README

Production-ready Laravel API toolkit: consistent response envelopes, structured error formats, OpenAPI 3 generation, request correlation, API versioning, exception rendering, paginator adapters, ETag helpers, security headers, and a health check endpoint — all in one package.

Features

Response building

Unified ApiResponder with every standard HTTP status shortcut (200–503)
Two error formats: envelope (ok / type / message / data / errors) and structured (error.code / message / target / details / innererror)
Paginated collection responses with OData-lite shape (value / @count / @nextLink / @prevLink) and RFC 5988 Link header
LengthAwarePaginator and CursorPaginator adapters (fromPaginator() / fromCursorPaginator())
Location header on created() and accepted() (RFC 7231)
Retry-After header on 429 / 503
X-RateLimit-Limit / Remaining / Reset on 429
ETag generation, conditional-request checking, and 304 Not Modified
Configurable envelope keys, default messages, and pagination keys

Middleware

laravel-api.force-json — forces Accept: application/json so exceptions render as JSON, not HTML
laravel-api.request-id — attaches X-Request-ID and X-Correlation-ID to every request and response
laravel-api.security-headers — X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, Cache-Control, Referrer-Policy
laravel-api.versioning — reads and validates ?api-version= or Api-Version: header
laravel-api.deprecation — sets Deprecation: and Sunset: headers on retiring routes

Exception handling

ApiExceptionRenderer converts AuthenticationException, AuthorizationException, ValidationException, ModelNotFoundException, HttpException, and generic Throwable into consistent API responses
Opt-in auto-registration via LARAVEL_API_EXCEPTIONS_AUTO_RENDER=true

OpenAPI generation

Route-driven OpenAPI 3.0.3 spec from Laravel routes
Tags auto-inferred from controller class name (OrderController → orders)
Auth middleware (auth:sanctum, auth:api, etc.) → security: [{ bearerAuth: [] }]
Standard reusable response definitions auto-added to components.responses
Standard error schemas (ErrorEnvelope, StructuredError) in components.schemas
FormRequest rules → requestBody schema inference
JsonResource / ResourceCollection → response schema inference
JSON and YAML export, runtime endpoints, optional Swagger UI / Redoc
Spec caching with configurable store and TTL

Health check

GET /_health endpoint (configurable route, middleware, and on/off toggle)

Testing utilities

ApiResponseAssertions trait for fluent test assertions (assertApiSuccess, assertApiPaginated, assertStructuredError, etc.)

Installation

Path repository (monorepo / local)

Add the path repository in root composer.json:

{
  "type": "path",
  "url": "packages/yoosuf/laravel-api",
  "options": { "symlink": true }
}

Require and publish:

composer require yoosuf/laravel-api:*
php artisan vendor:publish --tag=laravel-api-config

Packagist (once published)

composer require yoosuf/laravel-api
php artisan vendor:publish --tag=laravel-api-config

Quick start

1. Register recommended middleware

In app/Http/Kernel.php, add to the api middleware group:

'api' => [
    \Yoosuf\LaravelApi\Http\Middleware\ForceJsonMiddleware::class,
    \Yoosuf\LaravelApi\Http\Middleware\RequestIdMiddleware::class,
    \Yoosuf\LaravelApi\Http\Middleware\SecurityHeadersMiddleware::class,
    'throttle:api',
    \Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\SubstituteBindings::class,
],

Or use the named aliases registered by the package:

'api' => [
    'laravel-api.force-json',
    'laravel-api.request-id',
    'laravel-api.security-headers',
    'throttle:api',
    \Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\SubstituteBindings::class,
],

2. Auto-register exception rendering (optional)

In .env:

LARAVEL_API_EXCEPTIONS_AUTO_RENDER=true

Or register manually in AppServiceProvider::boot():

app(\Yoosuf\LaravelApi\Exceptions\ApiExceptionRenderer::class)->register();

This converts AuthenticationException, ValidationException, ModelNotFoundException, and HttpException into consistent JSON API responses automatically.

