Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have the following:

• Laravel installed on your system.
• Basic knowledge of PHP and Laravel.
• A functional development environment with tools like Composer, a code editor (e.g., VSCode), and a local server like XAMPP or Laravel Valet.

1. Set Up a New Laravel Project

Start by creating a new Laravel project.

composer create-project laravel/laravel my-api-project  

Navigate to the project directory:

cd my-api-project  

2. Set Up Database Configuration

Configure your database in the .env file. Update the following fields with your database credentials:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql  
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1  
DB_PORT=3306  
DB_DATABASE=your_database_name  
DB_USERNAME=your_username  
DB_PASSWORD=your_password  

Run migrations to set up the default database structure:

php artisan migrate  

3. Create a Model and Migration

Let’s create a sample resource for our API, such as a Product.

Run the following Artisan command to generate a model and migration:

php artisan make:model Product -m  

In the generated migration file located in database/migrations, define the structure of the products table:

public function up()  
{  
    Schema::create('products', function (Blueprint $table) {  
        $table->id();  
        $table->string('name');  
        $table->text('description')->nullable();  
        $table->decimal('price', 8, 2);  
        $table->timestamps();  
    });  
}  

Run the migration:

php artisan migrate  

4. Create a Controller

Generate a resource controller for handling API requests:

php artisan make:controller ProductController --api  

The --api flag creates a controller with methods tailored for API operations, such as index, store, show, update, and destroy.

5. Define API Routes

Open the routes/api.php file and define routes for your API:

use App\Http\Controllers\ProductController;  

Route::apiResource('products', ProductController::class);  

6. Implement Controller Methods

In the ProductController, implement the logic for handling API requests:

index Method (Fetch All Products)

public function index()  
{  
    return response()->json(Product::all(), 200);  
}  

store Method (Create a Product)

public function store(Request $request)  
{  
    $product = Product::create($request->all());  
    return response()->json($product, 201);  
}  

show Method (Fetch a Single Product)

public function show(Product $product)  
{  
    return response()->json($product, 200);  
}  

update Method (Update a Product)

public function update(Request $request, Product $product)  
{  
    $product->update($request->all());  
    return response()->json($product, 200);  
}  

destroy Method (Delete a Product)

public function destroy(Product $product)  
{  
    $product->delete();  
    return response()->json(null, 204);  
}  

7. Test Your API

Use tools like Postman, Insomnia, or CURL to test your API endpoints.

• GET:http://your-domain.com/api/products
• POST:http://your-domain.com/api/products
  • Body:{ "name": "Product Name", "price": "29.99" }
• GET (Single):http://your-domain.com/api/products/{id}
• PUT/PATCH:http://your-domain.com/api/products/{id}
  • Body:{ "name": "Updated Product Name" }
• DELETE:http://your-domain.com/api/products/{id}

8. Add Validation

Improve the store and update methods with validation:

public function store(Request $request)  
{  
    $validated = $request->validate([  
        'name' => 'required|string|max:255',  
        'price' => 'required|numeric',  
    ]);  

    $product = Product::create($validated);  
    return response()->json($product, 201);  
}  

9. Enable CORS (Optional)

To allow requests from other domains, configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) in config/cors.php.

10. Secure Your API

Consider adding authentication to your API using Laravel Passport, Sanctum, or another method to secure endpoints.