A very small package which helps you to easily returning readable API responses.
Install the package via Composer.
composer require dees040/laravel-api-responsesYou're ready to go!
Just use one of the helper functions and you're good to go.
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use App\User;
use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
class UsersController extends Controller
{
    /**
     * Show the given user.
     *
     * @param  \App\User  $user
     * @return \Illuminate\Http\Response
     */
    public function show(User $user)
    {
        if (! $user->isAdmin()) {
            return forbidden();
        }
        
        return ok($user);
    }
}All methods accept a $data parameter. This can be any data which can be used in a JSON response, such as strings, integers, arrays, models, etc..
| Method | Status Code | 
|---|---|
| ok($data) | 200 | 
| created($data) | 201 | 
| accepted($data) | 202 | 
| no_content() | 204 | 
| bad_request($message, $errors) | 400 | 
| unauthenticated($message, $errors) | 401 | 
| forbidden($message, $errors) | 403 | 
| not_found($message, $errors) | 404 | 
| method_not_allowed($message, $errors) | 405 | 
| not_acceptable($message, $errors) | 406 | 
| teapot($message, $errors) | 418 | 
| unprocessable_entity($message, $errors) | 422 | 
If you'd wish to send a status code which is not in the list you could use the json_response($data = null, $status = 200) helper function. Here you can find a cheat sheet for HTTP status codes or use my personal favorite http.cat 😉.
If you want to send error response you can use the error_json_response($message = '', $errors = [], $status = 400). This method will send an json response like this:
error_json_response('User not found.', [
    'id' => 'The ID does not exists.'
]);Output:
{
  "message": "User not found.",
  "errors": {
    "id": "The ID does not exists."
  }
}