HTTP Requests

• Accessing The Request
  • Basic Request Information
  • PSR-7 Requests
• Retrieving Input
  • Old Input
  • Cookies
  • Files

Accessing The Request

To obtain an instance of the current HTTP request via dependency injection, you should type-hint the Illuminate\Http\Request class on your controller constructor or method. The current request instance will automatically be injected by the service container:

<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
class UserController extends Controller
{
    /**
     * Store a new user.
     *
     * @param  Request  $request
     * @return Response
     */
    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        $name = $request->input('name');
        //
    }
}

If your controller method is also expecting input from a route parameter, simply list your route arguments after your other dependencies. For example, if your route is defined like so:

Route::put('user/{id}', '[email protected]');

You may still type-hint the Illuminate\Http\Request and access your route parameter id by defining your controller method like the following:

<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
class UserController extends Controller
{
    /**
     * Update the specified user.
     *
     * @param  Request  $request
     * @param  string  $id
     * @return Response
     */
    public function update(Request $request, $id)
    {
        //
    }
}

Basic Request Information

The Illuminate\Http\Request instance provides a variety of methods for examining the HTTP request for your application and extends the Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request class. Here are a few more of the useful methods available on this class:

Retrieving The Request URI

The path method returns the request's URI. So, if the incoming request is targeted at http://domain.com/foo/bar, the path method will return foo/bar:

$uri = $request->path();

The is method allows you to verify that the incoming request URI matches a given pattern. You may use the * character as a wildcard when utilizing this method:

if ($request->is('admin/*')) {
    //
}

To get the full URL, not just the path info, you may use the url or fullUrl methods on the request instance:

// Without Query String...
$url = $request->url();
// With Query String...
$url = $request->fullUrl();

You may also get the full URL and append query parameters. For example, if the request is targeted at http://domain.com/foo, the following method will return http://domain.com/foo?bar=baz:

$url = $request->fullUrlWithQuery(['bar' => 'baz']);

Retrieving The Request Method

The method method will return the HTTP verb for the request. You may also use the isMethod method to verify that the HTTP verb matches a given string:

$method = $request->method();
if ($request->isMethod('post')) {
    //
}

PSR-7 Requests

The PSR-7 standard specifies interfaces for HTTP messages, including requests and responses. If you would like to obtain an instance of a PSR-7 request, you will first need to install a few libraries. Laravel uses the Symfony HTTP Message Bridge component to convert typical Laravel requests and responses into PSR-7 compatible implementations:

composer require symfony/psr-http-message-bridge
composer require zendframework/zend-diactoros

Once you have installed these libraries, you may obtain a PSR-7 request by simply type-hinting the request type on your route or controller:

use Psr\Http\Message\ServerRequestInterface;
Route::get('/', function (ServerRequestInterface $request) {
    //
});

If you return a PSR-7 response instance from a route or controller, it will automatically be converted back to a Laravel response instance and be displayed by the framework.

Retrieving Input

Retrieving An Input Value

Using a few simple methods, you may access all user input from your Illuminate\Http\Request instance. You do not need to worry about the HTTP verb used for the request, as input is accessed in the same way for all verbs:

$name = $request->input('name');

You may pass a default value as the second argument to the input method. This value will be returned if the requested input value is not present on the request:

$name = $request->input('name', 'Sally');

When working on forms with array inputs, you may use "dot" notation to access the arrays:

$name = $request->input('products.0.name');
$names = $request->input('products.*.name');

Retrieving JSON Input Values

When sending JSON requests to your application, you may access the JSON data via the input method as long as the Content-Type header of the request is properly set to application/json. You may even use "dot" syntax to dig deeper into JSON arrays:

$name = $request->input('user.name');

Determining If An Input Value Is Present

To determine if a value is present on the request, you may use the has method. The has method returns true if the value is present and is not an empty string:

if ($request->has('name')) {
    //
}

Retrieving All Input Data

You may also retrieve all of the input data as an array using the all method:

$input = $request->all();

Retrieving A Portion Of The Input Data

If you need to retrieve a sub-set of the input data, you may use the only and except methods. Both of these methods will accept a single array or a dynamic list of arguments:

$input = $request->only(['username', 'password']);
$input = $request->only('username', 'password');
$input = $request->except(['credit_card']);
$input = $request->except('credit_card');

Dynamic Properties

You may also access user input using dynamic properties on the Illuminate\Http\Request instance. For example, if one of your application's forms contains a name field, you may access the value of the posted field like so:

$name = $request->name;

When using dynamic properties, Laravel will first look for the parameter's value in the request payload and then in the route parameters.

Old Input

Laravel allows you to keep input from one request during the next request. This feature is particularly useful for re-populating forms after detecting validation errors. However, if you are using Laravel's included validation services, it is unlikely you will need to manually use these methods, as some of Laravel's built-in validation facilities will call them automatically.

Flashing Input To The Session

The flash method on the Illuminate\Http\Request instance will flash the current input to the session so that it is available during the user's next request to the application:

$request->flash();

You may also use the flashOnly and flashExcept methods to flash a sub-set of the request data into the session:

$request->flashOnly(['username', 'email']);
$request->flashExcept('password');

Flash Input Into Session Then Redirect

Since you often will want to flash input in association with a redirect to the previous page, you may easily chain input flashing onto a redirect using the withInput method:

return redirect('form')->withInput();
return redirect('form')->withInput($request->except('password'));

Retrieving Old Data

To retrieve flashed input from the previous request, use the old method on the Request instance. The old method provides a convenient helper for pulling the flashed input data out of the session:

$username = $request->old('username');

Laravel also provides a global old helper function. If you are displaying old input within a Blade template, it is more convenient to use the old helper. If no old input exists for the given string, null will be returned:

<input type="text" name="username" value="{{ old('username') }}">

Cookies

Retrieving Cookies From The Request

All cookies created by the Laravel framework are encrypted and signed with an authentication code, meaning they will be considered invalid if they have been changed by the client. To retrieve a cookie value from the request, you may use the cookie method on the Illuminate\Http\Request instance:

$value = $request->cookie('name');

Attaching A New Cookie To A Response

Laravel provides a global cookie helper function which serves as a simple factory for generating new Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Cookie instances. The cookies may be attached to a Illuminate\Http\Response instance using the withCookie method:

$response = new Illuminate\Http\Response('Hello World');
$response->withCookie('name', 'value', $minutes);
return $response;

To create a long-lived cookie, which lasts for five years, you may use the forever method on the cookie factory by first calling the cookie helper with no arguments, and then chaining the forever method onto the returned cookie factory:

$response->withCookie(cookie()->forever('name', 'value'));

Files

Retrieving Uploaded Files

You may access uploaded files that are included with the Illuminate\Http\Request instance using the file method. The object returned by the file method is an instance of the Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\File\UploadedFile class, which extends the PHP SplFileInfo class and provides a variety of methods for interacting with the file:

$file = $request->file('photo');

You may determine if a file is present on the request using the hasFile method:

if ($request->hasFile('photo')) {
    //
}

Validating Successful Uploads

In addition to checking if the file is present, you may verify that there were no problems uploading the file via the isValid method:

if ($request->file('photo')->isValid()) {
    //
}

Moving Uploaded Files

To move the uploaded file to a new location, you should use the move method. This method will move the file from its temporary upload location (as determined by your PHP configuration) to a more permanent destination of your choosing:

$request->file('photo')->move($destinationPath);
$request->file('photo')->move($destinationPath, $fileName);

Other File Methods

There are a variety of other methods available on UploadedFile instances. Check out the API documentation for the class for more information regarding these methods.