3. Use `HasApiResponses` in controllers

use Yoosuf\LaravelApi\Concerns\HasApiResponses;

class OrderController extends Controller
{
    use HasApiResponses;

    public function index(): JsonResponse
    {
        $orders = Order::paginate(20);
        return $this->fromPaginator($orders);
    }

    public function store(StoreOrderRequest $request): JsonResponse
    {
        $order = Order::create($request->validated());
        return $this->created($order, 'Order created', null, route('orders.show', $order));
    }

    public function show(Order $order): JsonResponse
    {
        $response = $this->success($order);
        return $this->withEtag($response);
    }

    public function destroy(Order $order): JsonResponse
    {
        $order->delete();
        return $this->noContent();
    }
}

4. Or use the Facade / helpers directly

use Yoosuf\LaravelApi\Facades\ApiResponse;

// Facade
return ApiResponse::success($data, 'Fetched');
return ApiResponse::fromPaginator($paginator);
return ApiResponse::validation('Invalid input', $errors);

// Global helpers
return response_success($data, 'Fetched');
return response_failed('Bad input', 422, $errors);
return api_paginated($items, $total, $nextUrl);

Response formats

Envelope format (default)

Success:

{
  "ok": true,
  "type": "success",
  "message": "Fetched",
  "data": { "id": 1, "name": "Order #1" },
  "meta": {}
}

Error:

{
  "ok": false,
  "type": "failed",
  "message": "Validation failed",
  "data": null,
  "meta": {},
  "errors": {
    "email": ["The email field is required."]
  }
}

Structured format

Set LARAVEL_API_ERROR_FORMAT=structured to use the structured error format for all error responses:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "UnprocessableEntity",
    "message": "Validation failed",
    "target": null,
    "details": [
      { "code": "ValidationError", "message": "The email field is required.", "target": "email" }
    ]
  }
}

Use structuredError() explicitly regardless of format setting:

return $this->structuredError('ResourceNotFound', 'Order not found', 404, 'orderId');

Paginated response

{
  "value": [ { "id": 1 }, { "id": 2 } ],
  "@count": 100,
  "@nextLink": "https://api.example.com/orders?page=3",
  "@prevLink": "https://api.example.com/orders?page=1"
}

Response also includes Link: <url>; rel="next", <url>; rel="prev" header (RFC 5988).

All response methods

Success

Method	Status	Notes
`success($data, $message, $status, $meta)`	200	Base success
`created($data, $message, $meta, $location)`	201	Sets `Location` header
`accepted($data, $message, $meta, $location)`	202	Sets `Location` header
`noContent()`	204	Empty body
`paginated($items, $total, $nextLink, $prevLink)`	200	OData-lite + `Link` header
`fromPaginator($paginator)`	200	From `LengthAwarePaginator`
`fromCursorPaginator($paginator)`	200	From `CursorPaginator` (no `@count`)

Client errors (4xx)

Method	Status
`badRequest($message, $errors, $meta)`	400
`unauthorized($message, $errors, $meta)`	401
`forbidden($message, $errors, $meta)`	403
`notFound($message, $errors, $meta)`	404
`conflict($message, $errors, $meta)`	409
`gone($message, $errors, $meta)`	410
`validation($messageOrException, $errors, $meta)`	422
`unprocessable($message, $errors, $meta)`	422
`locked($message, $errors, $meta)`	423
`tooManyRequests($message, $errors, $meta, $retryAfter, $limit, $remaining, $reset)`	429

Server errors (5xx)

Method	Status
`error($message, $status, $errors, $meta)`	5xx
`notImplemented($message, $errors, $meta)`	501
`serviceUnavailable($message, $errors, $meta, $retryAfter)`	503

ETag / conditional requests

$response = $this->success($data);
$response = $this->withEtag($response);          // adds ETag header
return $this->checkEtag($request, $response);    // returns 304 if If-None-Match matches

Middleware reference

ForceJsonMiddleware

Forces Accept: application/json so every request — including framework-level errors — returns JSON.

// Kernel.php api group
'laravel-api.force-json',

RequestIdMiddleware

Attaches X-Request-ID and X-Correlation-ID to every request and response.

LARAVEL_API_REQUEST_ID_ENABLED=true
LARAVEL_API_REQUEST_ID_HEADER=X-Request-ID
LARAVEL_API_CORRELATION_HEADER=X-Correlation-ID

SecurityHeadersMiddleware

Adds X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff, X-Frame-Options: DENY, Cache-Control: no-store, Referrer-Policy: strict-origin.

