Roll your own Request object in Laravel

There are multiple ways to extend or modify the Request object in Laravel. I'd like to show you a method, which in my opinion is the cleanest one.

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Macro

You may already know about the macro method. It's the most obvious way to introduce new methods to the Request object but it has some downsides.

Request::macro('project', function () {
    return $this->user();
});

This solution is simple but it has some flaws:

• You cannot override or change existing methods.
• It's not obvious where these new methods are coming from.
• No IDE autocompletion.

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Custom Request Object

I like creating my own Request object.

<?php

namespace App\Http;

use Illuminate\Http\Request as LaravelRequest;

class Request extends LaravelRequest
{
    /**
     * Get the team making the request.
     *
     * @param  string|null  $guard
     * @return mixed
     */
    public function team($guard = null)
    {
        return $this->user($guard);
    }
}

It's simple, clean and straightforward. Much better than introducing new methods via "macros".

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Now, we need to instruct Laravel to use this new custom class as a base.

Simply override the handle method in our App\Http\Kernel class to use your custom Request object.

<?php

namespace App\Http;

use App\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Kernel as HttpKernel;

class Kernel extends HttpKernel
{
    // ...

    /**
     * Handle an incoming HTTP request.
     *
     * @param  \Illuminate\Http\Request  $request
     * @return \Illuminate\Http\Response
     */
    public function handle($request)
    {
        return parent::handle(
            Request::createFrom($request)
        );
    }
}

... and finally, alias your new App\Http\Request class so the container always returns the same instance.

$this->app->alias('request', Request::class);

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Happy Coding!

Comments

[Robert Ndung'u]

This is absolutely fantastic. Been looking for a way to do this, and the macro method wasn't just a clean way. Thanks a tad much @titasgailius

[Azhar Lihan]

Awesome. That request alias save me.