Laravel Terms

Lightweight, flat taxonomy package for Laravel. Attach reusable terms — tags, categories, brands, colors, sizes, or any custom type — to any Eloquent model via a polymorphic pivot, without nested-set complexity.

Features

• Flat term model — no nested sets, no adjacency lists; one simple terms table
• Polymorphic pivot — attach terms to any model with a single trait
• Type-based scoping — built-in enum types (tag, category, brand, color, size) plus arbitrary string types
• Context on pivot — group term attachments by an optional context string (e.g. primary, sidebar), with context-aware sync and detach
• Configurable morph key — numeric (default), uuid, or ulid
• Auto slug generation — slugs derived from names, unique per type
• hasTerm() — fast boolean existence check without loading the relation
• whereHasTerms() — scope for AND / OR multi-term filtering
• Term::ordered() — scope to sort terms by sort_order
• Minimal surface area — manager, trait, one model, one migration

Requirements

Installation

composer require aliziodev/laravel-terms

Run the installer (publishes config + migration, optionally migrates):

php artisan terms:install

Or publish manually:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=terms-config
php artisan vendor:publish --tag=terms-migrations
php artisan migrate

Configuration

config/terms.php — published to your app:

return [
    'table_names' => [
        'terms'    => 'terms',
        'termables' => 'termables',
    ],

    // Supported: "numeric" (default), "uuid", "ulid"
    // Must match the primary key type of models using HasTerms.
    'morph_type' => 'numeric',

    // Built-in types. Arbitrary strings are also accepted at runtime.
    'types' => ['tag', 'category', 'brand', 'color', 'size'],

    // Swap in your own model if you need to extend Term.
    'model' => \Aliziodev\LaravelTerms\Models\Term::class,

    'slugs' => [
        'generate'            => true,
        'regenerate_on_update' => false,
    ],
];

Usage

1. Add the trait to your model

use Aliziodev\LaravelTerms\Traits\HasTerms;

class Product extends Model
{
    use HasTerms;
}

If your model uses UUID or ULID primary keys, set morph_type in config/terms.php to match.

2. Attach, sync, and detach terms

use Aliziodev\LaravelTerms\Enums\TermType;

// Sync — replaces all existing tags with the new list
$product->syncTerms(['new-arrival', 'sale'], TermType::Tag);

// Attach — adds without removing existing terms
$product->attachTerms(['nike'], TermType::Brand);

// Detach specific terms
$product->detachTerms(['sale'], TermType::Tag);

// Detach all terms of a type
$product->detachTerms([], TermType::Tag);

// Detach everything
$product->detachTerms();

// Detach within a specific context only (other contexts remain untouched)
$product->detachTerms([], TermType::Tag, 'homepage');
$product->detachTerms(['sale'], TermType::Tag, 'homepage');

Custom string types work without any configuration:

$product->syncTerms(['waterproof', 'breathable'], 'material');

3. Query

// All terms attached to the model
$product->terms;

// Terms of a specific type
$product->termsOfType(TermType::Tag)->get();

// Fast boolean existence check — no collection loaded
$product->hasTerm(TermType::Brand, 'nike');    // true / false

// Find products that have a specific term
Product::whereHasTerm(TermType::Brand, 'nike')->get();

// Models that have ALL of the given terms (AND — default)
Product::whereHasTerms(TermType::Tag, ['new', 'sale'])->get();

// Models that have ANY of the given terms (OR)
Product::whereHasTerms(TermType::Tag, ['new', 'sale'], 'or')->get();

4. Context

Attach the same term under different contexts (e.g. display slots):

$product->attachTerms(['red'], TermType::Color, 'primary');
$product->attachTerms(['blue'], TermType::Color, 'secondary');

// Syncing within a context leaves other contexts untouched
$product->syncTerms(['yellow'], TermType::Color, 'primary');

// Filter by context on the pivot
$product->termsOfType(TermType::Color)->wherePivot('context', 'primary')->get();

5. Facade

use Aliziodev\LaravelTerms\Facades\Terms;

$term  = Terms::findOrCreate('Summer', TermType::Tag);
$terms = Terms::findOrCreateMany(['new', 'sale'], TermType::Tag);

Terms::attach($product, ['red'], TermType::Color);
Terms::sync($product, ['blue'], TermType::Color);
Terms::detach($product, ['red'], TermType::Color);

6. Term model scopes

// Filter by type or slug
Term::query()->type('tag')->get();
Term::query()->slug('new-arrival')->first();

// Sort by sort_order (asc by default)
Term::query()->type('tag')->ordered()->get();
Term::query()->ordered('desc')->get();

Extending the Term model

Publish the config and swap model:

// config/terms.php
'model' => App\Models\Term::class,

namespace App\Models;

class Term extends \Aliziodev\LaravelTerms\Models\Term
{
    // Add relations, scopes, or accessors here
}

Differences from laravel-taxonomy

Use laravel-terms when you need simple, flat labels. Use laravel-taxonomy when you need parent–child term trees.

Testing

composer test

License

MIT — see LICENSE.