How to Build a REST API in Laravel With Resource Collections

Returning raw Eloquent models often exposes data you want to hide (like passwords or internal timestamps). API Resources allow you to transform your data before sending it to the client.

Creating a Resource

bash

php artisan make:resource UserResource

php

<?php

namespace AppHttpResources;

use IlluminateHttpResourcesJsonJsonResource;

class UserResource extends JsonResource
{
    public function toArray($request)
    {
        return [
            'id' => $this->id,
            'full_name' => $this->first_name . ' ' . $this->last_name,
            'email' => $this->email,
            'created_at' => $this->created_at->format('d-m-Y'),
        ];
    }
}

Creating a Resource

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