YALR (Yet Another Laravel Router)

Define Laravel routes in different ways using Class Wrapper Route or Route Attribute

Previously known as jalameta/router.

Table of Contents

• Installation
• Requirements
• Getting Started
• Class Wrapper Route
  • Creating New Route
  • Routes Configuration
  • Class Structure
  • Using Controller
  • Route Prefix
  • Route Name
• Preloads
• Route Attribute
  • Available Class Target
  • Available Method Target
  • Detailed Attribute Examples
• Auto Controller Injection
• Available Commands
  • yalr:install
  • yalr:display
  • yalr:generate
  • make:route

Installation

Using Composer:

composer require dentro/yalr

Requirements

Laravel	Yalr	PHP
8.x	^1.0	^8.0
9.x	^1.1	^8.0
10.x	^1.2	^8.0
11.x	^1.3	^8.1
12.x	^1.4	^8.2
12.x	^1.5	^8.3

Getting Started

After installation, run the following command in your project:

php artisan yalr:install

Class Wrapper Route

Class wrapper route is our effort to make routing in Laravel more expressive and organized. Routes are represented by their namespace for easier understanding. For example, class App\Admin\TransactionRoute will correspond to the route /app/admin/transaction.

Creating New Route

To create a new route, run:

php artisan make:route DefaultRoute

This command will create a route named DefaultRoute in app/Http/Routes/DefaultRoute.php. Note that after creation, you must register the Route class in your route configuration for it to be loaded.

make:route Options

1. Inject

The --inject option automatically adds the route class name to your route configuration:

php artisan make:route DefaultRoute --inject web

This command creates the Default route and adds it to the web group defined in config/routes.php.

2. Controller

The --controller option generates both the route and its associated controller:

php artisan make:route DefaultRoute --controller HomeController

This eliminates the need to run two separate commands to create a controller and route.

3. Help

Shows the YALR command help information.

Routes Configuration

Here's an example of a YALR configuration file:

return [
    'groups' => [
        'web' => [
            'middleware' => 'web',
            'prefix' => '',
        ],
        'api' => [
            'middleware' => 'api',
            'prefix' => 'api',
        ],
    ],

    'web' => [
        \App\Http\Routes\DefaultRoute::class,
    ],
    'api' => [
        // 
    ],

    // Auto-injection configuration for yalr:generate command
    'injects' => [
        'web' => ['app/Http/Controllers/Web/'],
        'api' => ['app/Http/Controllers/Api/']
    ],
];

The groups section defines group configurations where you can specify Laravel options such as as, domain, middleware, prefix, etc. The web and api sections contain arrays of route class names that belong to these groups.

Class Structure

Here's an example of a generated route file:

<?php

namespace App\Http\Routes;

use Dentro\Yalr\BaseRoute;

class DefaultRoute extends BaseRoute
{
    /**
     * Register routes handled by this class.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function register(): void
    {
        // Make an awesome route
    }
}

Define routes within the register method by calling $this->router, which is a router instance. You can invoke Laravel routing methods such as get, post, put, etc. See Laravel Routing Documentation for more details.

Note: Avoid using closure actions, as your application will encounter errors when routes are cached.

Example with prefix and name properties:

<?php

namespace App\Http\Routes;

use Dentro\Yalr\BaseRoute;

class DefaultRoute extends BaseRoute
{
    protected string $prefix = 'wonderful';
    protected string $name = 'wonderful';

    /**
     * Register routes handled by this class.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function register(): void
    {
        $this->router->get('/', function () {
            return view('welcome');
        });
    }
}

Using Controller

When creating a route with the controller option, the controller class will be referenced in a controller method:

<?php

namespace App\Http\Routes;

use Dentro\Yalr\BaseRoute;
use App\Http\Controllers\HomeController;

class DefaultRoute extends BaseRoute
{
    /**
     * Register routes handled by this class.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function register(): void
    {
        $this->router->get('/', [
            'uses' => $this->uses('index')
        ]);
    }

     /**
     * Controller used by this route.
     *
     * @return string
     */
    public function controller(): string
    {
        return HomeController::class;
    }
}

This route is equivalent to:

Route::get('/', [
    'uses' => "App\Http\Controllers\HomeController@index"
]);

This package helps eliminate duplicate namespace and class name references in your route definitions. If you want to use a different controller than the one specified in the controller() method, you can pass the controller class as the second parameter of $this->uses():

$this->uses('login', LoginController::class)

Route Prefix

You can override the default prefix (which is '/') by defining it in your class property:

protected string $prefix = '/home';

Then use it in your routes:

