Soft-Delete and Restore Blog Posts with a Trash View in Laravel

<?php

namespace App\Models;

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

class Post extends Model
{
    use SoftDeletes;

    protected $fillable = ['user_id', 'title', 'slug', 'body', 'published_at'];

    protected $casts = [
        'published_at' => 'datetime',
        'deleted_at' => 'datetime',
    ];

    public function user()
    {
        return $this->belongsTo(User::class);
    }

    public function scopeOwnedBy(Builder $query, int $userId): Builder
    {
        return $query->where('user_id', $userId);
    }

    public function scopePublished(Builder $query): Builder
    {
        return $query->whereNotNull('published_at');
    }
}

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use App\Models\Post;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class PostController extends Controller
{
    public function destroy(Post $post)
    {
        $this->authorize('delete', $post);

        $post->delete(); // soft delete: sets deleted_at

        return redirect()->route('posts.index')
            ->with('status', 'Post moved to trash.');
    }

    public function trash(Request $request)
    {
        $posts = Post::onlyTrashed()
            ->ownedBy($request->user()->id)
            ->latest('deleted_at')
            ->paginate(15);

        return view('posts.trash', compact('posts'));
    }

    public function restore(int $id)
    {
        $post = Post::onlyTrashed()->findOrFail($id);
        $this->authorize('restore', $post);

        $post->restore();

        return redirect()->route('posts.trash')
            ->with('status', 'Post restored.');
    }

    public function forceDelete(int $id)
    {
        $post = Post::onlyTrashed()->findOrFail($id);
        $this->authorize('forceDelete', $post);

        $post->forceDelete(); // permanent removal

        return redirect()->route('posts.trash')
            ->with('status', 'Post permanently deleted.');
    }
}

@extends('layouts.app')

@section('content')
    <h1>Trash</h1>

    @if (session('status'))
        <div class="alert">{{ session('status') }}</div>
    @endif

    @forelse ($posts as $post)
        <div class="trash-row">
            <span class="title">{{ $post->title }}</span>
            <span class="meta">deleted {{ $post->deleted_at->diffForHumans() }}</span>

            <form method="POST" action="{{ route('posts.restore', $post->id) }}">
                @csrf
                @method('PATCH')
                <button type="submit">Restore</button>
            </form>

            <form method="POST" action="{{ route('posts.forceDelete', $post->id) }}"
                  onsubmit="return confirm('Delete forever?');">
                @csrf
                @method('DELETE')
                <button type="submit" class="danger">Delete forever</button>
            </form>
        </div>
    @empty
        <p>Trash is empty.</p>
    @endforelse

    {{ $posts->links() }}
@endsection