REST API in Laravel when validating the request - php

Question

I'm currently trying out on how to build a RESTful API with Laravel and I'm currently in the process of creating a new user. This is just a test and I'm getting some result when trying to validate the request using validation in Laravel; here is the result:
I've been trying to create a new one by this code:
public function store()
{
$validation = Validator::make(Request::all(),[
'username' => 'required|unique:users, username',
'password' => 'required',
]);
if($validation->fails()){
} else{
$createUser = User::create([
'username' => Request::get('username'),
'password' => Hash::make(Request::get('password'))
]);
}
}
but then I don't know how to return the error in validation. But it keeps on giving me that HTML as showed in the image when I was trying to do the if with validation->fails(). Is there a way to get the validation in JSON format?

Answer 1

these code will help you, working for me.
$response = array('response' => '', 'success'=>false);
$validator = Validator::make($request->all(), $rules);
if ($validator->fails()) {
$response['response'] = $validator->messages();
} else {
//process the request
}
return $response;

Answer 2

You should probably return errors (which is an instance of Illuminate\Support\MessageBag) and encode that. A MessageBag instance allows you to convert it directly to its JSON representation.
$errors = $validation->errors();
return $errors->toJson();
Now not to toot my own horn but I've recently developed a RESTful API package for Laravel which does all of this for you and all you need to do is throw a simple exception. See my dingo/api package and the Wiki on returning errors. Basically, instead of returning the errors you would throw an exception.
throw new Dingo\Api\Exception\StoreResourceFailedException('Could not create a new user.', $validation->errors());
It would be represented by the following JSON.
{
"message": "Could not create a new user.",
"errors": {
"username": ["The username is already in use."]
}
}

Answer 3

Laravel provides out of the box a validation method that you can call from your Controller.
if you check the Laravel Controller abstract class you will find it uses a trait called ValidatesRequests
abstract class Controller extends BaseController
{
use AuthorizesRequests, DispatchesJobs, ValidatesRequests;
}
So you can use a method $this->validate(Request $request, array $rules); as you long as your controller class extends the Controller
the full method declaration is
public function validate(Request $request, array $rules, array $messages = [], array $customAttributes = [])
{
$validator = $this->getValidationFactory()->make($request->all(), $rules, $messages, $customAttributes);
if ($validator->fails()) {
$this->formatValidationErrors($validator);
}
}
If The $validator fails, the method will throw an error depending on the request type, if it is ajax (in this case you should include in the request headers (Accept application/json) it will return a JSON response containing the validation errors.

Answer 4

For laravel 5.5 and up, see docs: AJAX Requests & Validation
TL;DR: On failed validation a json response with a 422 is returned along with the validation error messages. It took me a bit of time to find those validation errors in the response object, so to see the error messages if you're using axios, try this in your browser console:
axios.post('/api/your-route-here')
.then(response => {
console.log(response.data);
}).catch(error => {
console.log(error.response.data.errors)
});

Answer 5

There are many ways to get a validator response first is to get an all validation error at the same time i.e you will get a response like below
$validator = \Validator::make($request->all(), [
'username' => 'required|unique:users, username',
'password' => 'required',
]);
if ($validator->fails()) {
$responseArr = CustomHelper::returnRespArr("");
$responseArr['message'] = $validator->errors();;
$responseArr['token'] = '';
return response()->json($responseArr, Response::HTTP_BAD_REQUEST);
}
Response you will get is:
{
"status": false,
"data": [],
"message": {
"username": [
"The username field is required."
],
"password": [
"The password field is required."
]
},
"is_valid": 0,
"token": ""
}
The second way to get a validation response. In this, you will get a one validator error a time.
if ($validator->fails()) {
$responseArr = CustomHelper::returnRespArr("");
$responseArr['message'] = $validator->messages()->first();;
$responseArr['token'] = '';
return response()->json($responseArr,Response::HTTP_BAD_REQUEST);
}
The response you will get
{
"status": false,
"data": [],
"message": "The username field is required.",
"is_valid": 0,
"token": ""
}

Answer 6

I am using Laravel 9.x and found a quite simple way to validate errors with REST APIs:
public function store(Request $request)
{
$input = $request->all();
$validator = Validator::make($input, [
'title' => 'required|string|max:50'
]);
// Will return an error, if validation fails.
// https://laravel.com/api/9.x/Illuminate/Foundation/Validation/ValidatesRequests.html#method_validateWith
$this->validateWith($validator, $request);
// Only use the properties that were validated.
$input = $validator->validated();
// Create a new event model, with the data provided.
$event = Event::create($input);
return new EventResource($event);
}
In order to return a json error message, make sure to set the Accept header of the client to application/json. I make the mistake to not set this in my debug client, so I only saw html/xml messages.
You can also force the output to json.