ApiVersionMiddleware

Reads ?api-version= or Api-Version: header. Returns a structured 400 for unsupported versions.

LARAVEL_API_VERSIONING_ENABLED=true
LARAVEL_API_VERSION_CURRENT=1.0

Config: laravel-api.versioning.supported = ['1.0', '2.0']

DeprecationMiddleware

Signals deprecation and removal date on a route group.

Route::middleware(['laravel-api.deprecation:2025-01-01,2026-01-01'])->group(function () {
    // deprecated routes
});

Sets Deprecation: and Sunset: response headers automatically.

Exception rendering

// AppServiceProvider::boot()
app(\Yoosuf\LaravelApi\Exceptions\ApiExceptionRenderer::class)->register();

Exception	Status
`AuthenticationException`	401
`AuthorizationException`	403
`ValidationException`	422 with full error bag
`ModelNotFoundException`	404 with model name
`HttpException`	matching status
`Throwable`	500 (message hidden in production, shown with `APP_DEBUG=true`)

Only renders for requests that send Accept: application/json or match api/*.

Health check

Enabled by default at GET /_health:

{ "status": "ok", "timestamp": "2026-07-18T08:00:00Z" }

LARAVEL_API_HEALTH_ENABLED=true
LARAVEL_API_HEALTH_ROUTE=_health

OpenAPI generation

Generate files

php artisan api:openapi
php artisan api:openapi --format=json
php artisan api:openapi --format=yaml --output=docs/openapi.v2.yaml
php artisan api:openapi --prefix=/api/v1
php artisan api:openapi --include-route=orders.index --middleware=api

Auto-generated spec features

Every generated spec includes:

Tags inferred from controller name (OrderController → orders)
bearerAuth security scheme when any route uses auth middleware
security: [{ bearerAuth: [] }] on auth-gated operations
Standard response refs: 401, 403, 404 (path-param routes), 422 (POST/PUT/PATCH), 429, 500 on every operation
ErrorEnvelope and StructuredError schemas in components.schemas
requestBody inferred from FormRequest rules
Response schemas inferred from JsonResource / ResourceCollection return types

Runtime endpoints

GET /openapi.json
GET /openapi.yaml
GET /api-docs       # optional Swagger UI or Redoc
GET /_health

Schema providers

// config/laravel-api.php
'providers' => [
    App\OpenApi\Providers\OrderSchemaProvider::class,
],

class OrderSchemaProvider implements SchemaProvider
{
    public function schemas(): array
    {
        return [
            'Order' => [
                'type' => 'object',
                'properties' => [
                    'id'     => ['type' => 'integer'],
                    'status' => ['type' => 'string', 'enum' => ['draft', 'placed', 'fulfilled']],
                ],
            ],
        ];
    }
}

Operation overrides

'overrides' => [
    'routes' => [
        'orders.store' => ['post' => ['summary' => 'Place an order', 'tags' => ['orders']]],
    ],
    'actions' => [
        'App\Http\Controllers\OrderController@store' => [
            'post' => ['x-internal' => true],
        ],
    ],
],

Testing with ApiResponseAssertions

Add the trait to your test case for fluent API response assertions:

use Yoosuf\LaravelApi\Testing\ApiResponseAssertions;

class OrderTest extends TestCase
{
    use ApiResponseAssertions;

    public function test_index(): void
    {
        $response = $this->getJson('/api/orders');
        $this->assertApiPaginated($response);
    }

    public function test_store_validation(): void
    {
        $response = $this->postJson('/api/orders', []);
        $this->assertApiValidationError($response, 'amount');
    }

    public function test_store_success(): void
    {
        $response = $this->postJson('/api/orders', ['amount' => 100]);
        $this->assertApiCreated($response);
        $this->assertApiDataKey($response, 'id', 1);
    }

    public function test_rate_limiting(): void
    {
        $response = $this->getJson('/api/orders');
        $this->assertApiTooManyRequests($response, 60); // asserts Retry-After: 60
    }
}

Available assertions:

