RESTful API package for Laravel 5

This is an API package for the Laravel framework. It allows you to build a flexible RESTful API that can be consumed externally and by your own application.

Installation

Composer

Add this to you composer.json file, in the require object:

"mmanos/laravel-api": "dev-master"

After that, run composer install to install the package.

Service Provider

Register the Mmanos\Api\ApiServiceProvider in your app configuration file.

Class Alias

Add a class alias to app/config/app.php, within the aliases array.

'aliases' => array(
	// ...
	'Api' => 'Mmanos\Api\Api',
)

Laravel 4

Use the 1.0 branch or the v1.* tags for Laravel 4 support.

Configuration

Publish config files and migrations

Publish the lucadegasperi/oauth2-server-laravel config file and migrations to your application.

$ php artisan vendor:publish --provider="LucaDegasperi\OAuth2Server\OAuth2ServerServiceProvider"

Edit the published config file to fit your authentication needs. See this configuration options page for information.

Publish the mmanos/laravel-api config file and migrations to your application.

$ php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Mmanos\Api\ApiServiceProvider"

And then run the migrations.

$ php artisan migrate

Add the following line to your app/Http/Kernel.php file in the $middleware array to catch any OAuth error and respond appropriately:

'LucaDegasperi\OAuth2Server\Middleware\OAuthExceptionHandlerMiddleware'

In order to make some the authorization and resource server work correctly with Laravel 5, remove the App\Http\Middleware\VerifyCsrfToken line from the $middleware array and place it in the $routeMiddleware array like this: 'csrf' => 'App\Http\Middleware\VerifyCsrfToken',.

Note: remember to add the csrf middleware manually on any route where it's appropriate.

Handling Exceptions

We need to modify the exception handler to properly format exceptions thrown by this package. Update the App/Exceptions/Handler.php file to use the exception handler from this package.

use Exception;
use Mmanos\Api\Exceptions\Handler as ExceptionHandler;

class Handler extends ExceptionHandler {
	...
}

Then add the Mmanos\Api\Exceptions\HttpException exception class to the $dontReport array so regular HTTP Exceptions are not reported.

Controllers

Configuration

Add the ControllerTrait to each of your API controllers. You could optionally add this to a BaseController extended by all of your other controllers.

use Illuminate\Routing\Controller;
use Mmanos\Api\ControllerTrait;

class BaseController extends Controller
{
	use ControllerTrait;
}

Pagination

If you return a pagination object from your controller action this package will add the following headers to the response:

• Pagination-Page
• Pagination-Num
• Pagination-Total
• Pagination-Last-Page

Setting custom response headers

You may access the response object and set any additional headers directly from your controller action:

$this->response()->header('Example-Header', 'Example value');

Errors

Dealing with errors when building your API is easy. Simply use the Api::abort method to throw an exception that will be formatted in a useful manner.

Throw a 404 Not Found error:

Api::abort(404);

Or a 403 Access Denied error:

Api::abort(403);

Customize the error message:

Api::abort(403, 'Access denied to scope: users:write');

Pass the errors from a validation object to get a clean response with all validation errors:

Api::abort(422, $validator->errors());

Protecting your API endpoints

You may use the protect route filter to ensure the request is authenticated:

$this->beforeFilter('protect');

Or you may call the Api::protect() method directly.

If this check fails, a call to Api::abort(401) is made resulting in an Unauthorized error response.

Checking scope access

Use the checkscope route filter to ensure the requested resource is accessible:

$this->beforeFilter('checkscope:users.write');

Or you may call the Api::checkScope('users:write') method directly.

If this check fails, a call to Api::abort(403) is made resulting in an Access Denied error response with the scope name.

Transforming output

Any model, collection, or pagination object returned by your controller action will be automatically sent through any bound transformer classes.

Transformers

Transformers allow you to easily and consistently transform objects into an array. By using a transformer you can type-cast integers, type-cast booleans, and nest relationships.

Bind a class to a transformer

Api::bindTransformer('User', 'Transformers\User');

Set a class property

Alternatively, you could add a transformer property to your class to be auto-recognized by this package:

class User extends Eloquent
{
	public $transformer = 'Transformers\User';
}

Creating a transformer class

Ensure your transformer class has a transform static method:

namespace Transformers;

class User
{
	public function transform($object, $request)
	{
		$output = $object->toArray();
		$output['id'] = (int) $output['id'];
		$output['created_at'] = $object->created_at->setTimezone('UTC')->toISO8601String();
		$output['updated_at'] = $object->updated_at->setTimezone('UTC')->toISO8601String();
		
		if ($request->input('hide_email')) {
			unset($output['email']);
		}
		
		return $output;
	}
}

Internal Requests

A big part of this package is being able to perform requests on your API internally. This allows you to build your application on top of a consumable API.

Performing requests

Use the Api::internal() method to initiate an internal request:

$users_array = Api::internal('api/users')->get();

Passing extra parameters

$users_array = Api::internal('api/users', array('sort' => 'newest'))->get();

Specify HTTP method

$new_user_array = Api::internal('api/users', array('email' => 'test@example.com'))->post();

CORS Support

CORS support is enabled by default, but only if the Origin header is detected. Adjust the settings in the config file to control the behavior and header values.