Laravel is beautiful and has lots of features, so many developers use it to build web applications. But the real power of Laravel can be unleashed by using various packages that makes API development easier. This article will explore some underrated Laravel packages that can make your API development faster and better. Also if you are a laravel developer so this is the Best Tool Officially From Laravel which you must explore.
Table of Contents
Underrated Laravel Packages
1. Laravel Passport
Description:
Laravel Passport is a package that provides a full OAuth2 server implementation for your Laravel application. Makes API authentication easy for developers. Using Laravel Passport in your development will reduce your extra efforts. Also, explore a basic guide for creating RESTful APIs.
Key Features:
- Token-Based Authentication: Easily implement token-based authentication for APIs.
- Personal Access Tokens: Supports personal access tokens and password grants.
- OAuth2 Server Implementation: Provides a complete OAuth2 server, ensuring secure access to your API.
Starter Code:
// Install Passport
composer require laravel/passport
// Run migrations
php artisan migrate
// Install Passport
php artisan passport:install
// In AuthServiceProvider
use Laravel\Passport\Passport;
public function boot()
{
$this->registerPolicies();
Passport::routes();
}2. Laravel Orion
Description:
Laravel Orion is created to help developers build fully-featured REST APIs based on Eloquent models with minimal boilerplate code. This is the most Underrated Laravel Packages.
Key Features:
- Auto Route Generation: Generates routes and controllers based on Eloquent models.
- Built in Filtering and Pagination: Filtering, pagination and sorting out of the box.
- Seamless Integration: Integrates with existing Laravel applications.
Starter Code:
// Install Orion
composer require tailflow/laravel-orion
// Define your model resource
use Tailflow\Orion\Http\Controllers\Resource;
Route::resource('posts', Resource::class);3. Spatie Laravel Fractal
Description:
This package helps you transform data into JSON responses using the Fractal library so you can format your API responses however you want.
Key Features:
- Data Transformation: Makes transforming data for APIs easy.
- Includes and Meta Data: Supports includes and meta data in responses.
- Eloquent: Works with Eloquent models and collections.
Starter Code:
// Install Spatie Fractal
composer require spatie/laravel-fractal
// Use in a controller
use Spatie\Fractal\Fractal;
public function index()
{
return Fractal::create()
->collection(Post::all())
->transformWith(new PostTransformer())
->toArray();
}4. Laravel Resource
Description:
Laravel Resource is built into Laravel and allows you to create resource classes that define how models are converted to JSON.
Key Features:
- Resource Creation: Easy way to create API resources.
- Conditional Attributes: Supports conditional attributes and relationships in responses.
- Organized Code: Separates transformation logic from controllers.
Starter Code:
// Create a resource
php artisan make:resource PostResource
// In PostResource.php
public function toArray($request)
{
return [
'id' => $this->id,
'title' => $this->title,
'content' => $this->content,
];
}5. Dingo API
Description:
Dingo API is a full package that provides a solid foundation for building APIs in your Laravel application.
Key Features:
- API Versioning: Built in versioning.
- Middleware Capabilities:Rate limiting and auth middleware.
- Error Handling & Response Formatting: Offers advanced error handling and response formatting capabilities.
Starter Code:
// Install Dingo API
composer require dingo/api
// Define routes in routes/api.php
$api = app('Dingo\Api\Routing\Router');
$api->version('v1', function ($api) {
$api->get('posts', 'App\Http\Controllers\PostController@index');
});6. Laravel CORS
Description:
This package enables Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) in your Laravel application, for APIs that are accessed from different domains. Also, this package was achieved by the owner not actively managing but good for use.
Key Features:
- Easy Configuration: Easily configure CORS settings in your application.
- Preflight Requests Support: Supports preflight requests and custom headers.
Starter Code:
// Install CORS package
composer require fruitcake/laravel-cors
// In config/cors.php, configure your settings as needed7. Laravel Rate Limiter
Description:
Laravel’s built in rate limiter helps you limit the rate at which users can hit your API endpoints, to prevent abuse.
Key Features:
- Request Limiting: Prevents abuse of your API by limiting requests per user or IP address.
- Configurable Limits: Allows configurable limits based on various criteria (e.g., user roles).
Starter Code:
// In routes/api.php
Route::middleware(['throttle:10,1'])->group(function () {
Route::get('/posts', 'PostController@index');
});8. Laravel Debugbar
Description:
Not just for APIs, Laravel Debugbar is super useful during development for debugging API responses and performance issues.
Key Features:
- Real-Time Insights: Gives you real-time insights into queries, routes and performance metrics.
- Bottleneck Detection: Helps you detect bottlenecks and speed up response times.
Starter Code:
// Install Debugbar
composer require barryvdh/laravel-debugbar --dev
// Usage is automatic; just access your application to see the debug bar.9. Laravel Sanctum
Description:
Laravel Sanctum is a simple way to add token based auth for single page applications (SPAs) or simple APIs.
Key Features:
- Lightweight auth system.
- Supports multiple token types (personal access tokens).
- For SPAs where session based auth is not possible.
Starter Code:
composer require laravel/sanctum
php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Laravel\Sanctum\SanctumServiceProvider"10. Laravel Scout
Description:
Laravel Scout is a simple driver based solution for adding full text search to your Eloquent models.
Key Features:
- Works with search engines like Algolia or Elasticsearch.
- Simple search interface for Eloquent models.
- Better user experience by searching content.
Starter Code:
composer require laravel/scout
php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Laravel\Scout\ScoutServiceProvider"Conclusion
Adding these under the radar packages to your Laravel project will make your API development life so much easier. Each package has its own unique features that will make your life easier, faster and simpler.
By using these tools you can focus more on building features and less on repetitive tasks, which means faster development cycles and better applications.
Consider exploring these packages further to find the best fit for your specific needs in API development with Laravel!