Method	Description
`assertApiSuccess($response, $status)`	ok=true, envelope structure
`assertApiCreated($response)`	201 + envelope
`assertApiAccepted($response)`	202 + envelope
`assertApiNoContent($response)`	204
`assertApiPaginated($response)`	`value` + `@count`
`assertApiError($response, $status)`	ok=false
`assertApiValidationError($response, $field)`	422 + optional field check
`assertApiUnauthorized($response)`	401
`assertApiForbidden($response)`	403
`assertApiNotFound($response)`	404
`assertApiTooManyRequests($response, $retryAfter)`	429 + `Retry-After`
`assertStructuredError($response, $code, $status)`	structured format
`assertApiDataKey($response, $key, $value)`	`data.key` value
`assertApiMeta($response, $key, $value)`	`meta.key` value
`assertApiHasRequestId($response)`	`X-Request-ID` header

Configuration reference

Full config is in config/laravel-api.php. Key sections:

Key	Default	Description
`openapi.enabled`	`true`	Enable OpenAPI generation
`openapi.title`	app name	Spec title
`openapi.version`	`1.0.0`	Spec version
`openapi.default_path_prefix`	`/api`	Route prefix filter
`openapi.cache.enabled`	`false`	Cache generated spec
`openapi.docs_route.enabled`	`true`	Serve runtime JSON/YAML
`openapi.docs_ui.enabled`	`false`	Enable Swagger/Redoc UI
`response.error_format`	`envelope`	`envelope` or `structured`
`response.envelope.*`	—	Configurable response keys
`response.pagination.*`	—	OData-lite key names
`request_id.enabled`	`true`	Attach correlation headers
`request_id.header`	`X-Request-ID`	Request ID header name
`versioning.enabled`	`false`	Validate `api-version`
`versioning.supported`	`[]`	Whitelist (empty = accept all)
`exceptions.auto_render`	`false`	Auto-register exception renderer
`health.enabled`	`true`	Enable health endpoint
`health.route`	`_health`	Health check URL path

Quality checks

Run from the package directory:

composer test              # all tests
composer test:unit
composer test:integration
composer analyse           # PHPStan level 5
composer lint              # Pint style check
composer release:check     # test + analyse + lint

Changelog and upgrade

Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
Upgrade notes: UPGRADE.md
Versioning policy: docs/SEMVER_POLICY.md

Project documents

LICENSE — MIT
CONTRIBUTING.md
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
SECURITY.md
SUPPORT.md

Features

Generate OpenAPI 3.0.3 specs from Laravel routes
Export JSON and YAML spec files
Serve live docs endpoints for JSON and YAML
Configurable metadata, server URL, and API path prefix
Action-based request and response mapping
Route/action operation overrides (summary, tags, security, and more)
Reusable components.schemas registry with provider support
Auto-inference from JsonResource/ResourceCollection return types
FormRequest validation rule inference for request schemas
Route filtering by name and middleware from CLI options
Optional static docs UI (Swagger UI or Redoc)
Unified API response helpers (success, failed, error, validation, and aliases)

Installation (local path repository)

Add path repository in root composer.json:

{
  "type": "path",
  "url": "packages/yoosuf/laravel-api",
  "options": { "symlink": true }
}

Require package:

composer require yoosuf/laravel-api:*

Publish config:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=laravel-api-config

(Optional) Publish docs UI assets:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=laravel-api-assets

Commands

Generate both outputs to configured paths:

php artisan api:openapi

Generate only JSON:

php artisan api:openapi --format=json

Generate YAML to custom file:

php artisan api:openapi --format=yaml --output=docs/openapi.v1.yaml

Limit generation to a prefix:

php artisan api:openapi --prefix=/api/v1

Generate with route filters:

php artisan api:openapi --include-route=documents.store --exclude-route=documents.destroy --middleware=api

Runtime endpoints

GET /openapi.json
GET /openapi.yaml

Optional docs UI route:

GET /api-docs

Routes are configurable in config/laravel-api.php.

End-to-end quick start

Install the package and publish the config:

composer require yoosuf/laravel-api:*
php artisan vendor:publish --tag=laravel-api-config

Enable the human-readable docs UI in config/laravel-api.php:

'docs_ui' => [
  'enabled' => true,
  'driver' => 'swagger',
  'route' => 'api-docs',
  'title' => 'Laradoc API Reference',
  'spec_url' => '/openapi.json',
  'middleware' => [],
],

Publish the UI assets:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=laravel-api-assets --force

Generate the OpenAPI artifacts:

php artisan api:openapi --format=all --prefix=/api/v1

Open the machine-readable and human-readable endpoints:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/openapi.json
http://127.0.0.1:8000/openapi.yaml
http://127.0.0.1:8000/api-docs

The integration guide in docs/PROJECT_INTEGRATION_GUIDE.md demonstrates that full flow with real endpoints and payloads.

