How to Create REST API Using Laravel

Hello! In this tutorial, we’ll be building a complete REST API in Laravel to manage tasks. I'll guide you through the basic steps, from setting up the project to creating automated tests.

Step 1: Project Setup

Create a new Laravel project:

composer create-project laravel/laravel task-api
cd task-api
code .

Configure the database:
In the .env file, set your database configurations:

DB_DATABASE=task_api
DB_USERNAME=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

Generate the tasks table:
Run the command to create a new migration for the tasks table:

php artisan make:migration create_tasks_table --create=tasks

In the migration file (database/migrations/xxxx_xx_xx_create_tasks_table.php), define the table structure:

<?php use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;

return new class extends Migration
{
    public function up(): void
    {
        Schema::create('tasks', function (Blueprint $table) {
            $table->id();
            $table->string('title');
            $table->text('description')->nullable();
            $table->boolean('completed')->default(false);
            $table->timestamps();
        });
    }

    public function down(): void
    {
        Schema::dropIfExists('tasks');
    }
};

Run the migration to create the table:

php artisan migrate

Step 2: Creating the Model and Controller

Create the model and controller for the task:

php artisan make:model Task
php artisan make:controller TaskController --api

Define the Task model (app/Models/Task.php):

<?php namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\HasFactory;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Task extends Model
{
    use HasFactory;

    protected $fillable = ['title', 'description', 'completed'];
}

Step 3: Defining API Routes

In the routes/api.php file, add the routes for the TaskController:

<?php use App\Http\Controllers\TaskController;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::apiResource('tasks', TaskController::class);

Step 4: Implementing CRUD in TaskController

In the TaskController, we’ll implement the basic CRUD methods.

<?php namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use App\Models\Task;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class TaskController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        $tasks = Task::all();
        return response()->json($tasks, 200);
    }

    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        $request->validate([
            'title' => 'required|string|max:255',
            'description' => 'nullable|string'
        ]);
        $task = Task::create($request->all());
        return response()->json($task, 201);
    }

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

    public function update(Request $request, Task $task)
    {
        $request->validate([
            'title' => 'required|string|max:255',
            'description' => 'nullable|string',
            'completed' => 'boolean'
        ]);
        $task->update($request->all());
        return response()->json($task, 201);
    }

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

Step 5: Testing Endpoints (VS Code)

Now we’ll test each endpoint manually, using a VS Code extension called REST Client (https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=humao.rest-client). If you prefer, you can also use Insomnia or Postman!

After installing the extension, create an .http file in your project folder with the following content:

### Create New Task
POST http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/tasks HTTP/1.1
content-type: application/json
Accept: application/json

{
    "title": "Study Laravel"
}

### Show Tasks
GET http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/tasks HTTP/1.1
content-type: application/json
Accept: application/json

### Show Task
GET http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/tasks/1 HTTP/1.1
content-type: application/json
Accept: application/json

### Update Task
PUT http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/tasks/1 HTTP/1.1
content-type: application/json
Accept: application/json

{
    "title": "Study Laravel and Docker",
    "description": "We are studying!",
    "completed": false
}

### Delete Task
DELETE http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/tasks/1 HTTP/1.1
content-type: application/json
Accept: application/json

This file lets you send requests directly from VS Code using the REST Client extension, making it easy to test each route in your API.

Step 6: Testing the API

Next, let’s create tests to ensure each route works as expected.

First, create a factory for the Task model:

php artisan make:factory TaskFactory

<?php namespace Database\Factories;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\Factory;

class TaskFactory extends Factory
{
    public function definition(): array
    {
        return [
            'title' => fake()->sentence(),
            'description' => fake()->paragraph(),
            'completed' => false,
        ];
    }
}

PHPUnit Configuration:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<phpunit xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:nonamespaceschemalocation="vendor/phpunit/phpunit/phpunit.xsd" bootstrap="vendor/autoload.php" colors="true">
    <testsuites>
        <testsuite name="Unit">
            <directory>tests/Unit</directory>
        </testsuite>
        <testsuite name="Feature">
            <directory>tests/Feature</directory>
        </testsuite>
    </testsuites>
    <source>
        <include>
            <directory>app</directory>
        </include>
    </source>
    <php>
        <env name="APP_ENV" value="testing"></env>
        <env name="BCRYPT_ROUNDS" value="4"></env>
        <env name="CACHE_DRIVER" value="array"></env>
        <env name="DB_CONNECTION" value="sqlite"></env>
        <env name="DB_DATABASE" value=":memory:"></env>
        <env name="MAIL_MAILER" value="array"></env>
        <env name="PULSE_ENABLED" value="false"></env>
        <env name="QUEUE_CONNECTION" value="sync"></env>
        <env name="SESSION_DRIVER" value="array"></env>
        <env name="TELESCOPE_ENABLED" value="false"></env>
    </php>
</phpunit>

Create an integration test:

php artisan make:test TaskApiTest

In the tests/Feature/TaskApiTest.php file, implement the tests:

<?php namespace Tests\Feature;

use App\Models\Task;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;
use Tests\TestCase;

class TaskApiTest extends TestCase
{
    use RefreshDatabase;

    public function test_can_create_task(): void
    {
        $response = $this->postJson('/api/tasks', [
            'title' => 'New Task',
            'description' => 'Task Description',
            'completed' => false,
        ]);

        $response->assertStatus(201);

        $response->assertJson([
            'title' => 'New Task',
            'description' => 'Task Description',
            'completed' => false,
        ]);
    }

    public function test_can_list_tasks()
    {
        Task::factory()->count(3)->create();

        $response = $this->getJson('/api/tasks');

        $response->assertStatus(200);

        $response->assertJsonCount(3);
    }

    public function test_can_show_task()
    {
        $task = Task::factory()->create();

        $response = $this->getJson("/api/tasks/{$task->id}");

        $response->assertStatus(200);

        $response->assertJson([
            'title' => $task->title,
            'description' => $task->description,
            'completed' => false,
        ]);
    }

    public function test_can_update_task()
    {
        $task = Task::factory()->create();

        $response = $this->putJson("/api/tasks/{$task->id}", [
            'title' => 'Update Task',
            'description' => 'Update Description',
            'completed' => true,
        ]);

        $response->assertStatus(201);

        $response->assertJson([
            'title' => 'Update Task',
            'description' => 'Update Description',
            'completed' => true,
        ]);
    }

    public function test_can_delete_task()
    {
        $task = Task::factory()->create();

        $response = $this->deleteJson("/api/tasks/{$task->id}");

        $response->assertStatus(204);

        $this->assertDatabaseMissing('tasks', ['id' => $task->id]);
    }
}

Run the tests:

php artisan test

*Thank you! *

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