Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Rest Generic Class for Laravel

Find answers to commonly asked questions about using Rest Generic Class in your Laravel applications.

General Usage

Does this package register routes for me?

No. Rest Generic Class does not automatically register routes. You maintain full control over your routing.

You register routes in your Laravel application’s route files and wire them to controllers that extend RestController:

use App\Http\Controllers\Api\ProductController;

Route::prefix('v1')->group(function () {
    Route::apiResource('products', ProductController::class);
    Route::post('products/update-multiple', 
        [ProductController::class, 'updateMultiple']);
});

This gives you complete flexibility over URL structure, middleware, and route organization.

Can I use MongoDB with this package?

Yes! The package includes a BaseModelMongo class specifically for MongoDB usage through the mongodb/laravel package.

use Ronu\RestGenericClass\Core\Models\BaseModelMongo;

class Product extends BaseModelMongo
{
    protected $connection = 'mongodb';
    const MODEL = 'product';
    const RELATIONS = ['category', 'reviews'];
}

You are responsible for installing and configuring mongodb/laravel in your application. The package provides the base model but doesn’t include MongoDB dependencies.

Is Spatie permission package required?

No. Spatie’s laravel-permission package is completely optional.

The permission models, traits, and middleware are available if you choose to install spatie/laravel-permission, but the core functionality works without it.

# Optional - only install if you need permission management
composer require spatie/laravel-permission

If you don’t install Spatie, you can still use the package’s core CRUD, filtering, and relation-loading features.

Does the package support hierarchical tree structures?

Yes! Hierarchy support is built-in when your model defines the HIERARCHY_FIELD_ID constant and you pass the hierarchy parameter in requests.

class Category extends BaseModel
{
    const HIERARCHY_FIELD_ID = 'parent_id';
}

Request example:

{
  "hierarchy": {
    "filter_mode": "with_descendants",
    "children_key": "children",
    "max_depth": 3
  }
}

See the Hierarchy documentation for all available modes and options.

Performance

How does caching work?

Rest Generic Class supports generic cache integration via Laravel’s cache stores (Redis, database, file, Memcached, etc.).

Enable caching:

REST_CACHE_ENABLED=true
REST_CACHE_STORE=redis
REST_CACHE_TTL=60

Key features:

• Cache is applied to list_all and get_one operations
• Cache keys include model, query params, auth user, and selected headers
• Write operations automatically bump a model-level cache version to invalidate stale data
• Per-request control via cache=false or cache_ttl=120 parameters

Multi-tenant aware: Cache keys vary by Accept-Language and X-Tenant-Id headers to prevent cross-tenant data leaks.

See the Cache strategy for complete caching options.

What are the performance limits for filtering?

The package includes built-in safety limits to protect your database:

Limit	Default	Config Key
Maximum nesting depth	5	filtering.max_depth
Maximum conditions	100	filtering.max_conditions

These limits prevent abusive queries with excessive complexity.

You can adjust them in config/rest-generic-class.php:

'filtering' => [
    'max_depth' => 10,
    'max_conditions' => 200,
],

Only increase these limits if you have legitimate use cases. Higher limits can impact database performance.

How can I optimize queries with many relations?

Use selective field loading to reduce data transfer and improve performance:

GET /api/v1/products?select=["id","name","price"]&relations=["category:id,name","reviews:id,rating"]

Best practices:

• Only load relations you need
• Use field selection (:id,name) on relations to limit columns
• Enable caching for frequently accessed data
• Set appropriate cache TTLs based on data volatility
• Use pagination for large result sets

Configuration

Can I use different cache stores for different models?

The package uses a single cache store configured via REST_CACHE_STORE.

However, you can:

• Set different TTLs for list vs single record operations:
  REST_CACHE_TTL_LIST=120
  REST_CACHE_TTL_ONE=300
  
• Override TTL per request:
  GET /api/v1/products?cache_ttl=600
  
• Disable cache per request:
  GET /api/v1/products?cache=false
  

The cache version is tracked per model, so updates to one model won’t invalidate cache for other models.

How do I enable query logging?

Enable query logging in your environment:

LOG_QUERY=true

Queries will be logged to storage/logs/query.log.

You can also configure the general log level:

LOG_LEVEL=debug

Query logging can significantly increase log file size. Use it for debugging and disable in production unless actively troubleshooting.

Why aren't my environment variable changes working?

If you’re using Laravel’s config caching (common in production), environment variables are cached.

After changing .env, clear the config cache:

php artisan config:clear

Then rebuild it:

php artisan config:cache

The package is fully compatible with Laravel’s config caching because all environment variables are only referenced in the config file, not directly in code.

Development

Does the package include tests?

The package does not ship with automated tests.

Validation should be performed in your host application with tests covering:

• Feature tests for CRUD endpoints using your RestController subclasses
• Tests for oper filtering and relation allowlist enforcement
• Tests for hierarchy listing if you use HIERARCHY_FIELD_ID
• Authorization tests if using Spatie permissions

This approach ensures tests are relevant to your specific implementation and use cases.

Can I extend or override the base classes?

Absolutely! The package is designed for extension:

// Extend the base service
class ProductService extends BaseService
{
    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct(Product::class);
    }

    // Add custom methods
    public function getLowStock($threshold = 10)
    {
        return $this->model->where('stock', '<', $threshold)->get();
    }
}

// Extend the controller
class ProductController extends RestController
{
    // Override methods or add new endpoints
    public function lowStock(Request $request)
    {
        return response()->json(
            $this->service->getLowStock($request->input('threshold', 10))
        );
    }
}

You have complete control over extending functionality while benefiting from the base features.

How do I contribute to the package?

Contributions are welcome!

1. Open issues on GitHub for bugs or feature requests
2. Submit pull requests with improvements
3. For security concerns, report them privately to the maintainer

See the Contributing guide for detailed guidelines.

Need More Help?

Still have questions?

• Check the Troubleshooting guide for common errors
• Review the API Reference for detailed documentation
• Browse Usage examples for practical implementations
• Open an issue on GitHub