[11.x] Add fluent Email validation rule

[SanderMuller]

This PR aims to provide a similar experience as the Password validation rule and File validation rule (#43271) for emails. It does so by providing a fluent, extendable Email rule object.

Basic usage

// Before
$request->validate([
  'email' => ['required', 'string', 'email', 'strict', 'dns'],
]);
 
// After
$request->validate([
  'email' => ['required', 'string', Rule::email()->strict()->dns()],
]);

Available methods

The following methods are available on the rule:

• ::default: equivalent to the Password::default() rule
• ::strictSecurity: equivalent to Rule::email()->strict()->dns()->spoof()
• strict: equivalent to the strict rule
• dns: equivalent to the dns rule
• spoof: equivalent to the spoof rule
• filter: equivalent to the filter rule
• filterUnicode: equivalent to the filter_unicode rule
• rfc: equivalent to the rfc rule

Extending for custom types

Whilst the File rule only ships with the ::image method as a custom type, the rule is Macroable, allowing each application to specify more granular file permissions as required.

// AppServiceProvider
public function boot()
{
  Email::macro('employee', function () {
    return Email::default()->rules('ends_with:@laravel.com');
  });
}

// Usage
$request->validate([
  'email' => ['required', Email::employee()->spoof()]
]);

Open for discussion

I've added strictSecurity method as an option to easily create a solid email validation check, since the differences between the available rules are rather complex. Not including this method would be a valid choice as well. However, I hope this method will help Laravel developers better secure the email inputs, for example example against spoofing. The composition of this methods (strict + DNS + spoof) is a result of running applications in production and handling all kinds of edge cases with invalid emails that passed validation before using this combination.

Thanks to @lukeraymonddowning for providing #43271. I've used his PR as inspiration for the body text of this PR.

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[SanderMuller]

never returns null, but does return void

[SanderMuller]

Test class inspired by ValidationFileRuleTest

[SanderMuller]

Heavily inspired by src/Illuminate/Validation/Rules/File.php

[taylorotwell]

While I like terse methods, I wonder if we should give these methods a bit more descriptive names? It's not super clear was spoof or dns means when chaining them together.

[SanderMuller]

While I like terse methods, I wonder if we should give these methods a bit more descriptive names? It's not super clear was spoof or dns means when chaining them together.

@taylorotwell Thank you for reviewing the pull request and providing your feedback. I’ve updated the method names to make them more descriptive and aligned with Laravel’s validation conventions.

New names:

rfcCompliant(): Ensures compliance with RFC standards.
rfcCompliant(true): Adheres strictly to RFC without warnings (formerly strict).
nativeFilter(): Validates email format using FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL.
nativeFilter(true): Extends basic format validation to include Unicode support.
verifyMxRecord(): Verifies that the domain has a valid MX record.
preventEmailSpoofing(): Detects and prevents email spoofing.

I attempted to pick names aiming to balance clarity and brevity, ensuring developers can intuitively understand the intent of each rule when chaining them together. For example:

Rule::email()
    ->rfcCompliant(true)
    ->domainExists()
    ->preventEmailSpoofing();

Perhaps they are not perfect yet, but it might inspire you to make the final naming tweaks!

[SanderMuller]

@taylorotwell If we’re moving away from string-based names, we could also consider @shaedrich’s suggestion of merging the rfcCompliant and rfcCompliantWithoutWarnings rules into a single rule, such as rfcCompliant(bool $strict). Similarly, combining basicFormat and basicFormatWithUnicode into basicFormat(bool $withUnicode) would simplify things, since these are essentially variants of each other.

This approach would reduce the number of methods from 6 to 4, making the API easier to use and more intuitive while maintaining clarity.

Let me know your thoughts!

[shaedrich]

rfcCompliant: Ensures compliance with RFC standards.
rfcCompliantWithoutWarnings: Adheres strictly to RFC without warnings (formerly strict).

I would actually flip that negation around:
rfcCompliantWarningsAllowed: Ensures compliance with RFC standards.
strictRfcCompliance: Adheres strictly to RFC without warnings (formerly strict).

[taylorotwell]

@SanderMuller would you mind sending over some documentation for this?

[SanderMuller]

@SanderMuller would you mind sending over some documentation for this?

Will work on it 👍

[SanderMuller]

@SanderMuller would you mind sending over some documentation for this?

@taylorotwell done via laravel/docs#10112, let me know what you think