$this->router->get($this->prefix(), [
    'uses' => $this->uses('index')
]);

This is equivalent to:

Route::get('/home', [
    'uses' => "App\Http\Controllers\HomeController@index"
]);

Route Name

Define a route name property in your route class:

protected string $name = 'home';

Then use the $this->name() method, which adds a dot (.) between the route group name and the individual route name:

$this->router->get('/', [
    'as' => $this->name('landing'),
    'uses' => $this->uses('index')
]);

This is equivalent to:

Route::get('/', [
    'as' => 'home.landing',
    'uses' => "App\Http\Controllers\HomeController@index",
]);

Preloads

Preloads always run even when routes are cached. They're an ideal place for route model binding and rate limiters:

// config/routes.php

'preloads' => [
    App\Http\RouteModelBinding::class,
    App\Http\RouteRateLimiter::class,
],

namespace App\Http;

use Dentro\Yalr\Contracts\Bindable;

class RouteModelBinding implements Bindable
{
    public function __construct(protected Router $router)
    {
    }

    public function bind(): void
    {
        $this->router->bind('fleet_hash', fn ($value) => Fleet::byHashOrFail($value));
        $this->router->bind('office_slug', fn ($value) => Office::query()->where('slug', $value)->firstOrFail());
    }
}

namespace App\Http;

use Dentro\Yalr\Contracts\Bindable;

class RouteRateLimiter implements Bindable
{
    public function __construct(protected Router $router)
    {
    }

    public function bind(): void
    {
        RateLimiter::for('api', function (Request $request) {
            return Limit::perMinute(360)->by($request->user()?->email.$request->ip());
        });
    }
}

Route Attribute

PHP 8 introduced a feature called Attributes (see PHP 8 Attributes). YALR leverages this feature to enable more elegant route definitions:

#[Middleware(['auth:sanctum', 'verified'])]
class DashboardController extends Controller
{
    #[Get('dashboard', name: 'dashboard')]
    public function index(): Response
    {
        return Inertia::render('Dashboard');
    }
}

Available Class Target

Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Domain(string $domain);
Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Prefix($prefix);
Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Name(string $name, bool $dotPrefix = false, bool $dotSuffix = false);
Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Middleware(string | array $middleware);

Available Method Target

Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Get(string $uri, ?string $name = null, array | string $middleware = [], array | string $withoutMiddleware = []);
Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Post(string $uri, ?string $name = null, array | string $middleware = [], array | string $withoutMiddleware = []);
Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Put(string $uri, ?string $name = null, array | string $middleware = [], array | string $withoutMiddleware = []);
Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Patch(string $uri, ?string $name = null, array | string $middleware = [], array | string $withoutMiddleware = []);
Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Delete(string $uri, ?string $name = null, array | string $middleware = [], array | string $withoutMiddleware = []);
Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Options(string $uri, ?string $name = null, array | string $middleware = [], array | string $withoutMiddleware = []);

Detailed Attribute Examples

Basic Controller with Multiple Routes

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Get;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Post;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Put;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Delete;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Prefix;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Name;

#[Prefix('users')]
#[Name('users', dotSuffix: true)]
class UserController extends Controller
{
    #[Get('/', name: 'index')]
    public function index()
    {
        // GET /users
        // Route name: users.index
        return view('users.index');
    }

    #[Get('/create', name: 'create')]
    public function create()
    {
        // GET /users/create
        // Route name: users.create
        return view('users.create');
    }

    #[Post('/', name: 'store')]
    public function store()
    {
        // POST /users
        // Route name: users.store
        // ... store logic
        return redirect()->route('users.index');
    }

    #[Get('/{id}', name: 'show')]
    public function show($id)
    {
        // GET /users/{id}
        // Route name: users.show
        return view('users.show', ['user' => User::findOrFail($id)]);
    }

    #[Get('/{id}/edit', name: 'edit')]
    public function edit($id)
    {
        // GET /users/{id}/edit
        // Route name: users.edit
        return view('users.edit', ['user' => User::findOrFail($id)]);
    }

    #[Put('/{id}', name: 'update')]
    public function update($id)
    {
        // PUT /users/{id}
        // Route name: users.update
        // ... update logic
        return redirect()->route('users.show', $id);
    }

    #[Delete('/{id}', name: 'destroy')]
    public function destroy($id)
    {
        // DELETE /users/{id}
        // Route name: users.destroy
        // ... delete logic
        return redirect()->route('users.index');
    }
}

Controller with Middleware

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers\Admin;

use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Get;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Middleware;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Prefix;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Name;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Domain;

