data for easy invalidation

Configuration and Environments

• Keep secrets in .env and config in config/*.php
• Use per-environment config overrides and config:cache in production

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