12 KiB
Eloquent: Serialization
- Introduction
- Serializing Models and Collections
- Serializing to Arrays
- Serializing to JSON
- Hiding Attributes From JSON
- Appending Values to JSON
- Date Serialization
Introduction
When building APIs using Laravel, you will often need to convert your models and relationships to arrays or JSON. Eloquent includes convenient methods for making these conversions, as well as controlling which attributes are included in the serialized representation of your models.
For an even more robust way of handling Eloquent model and collection JSON serialization, check out the documentation on Eloquent API resources.
Serializing Models and Collections
Serializing to Arrays
To convert a model and its loaded [relationships](/docs/12.x/eloquent-
relationships) to an array, you should use the toArray method. This method
is recursive, so all attributes and all relations (including the relations of
relations) will be converted to arrays:
1use App\Models\User;
2
3$user = User::with('roles')->first();
4
5return $user->toArray();
use App\Models\User;
$user = User::with('roles')->first();
return $user->toArray();
The attributesToArray method may be used to convert a model's attributes to
an array but not its relationships:
1$user = User::first();
2
3return $user->attributesToArray();
$user = User::first();
return $user->attributesToArray();
You may also convert entire collections of
models to arrays by calling the toArray method on the collection instance:
1$users = User::all();
2
3return $users->toArray();
$users = User::all();
return $users->toArray();
Serializing to JSON
To convert a model to JSON, you should use the toJson method. Like
toArray, the toJson method is recursive, so all attributes and relations
will be converted to JSON. You may also specify any JSON encoding options that
are [supported by PHP](https://secure.php.net/manual/en/function.json-
encode.php):
1use App\Models\User;
2
3$user = User::find(1);
4
5return $user->toJson();
6
7return $user->toJson(JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
use App\Models\User;
$user = User::find(1);
return $user->toJson();
return $user->toJson(JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
Alternatively, you may cast a model or collection to a string, which will
automatically call the toJson method on the model or collection:
1return (string) User::find(1);
return (string) User::find(1);
Since models and collections are converted to JSON when cast to a string, you can return Eloquent objects directly from your application's routes or controllers. Laravel will automatically serialize your Eloquent models and collections to JSON when they are returned from routes or controllers:
1Route::get('/users', function () {
2 return User::all();
3});
Route::get('/users', function () {
return User::all();
});
Relationships
When an Eloquent model is converted to JSON, its loaded relationships will automatically be included as attributes on the JSON object. Also, though Eloquent relationship methods are defined using "camel case" method names, a relationship's JSON attribute will be "snake case".
Hiding Attributes From JSON
Sometimes you may wish to limit the attributes, such as passwords, that are
included in your model's array or JSON representation. To do so, add a
$hidden property to your model. Attributes that are listed in the $hidden
property's array will not be included in the serialized representation of your
model:
1<?php
2
3namespace App\Models;
4
5use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
6
7class User extends Model
8{
9 /**
10 * The attributes that should be hidden for serialization.
11 *
12 * @var array<string>
13 */
14 protected $hidden = ['password'];
15}
<?php
namespace App\Models;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class User extends Model
{
/**
* The attributes that should be hidden for serialization.
*
* @var array<string>
*/
protected $hidden = ['password'];
}
To hide relationships, add the relationship's method name to your Eloquent
model's $hidden property.
Alternatively, you may use the visible property to define an "allow list" of
attributes that should be included in your model's array and JSON
representation. All attributes that are not present in the $visible array
will be hidden when the model is converted to an array or JSON:
1<?php
2
3namespace App\Models;
4
5use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
6
7class User extends Model
8{
9 /**
10 * The attributes that should be visible in arrays.
11 *
12 * @var array
13 */
14 protected $visible = ['first_name', 'last_name'];
15}
<?php
namespace App\Models;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class User extends Model
{
/**
* The attributes that should be visible in arrays.
