Laravel SPA: A Complete Guide to Building Single Page Applications

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Setting Up the Laravel Backend
   • Installing Laravel
   • Configuring Sanctum for Authentication
3. Setting Up Vue.js Frontend
   • Installing Vue.js
   • Configuring Vite
4. Integrating Vue Router
   • Creating Routes
   • Building Example Components
5. Laravel API Development
   • Defining Routes
   • Creating Controllers
6. Fetching Data with Axios in Vue.js
   • Axios Setup
   • API Requests in Vue Components
7. Running and Testing the SPA
8. Bonus: Adding Authentication with Sanctum
9. Conclusion

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Introduction

This guide covers building a Single Page Application (SPA) with Laravel and Vue.js. It walks through backend setup, API creation with Sanctum, front-end integration with Vue.js, routing with Vue Router, and data handling with Axios. By following this guide, you can create a seamless, modern web application with a dynamic front-end and a robust Laravel backend.

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Part 1: Setting Up Laravel Backend

Step 1: Install Laravel

Install a new Laravel project via Composer:

composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel spa-demo

Navigate to the project directory:

cd spa-demo

Start the development server:

php artisan serve

Step 2: Install Sanctum for API Authentication

Laravel Sanctum is ideal for SPA authentication.

composer require laravel/sanctum

Publish Sanctum configuration:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Laravel\Sanctum\SanctumServiceProvider"
php artisan migrate

Update app/Http/Kernel.php:

protected $middlewareGroups = [
    'web' => [
        ...
        \Laravel\Sanctum\Http\Middleware\EnsureFrontendRequestsAreStateful::class,
    ],
    ...
];

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Part 6: Building the SPA

Step 1: Run Frontend

Compile assets using Vite:

npm run dev

Step 2: Open the SPA

Navigate to http://localhost:8000 and interact with the app.

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Bonus: Authentication with Sanctum

To add authentication:

1. Set up Sanctum with API tokens.
2. Create login and registration routes.
3. Use Axios to send requests and handle token storage.

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Conclusion

By following this guide, you've built a powerful Laravel SPA leveraging Vue.js, Vue Router, and Sanctum. This application architecture ensures scalability, smooth user interactions, and modern web standards. Continue exploring advanced features like state management with Vuex, server-side rendering, or API optimization to further enhance your SPA development skills.

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