Laravel Model Repositories

A lightweight abstraction for Laravel Eloquent models that enables cleaner, more expressive repository-style access to your application's data layer.

"Fetching collections or business-specific queries from models violates separation of concerns. This package provides an elegant way to wrap Eloquent models into repository-like entities."

Inspired by Jack Wagstaffe

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🚀 Installation

Install via Composer:

composer require nathandunn/model-repositories

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📦 What This Provides

This package allows you to:

• Encapsulate complex query logic outside your Eloquent models.
• Maintain proper separation between models and querying logic.
• Leverage dynamic method chaining like getPaginatedForUser() or getForXyz().

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🧠 Concept

Instead of injecting Eloquent models directly into services or controllers, create a repository class per model that encapsulates query logic.

For example, instead of:

$records = Record::where('user_id', $user->id)->paginate();

You can use:

$records = $recordRepository->getPaginatedForUser($user);

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🛠 Usage

1. Create a Custom Repository

<?php

namespace App\Records;

use App\Users\User;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;
use NathanDunn\Repositories\Repository;

class RecordRepository extends Repository
{
    public function __construct(Record $record)
    {
        parent::__construct($record);
    }

    public function forUser(User $user): Builder
    {
        return $this->model->where('user_id', '=', $user->id);
    }
}

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2. Inject into Your Controller

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use App\Http\Resources\RecordResource;
use App\Records\RecordRepository;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class RecordsController extends Controller
{
    public function __construct(
        protected RecordRepository $recordRepository
    ) {}

    public function index(Request $request)
    {
        $records = $this->recordRepository->getPaginatedForUser($request->user());

        return RecordResource::collection($records);
    }
}

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🔁 Dynamic Method Chaining

The base Repository class supports auto-chaining based on naming convention. The following helper prefixes are recognised:

Prefix	Description
get	Fetch a collection
getPaginated	Fetch and paginate
getCount	Get count of query results
first / firstOrFail	Fetch a single item
exists	Check for existence

So calling getPaginatedForUser($user) will:

1. Call forUser($user) (your custom method)
2. Then call paginate() on the result

This is handled by __call() in the base class using a naming convention-based resolver.

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🧪 Example Call Chain

Given a repository method forUser(User $user): Builder, these dynamic calls become possible:

$repo->getForUser($user);              // ->forUser()->get()
$repo->getPaginatedForUser($user);     // ->forUser()->paginate()
$repo->getCountForUser($user);         // ->forUser()->count()

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✅ Requirements

• Laravel 10+
• PHP 8.1+

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📚 License

MIT © Nathan Dunn