*
* @var array
*/
protected $visible = ['first_name', 'last_name'];
}
Temporarily Modifying Attribute Visibility
If you would like to make some typically hidden attributes visible on a given
model instance, you may use the makeVisible or mergeVisible methods. The
makeVisible method returns the model instance:
1return $user->makeVisible('attribute')->toArray();
2
3return $user->mergeVisible(['name', 'email'])->toArray();
return $user->makeVisible('attribute')->toArray();
return $user->mergeVisible(['name', 'email'])->toArray();
Likewise, if you would like to hide some attributes that are typically
visible, you may use the makeHidden or mergeHidden methods:
1return $user->makeHidden('attribute')->toArray();
2
3return $user->mergeHidden(['name', 'email'])->toArray();
return $user->makeHidden('attribute')->toArray();
return $user->mergeHidden(['name', 'email'])->toArray();
If you wish to temporarily override all of the visible or hidden attributes,
you may use the setVisible and setHidden methods respectively:
1return $user->setVisible(['id', 'name'])->toArray();
2
3return $user->setHidden(['email', 'password', 'remember_token'])->toArray();
return $user->setVisible(['id', 'name'])->toArray();
return $user->setHidden(['email', 'password', 'remember_token'])->toArray();
Appending Values to JSON
Occasionally, when converting models to arrays or JSON, you may wish to add attributes that do not have a corresponding column in your database. To do so, first define an accessor for the value:
1<?php
2
3namespace App\Models;
4
5use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Casts\Attribute;
6use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
7
8class User extends Model
9{
10 /**
11 * Determine if the user is an administrator.
12 */
13 protected function isAdmin(): Attribute
14 {
15 return new Attribute(
16 get: fn () => 'yes',
17 );
18 }
19}
<?php
namespace App\Models;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Casts\Attribute;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class User extends Model
{
/**
* Determine if the user is an administrator.
*/
protected function isAdmin(): Attribute
{
return new Attribute(
get: fn () => 'yes',
);
}
}
If you would like the accessor to always be appended to your model's array and
JSON representations, you may add the attribute name to the appends property
of your model. Note that attribute names are typically referenced using their
"snake case" serialized representation, even though the accessor's PHP method
is defined using "camel case":
1<?php
2
3namespace App\Models;
4
5use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
6
7class User extends Model
8{
9 /**
10 * The accessors to append to the model's array form.
11 *
12 * @var array
13 */
14 protected $appends = ['is_admin'];
15}
<?php
namespace App\Models;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class User extends Model
{
/**
* The accessors to append to the model's array form.
*
* @var array
*/
protected $appends = ['is_admin'];
}
Once the attribute has been added to the appends list, it will be included
in both the model's array and JSON representations. Attributes in the
appends array will also respect the visible and hidden settings
configured on the model.
Appending at Run Time
At runtime, you may instruct a model instance to append additional attributes
using the append or mergeAppends methods. Or, you may use the setAppends
method to override the entire array of appended properties for a given model
instance:
1return $user->append('is_admin')->toArray();
2
3return $user->mergeAppends(['is_admin', 'status'])->toArray();
4
5return $user->setAppends(['is_admin'])->toArray();
return $user->append('is_admin')->toArray();
return $user->mergeAppends(['is_admin', 'status'])->toArray();
return $user->setAppends(['is_admin'])->toArray();
Date Serialization
Customizing the Default Date Format
You may customize the default serialization format by overriding the
serializeDate method. This method does not affect how your dates are
formatted for storage in the database:
1/**
2 * Prepare a date for array / JSON serialization.
3 */
4protected function serializeDate(DateTimeInterface $date): string
5{
6 return $date->format('Y-m-d');
7}
/**
* Prepare a date for array / JSON serialization.
*/
protected function serializeDate(DateTimeInterface $date): string
{
return $date->format('Y-m-d');
}
Customizing the Date Format per Attribute
You may customize the serialization format of individual Eloquent date attributes by specifying the date format in the model's cast declarations:
1protected function casts(): array
2{
3 return [
4 'birthday' => 'date:Y-m-d',
5 'joined_at' => 'datetime:Y-m-d H:00',
6 ];
7}
protected function casts(): array
{
return [
'birthday' => 'date:Y-m-d',
'joined_at' => 'datetime:Y-m-d H:00',
];
}