API response helpers

Use the responder to avoid repeating JSON response structures in controllers.

Options:

Facade: ApiResponse::responseSuccess(...)
Helper: response_success(...)
Service: app('laravel-api.response')->success(...)
Trait: Yoosuf\\LaravelApi\\Concerns\\HasApiResponses

Examples:

return response_success(['user' => $user], 'Fetched');
return response_failed('Validation failed', 422, ['email' => ['required']]);
return response_error('Unexpected failure', 500);

Alias support (including user-requested typo compatibility):

responseSuccess
responseFailed
responseError
responseErrror

Quality and CI

Run package quality checks from the package directory:

composer test
composer test:unit
composer test:integration
composer analyse
composer lint

GitHub Actions workflow is provided at .github/workflows/laravel-api-quality.yml.

Versioning policy

This package follows Semantic Versioning.

MAJOR: backward-incompatible API changes.
MINOR: backward-compatible feature additions.
PATCH: backward-compatible bug fixes.

Public API surface is defined in docs/SEMVER_POLICY.md.

Upgrade and changelog

Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
Upgrade notes: UPGRADE.md

Open source project documents

License: LICENSE
Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
Code of Conduct: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
Security Policy: SECURITY.md
Support Guide: SUPPORT.md
Detailed contributor workflow: docs/CONTRIBUTING_GUIDELINES.md

Documentation map

Architecture: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
Configuration reference: docs/CONFIG_REFERENCE.md
Operations runbook: docs/OPERATIONS_RUNBOOK.md
End-to-end use cases: docs/END_TO_END_USE_CASES.md
SemVer and public API policy: docs/SEMVER_POLICY.md
Release process: docs/RELEASE.md
Future engineering pipeline: docs/FUTURE_PIPELINE.md
Contribution process: docs/CONTRIBUTING_GUIDELINES.md
Project integration guide: docs/PROJECT_INTEGRATION_GUIDE.md

Release and publishing

Before tagging a release, run:

composer release:check

For monorepo-only usage, keep requiring via path repository. For distribution, publish to Packagist using the process in docs/RELEASE.md.

Phase 2 configuration hooks

openapi.providers: class list for custom providers implementing:
- Yoosuf\\LaravelApi\\OpenApi\\Contracts\\SchemaProvider
- Yoosuf\\LaravelApi\\OpenApi\\Contracts\\OperationOverrideProvider
openapi.action_map: map by Controller@method to merge request/response schema fragments.
openapi.overrides: operation overrides grouped by routes and actions.
openapi.components.schemas: reusable component schemas.

yoosuf / laravel-api

Maintainers

Package info

Statistics

Security

README

Features

Response building

Middleware

Exception handling

OpenAPI generation

Health check

Testing utilities

Installation

Path repository (monorepo / local)

Packagist (once published)

Quick start

1. Register recommended middleware

2. Auto-register exception rendering (optional)

3. Use HasApiResponses in controllers

4. Or use the Facade / helpers directly

Response formats

Envelope format (default)

Structured format

Paginated response

All response methods

Success

Client errors (4xx)

Server errors (5xx)

ETag / conditional requests

Middleware reference

ForceJsonMiddleware

RequestIdMiddleware

SecurityHeadersMiddleware

ApiVersionMiddleware

DeprecationMiddleware

Exception rendering

Health check

OpenAPI generation

Generate files

Auto-generated spec features

Runtime endpoints

Schema providers

Operation overrides

Testing with ApiResponseAssertions

Configuration reference

Quality checks

Changelog and upgrade

Project documents

Features

Installation (local path repository)

Commands

Runtime endpoints

End-to-end quick start

API response helpers

Quality and CI

Versioning policy

Upgrade and changelog

Open source project documents

Documentation map

Release and publishing

Phase 2 configuration hooks

3. Use `HasApiResponses` in controllers