Laravel Extended Resources

Extended Resources is a small but powerful extension around Laravel API resources that lets you:

• Define multiple named formats for the same resource using PHP 8 attributes.
• Apply on-the-fly modifications to the serialized data (array merges, closures, invokable objects).
• Use convenience enhancements like only() and except() without building custom transformers.
• Adjust the HTTP status code directly from the resource.

It is designed to feel native to Laravel while giving you more control over how resources are shaped and delivered.

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Requirements

Dependency	Version
PHP	^8.1 | ^8.2 | ^8.3 | ^8.4
Laravel	^10.0 | ^11.0 | ^12.0

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Installation

Install via Composer:

composer require devravik/extended-resources

There is no configuration or service provider registration required; the package is auto-discovered by Laravel.

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Core Concepts

1. Defining Formats with Attributes

Extend Devravik\ExtendedResources\ExtendedResource instead of Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\JsonResource, and define one or more #[Format] methods:

<?php

use Devravik\ExtendedResources\ExtendedResource;
use Devravik\ExtendedResources\Formatting\Attributes\Format;

class ProductResource extends ExtendedResource
{
    #[Format]
    public function summary(): array
    {
        return [
            'sku'   => $this->resource->sku,
            'name'  => $this->resource->name,
            'price' => $this->resource->price,
        ];
    }
}

If a resource defines only a single #[Format] method, that format is considered the default.

Multiple Formats

use Devravik\ExtendedResources\ExtendedResource;
use Devravik\ExtendedResources\Formatting\Attributes\Format;

class ProductResource extends ExtendedResource
{
    #[Format]
    public function summary(): array
    {
        return [
            'sku'  => $this->resource->sku,
            'name' => $this->resource->name,
        ];
    }

    #[Format]
    public function pricing(): array
    {
        return [
            'sku'      => $this->resource->sku,
            'price'    => $this->resource->price,
            'currency' => $this->resource->currency,
        ];
    }
}

// Choose a specific format at runtime
ProductResource::make($product)->format('pricing');

The format name defaults to the method name (summary, pricing, etc.).

2. Default Formats with #[IsDefault]

If you have multiple formats and want one to be used when no explicit format is selected, mark it with #[IsDefault]:

use Devravik\ExtendedResources\ExtendedResource;
use Devravik\ExtendedResources\Formatting\Attributes\Format;
use Devravik\ExtendedResources\Formatting\Attributes\IsDefault;

class UserProfileResource extends ExtendedResource
{
    #[Format]
    public function compact(): array
    {
        return [
            'id'   => $this->resource->id,
            'name' => $this->resource->name,
        ];
    }

    #[IsDefault, Format]
    public function detailed(): array
    {
        return [
            'id'      => $this->resource->id,
            'name'    => $this->resource->name,
            'email'   => $this->resource->email,
            'joined'  => $this->resource->created_at,
        ];
    }
}

If no explicit call to format() is made, the detailed format is used.

3. Modifying Resource Output

Every extended resource exposes a modify() method that lets you transform the final array:

// Simple array merge
ProductResource::make($product)
    ->modify(['is_featured' => true]);

// Using a closure
ProductResource::make($product)
    ->modify(function (array $data) {
        $data['price_with_tax'] = $data['price'] * 1.2;

        return $data;
    });

// Using an invokable object
ProductResource::make($product)
    ->modify(new class {
        public function __invoke(array $data): array
        {
            $data['label'] = strtoupper($data['name']);

            return $data;
        }
    });

Multiple modifications can be chained; they are applied in order.

4. Enhancements: except() and only()

Two small enhancements ship with the package:

• Except + AppliesExceptFilter trait for excluding keys.
• Only + AppliesOnlyFilter trait for whitelisting keys.

use Devravik\ExtendedResources\Enhancements\Except;
use Devravik\ExtendedResources\Enhancements\Only;
use Devravik\ExtendedResources\Enhancements\Traits\AppliesExceptFilter;
use Devravik\ExtendedResources\Enhancements\Traits\AppliesOnlyFilter;
use Devravik\ExtendedResources\ExtendedResource;
use Devravik\ExtendedResources\Formatting\Attributes\Format;

class CustomerResource extends ExtendedResource
{
    use AppliesExceptFilter;
    use AppliesOnlyFilter;

    #[Format]
    public function base(): array
    {
        return [
            'id'         => $this->resource->id,
            'name'       => $this->resource->name,
            'email'      => $this->resource->email,
            'created_at' => $this->resource->created_at,
        ];
    }
}

// Drop email from the payload
CustomerResource::make($customer)->except('email');

// Keep only ID + name
CustomerResource::make($customer)->only('id', 'name');

// You can also apply the enhancements manually:
CustomerResource::make($customer)->modify(new Except(['email']));
CustomerResource::make($customer)->modify(new Only(['id', 'name']));

5. Collections

Extended Resources work with both explicit collections and anonymous collections.

use Devravik\ExtendedResources\ExtendedResource;

class OrderResource extends ExtendedResource
{
    // ...
}

// Anonymous collection
return OrderResource::collection($orders);

Under the hood this uses ExtendedResourceCollection and ExtendedAnonymousResourceCollection, which proxy modification methods like format(), only(), and except() down to each resource in the collection.

6. Response Status Codes

All resources and collections use the SetsResponseStatus trait, which adds a setResponseStatus() helper:

use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;

return ProductResource::make($product)
    ->setResponseStatus(Response::HTTP_CREATED);

This leaves your controller methods clean while still letting you adjust the status code where the data is built.

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API Overview

ExtendedResource

Key methods:

• format(string $name): static – choose a named format.
• modify(callable|array $modification): static – queue a modification.
• setResponseStatus(?int $code): static – override the response status.

ExtendedResourceCollection

Behaves similarly to Laravel's ResourceCollection, but:

• Ensures collects is an ExtendedResource subclass.
• Proxies unknown method calls to the underlying resource class when appropriate (e.g. format(), only(), etc.).

Attributes

• #[Format(?string $name = null)] – declare a format; optional explicit name.
• #[IsDefault] – mark a format as the default when multiple formats exist.

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Testing

The package ships with a full PHPUnit test suite. To run it:

composer test

For HTTP tests in your own application, you can continue to rely on Laravel's built‑in response assertions when controllers return extended resources.

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome:

1. Fork the repository and create a feature branch from main.
2. Add tests for any new functionality or bug fixes.
3. Run composer test to ensure the suite passes.
4. Follow PSR-12 / Laravel Pint style guidelines.
5. Open a pull request with a clear description of the change.

Bug reports should include your PHP and Laravel versions, the package version, minimal reproduction code, and any relevant stack traces.

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Security

If you discover a security vulnerability, please do not open a public GitHub issue.

Instead, email dev.ravikgupta@gmail.com with the subject line:

[SECURITY] devravik/extended-resources <short description>

You will receive a response as soon as possible with next steps.

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Maintainer

Ravi K Gupta

• Website: devravik.github.io
• Email: dev.ravikgupta@gmail.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ravi-k-dev
• GitHub: github.com/devravik

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License

The MIT License (MIT). See the LICENSE file for details.