#[Prefix('admin/dashboard')]
#[Name('admin.dashboard')]
#[Middleware(['auth', 'admin'])]
// You can also set a specific domain for these routes
#[Domain('admin.example.com')]
class DashboardController extends Controller
{
    #[Get('/', name: 'index')]
    public function index()
    {
        // GET /admin/dashboard
        // Route name: admin.dashboard.index
        // Applied middleware: auth, admin
        return view('admin.dashboard.index');
    }

    // You can override or add route-specific middleware
    #[Get('/stats', name: 'stats')]
    #[Middleware(['cache:60'])]
    public function stats()
    {
        // GET /admin/dashboard/stats
        // Route name: admin.dashboard.stats
        // Applied middleware: auth, admin, cache:60
        return view('admin.dashboard.stats');
    }

    #[Get('/settings', name: 'settings')]
    // You can provide a specific route middleware for this method only
    #[Middleware(['can:edit-settings'])]
    public function settings()
    {
        // GET /admin/dashboard/settings
        // Route name: admin.dashboard.settings
        // Applied middleware: auth, admin, can:edit-settings
        return view('admin.dashboard.settings');
    }
}

API Controller Example

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers\Api;

use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Get;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Post;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Put;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Delete;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Prefix;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Middleware;
use Dentro\Yalr\Attributes\Name;

#[Prefix('api/v1/posts')]
#[Name('api.posts')]
#[Middleware(['auth:sanctum'])]
class PostController extends Controller
{
    #[Get('/', name: 'index')]
    public function index()
    {
        // GET /api/v1/posts
        // Route name: api.posts.index
        return Post::all();
    }

    #[Post('/', name: 'store')]
    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        // POST /api/v1/posts
        // Route name: api.posts.store
        $post = Post::create($request->validated());
        return response()->json($post, 201);
    }

    #[Get('/{id}', name: 'show')]
    public function show($id)
    {
        // GET /api/v1/posts/{id}
        // Route name: api.posts.show
        return Post::findOrFail($id);
    }

    #[Put('/{id}', name: 'update')]
    public function update(Request $request, $id)
    {
        // PUT /api/v1/posts/{id}
        // Route name: api.posts.update
        $post = Post::findOrFail($id);
        $post->update($request->validated());
        return $post;
    }

    #[Delete('/{id}', name: 'destroy')]
    public function destroy($id)
    {
        // DELETE /api/v1/posts/{id}
        // Route name: api.posts.destroy
        Post::findOrFail($id)->delete();
        return response()->noContent();
    }
}

Adding Controllers to Route Configuration

Simply add controller classes to your route configuration, and YALR will determine how to handle them:

'web' => [
    \App\Http\Routes\DefaultRoute::class,
    \App\Http\Controllers\UserController::class,
],
'api' => [
    \App\Http\Controllers\Api\PostController::class,
],

Auto Injection

YALR provides automatic class injection through the configuration file. You can specify directories containing either your controllers with PHP 8 attributes or your route wrapper classes, and YALR will scan and inject them into your routes configuration.

Configure the injects section in config/routes.php:

'injects' => [
    'web' => ['app/Http/Controllers/Web/'],
    'api' => ['app/Http/Controllers/Api/']
],

You can specify multiple directories for each group:

'injects' => [
    'web' => [
        'app/Http/Controllers/Web/',      // For controllers with attributes
        'app/Http/Routes/Web/',           // For route wrapper classes
        'app/Http/Controllers/Admin/'
    ],
    'api' => 'app/Http/Controllers/Api/' // Single directory can be a string
],

Note: The directory scan is not recursive. YALR will only read files in the specified directories and won't search within their subdirectories.

To generate routes based on your class structure, run:

php artisan yalr:generate

Available Commands

yalr:install

Installs YALR into your Laravel project by publishing the necessary configuration files:

php artisan yalr:install

Options:

• --transform: Transform existing Laravel route files to YALR format
• --backup: Create backups of original route files when transforming

When using --transform, YALR will:

1. Scan your routes directory for traditional Laravel route files
2. Convert Route facade calls to YALR class-based format
3. Store the new route classes in app/Http/Routes directory
4. Preserve middleware, prefixes, and other route configurations
5. Create backups of original files with .bak extension if --backup is specified

yalr:display

Displays all registered routes grouped by their configuration sections:

php artisan yalr:display

yalr:generate

Scans controller directories specified in the injects configuration and automatically adds them to the appropriate route groups:

php artisan yalr:generate

make:route

Creates a new route class with optional controller generation and route injection:

# Basic usage
php artisan make:route UserRoute

Options:

• --controller or -c: Generate a controller to accompany the route class
• --inject or -j: Automatically inject the route class into the specified route group