Laravel Query Filters

A simple and powerful query filtering system for Laravel.

This package helps you build clean, reusable, and scalable query filters for your Eloquent models with support for:

• Dynamic filters
• Date range filtering
• Sorting system
• Clean architecture

Requirements

• PHP ^8.1
• Laravel 10.x | 11.x | 12.x

Installation

composer require dev-astro/laravel-query-filters

The package uses Laravel's auto-discovery — no manual registration needed.

How It Works

The package works by mapping request query string keys to method names in your filter class.

For every key in the $filters array, it checks if the request contains it, then calls the matching camelCase method in your filter class with the value.

Request key  →  Method name
search_name  →  searchName($value)
category_id  →  categoryId($value)

Keys ending in _from and _to are handled automatically as date range filters (no method needed).

Features

• Artisan command to generate filter classes (make:filter)
• Automatic Filterable trait registration via auto-discovery
• Dynamic filters via $filters whitelist
• Date range filtering (_from / _to convention)
• Built-in sorting (order_by / order_dir) with $sortable whitelist
• perPage support via query string
• Lightweight — no config file needed

Step-by-step Usage

1. Add the Filterable Trait to Your Model

use DevAstro\LaravelQueryFilters\Traits\Filterable;

class Brand extends Model
{
    use Filterable;

    protected $filter = BrandFilter::class;
}

The trait adds:

• A filter() Eloquent scope that auto-resolves your filter class
• Support for ?perPage=20 in the request to override pagination size

2. Generate a Filter Class

php artisan make:filter BrandFilter

This creates app/Http/Filters/BrandFilter.php:

namespace App\Http\Filters;

use DevAstro\LaravelQueryFilters\Contracts\BaseFilters;

class BrandFilter extends BaseFilters
{
    protected array $filters = [
        //
    ];

    protected function example($value)
    {
        return $this->builder;
    }
}

3. Define Your Filters

Add filter keys to the $filters array and write a matching camelCase method for each:

class BrandFilter extends BaseFilters
{
    protected array $filters = [
        'search_name',
        'status',
        'created_from',   // handled automatically — no method needed
        'created_to',     // handled automatically — no method needed
    ];

    protected array $sortable = [
        'id',
        'name',
        'created_at',
    ];

    protected function searchName($value)
    {
        return $this->builder->where('name', 'like', "%{$value}%");
    }

    protected function status($value)
    {
        return $this->builder->where('status', $value);
    }
}

4. Use in Your Controller

public function index()
{
    return BrandResource::collection(
        Brand::filter()->paginate()
    );
}

That's it. The filter() scope automatically picks up the current request and applies all matching filters.

Built-in Features

Date Range (_from / _to)

Any key ending in _from or _to is automatically handled as a whereDate filter — no method needed:

protected array $filters = [
    'created_from',  // WHERE DATE(created_at) >= ?
    'created_to',    // WHERE DATE(created_at) <= ?
];

The column name is derived by stripping the suffix: created_from → created column... so name your keys as {column}_from / {column}_to. For example, published_from filters on the published column.

Example request:

GET /api/brands?created_from=2024-01-01&created_to=2024-12-31

Sorting (order_by / order_dir)

Sorting is handled automatically — you don't need to add order_by or order_dir to your $filters array. Just define which columns are allowed in $sortable:

protected array $sortable = [
    'id',
    'name',
    'created_at',
];

• order_dir defaults to asc if not provided or invalid
• If order_by column is not in $sortable, the sort is silently ignored (security)

Example requests:

GET /api/brands?order_by=name&order_dir=asc
GET /api/brands?order_by=created_at&order_dir=desc

Pagination (perPage)

The Filterable trait overrides getPerPage(), so you can control page size from the request:

GET /api/brands?perPage=20
GET /api/brands?perPage=50&page=2

Falls back to the model's default (15) if not provided.

Full Example

Request:

GET /api/brands?search_name=nike&created_from=2024-01-01&order_by=name&order_dir=desc&perPage=20

Filter class:

namespace App\Http\Filters;

use DevAstro\LaravelQueryFilters\Contracts\BaseFilters;

class BrandFilter extends BaseFilters
{
    protected array $filters = [
        'search_name',
        'created_from',
        'created_to',
    ];

    protected array $sortable = [
        'id',
        'name',
        'created_at',
    ];

    protected function searchName($value)
    {
        return $this->builder->where('name', 'like', "%{$value}%");
    }
}

Model:

use DevAstro\LaravelQueryFilters\Traits\Filterable;

class Brand extends Model
{
    use Filterable;

    protected $filter = BrandFilter::class;
}

Controller:

public function index()
{
    return BrandResource::collection(
        Brand::filter()->paginate()
    );
}

Equivalent SQL:

SELECT * FROM brands
WHERE name LIKE '%nike%'
  AND DATE(created_at) >= '2024-01-01'
ORDER BY name DESC
LIMIT 20

Writing Custom Filters

Every filter method receives the request value and has access to $this->builder:

// Exact match
protected function status($value)
{
    return $this->builder->where('status', $value);
}

// Relationship filter
protected function categoryId($value)
{
    return $this->builder->where('category_id', $value);
}

// Range filter (manual)
protected function minFollowers($value)
{
    return $this->builder->where('followers_count', '>=', $value);
}

// Existence check (boolean flag)
protected function hasProducts($value)
{
    return $this->builder->has('products');
}

// whereIn
protected function statuses($value)
{
    return $this->builder->whereIn('status', explode(',', $value));
}

Quick Reference

Package Structure

src/
├── Commands/
│   └── MakeFilterCommand.php    # php artisan make:filter
├── Contracts/
│   └── BaseFilters.php          # Base class for all filter classes
├── Traits/
│   └── Filterable.php           # Trait added to Eloquent models
└── LaravelQueryFiltersServiceProvider.php

stubs/
└── filter.stub                  # Template used by make:filter

License

MIT