<?php
namespace App\Http\Resources;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\JsonResource;
class PostResource extends JsonResource
{
public function toArray(Request $request): array
{
return [
'id' => $this->id,
'title' => $this->title,
'slug' => $this->slug,
'excerpt' => $this->excerpt,
'body' => $this->when($request->user()?->id === $this->user_id, $this->body),
'status' => $this->status,
'published_at' => $this->published_at?->toISOString(),
'created_at' => $this->created_at->toISOString(),
'updated_at' => $this->updated_at->toISOString(),
// Computed properties
'read_time' => $this->readTime(),
'is_published' => $this->isPublished(),
// Conditional relationships
'author' => new UserResource($this->whenLoaded('author')),
'tags' => TagResource::collection($this->whenLoaded('tags')),
'comments' => CommentResource::collection($this->whenLoaded('comments')),
// Counts
'comments_count' => $this->when(
$this->relationLoaded('comments'),
fn () => $this->comments->count()
),
// Links
'links' => [
'self' => route('api.posts.show', $this->id),
'author' => route('api.users.show', $this->user_id),
],
];
}
public function with(Request $request): array
{
return [
'meta' => [
'version' => '1.0',
],
];
}
}
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers\Api;
use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
use App\Http\Resources\PostResource;
use App\Models\Post;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
class PostController extends Controller
{
public function index(Request $request)
{
$posts = Post::query()
->with(['author', 'tags'])
->when($request->include === 'comments', fn ($q) => $q->with('comments'))
->latest()
->paginate(20);
return PostResource::collection($posts);
}
public function show(Post $post)
{
$post->load(['author', 'tags', 'comments.author']);
return new PostResource($post);
}
}
API resources transform Eloquent models into JSON responses with full control over structure and data exposure. I create resource classes that extend JsonResource and define a toArray() method returning the desired JSON structure. Resources hide sensitive attributes, format dates, include computed properties, and conditionally include relationships. The whenLoaded() method includes relationships only if they're eager loaded, preventing N+1 queries. Resource collections handle arrays of models, while preserveQuery() maintains pagination links. Anonymous resources work for one-off transformations without creating dedicated classes. The with() method adds meta information to all responses. This layer provides consistent API responses and decouples database structure from API contracts.
