Middleware

Laravel

⏱ 18 min read📖 IntermediateNot completed

Middleware filters HTTP requests entering your application. Think of it as a series of gates — each request must pass through before reaching your controller.

Creating Middleware

Terminal

php artisan make:middleware CheckAge

app/Http/Middleware/CheckAge.php

<?php
namespace App\Http\Middleware;

use Closure;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class CheckAge
{
    public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next)
    {
        if ($request->age < 18) {
            return redirect('/home');  // Block the request
        }

        return $next($request);  // Allow through
    }
}
?>

Registering & Using Middleware

routes/web.php

<?php
// Apply to single route
Route::get('/adult', function () {
    return 'Adults only!';
})->middleware('check.age');

// Apply to multiple routes
Route::middleware(['auth', 'check.age'])->group(function () {
    Route::get('/dashboard', fn() => 'Dashboard');
    Route::get('/profile', fn() => 'Profile');
});
?>

Built-in Laravel Middleware

Middleware	Purpose
`auth`	Require authentication
`guest`	Redirect if logged in
`verified`	Require email verification
`throttle:60,1`	Rate limiting (60 req/min)
`can:edit-post`	Authorization check

Logging Middleware Example

PHP

<?php
class LogRequests
{
    public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next)
    {
        // Before request
        $start = microtime(true);

        $response = $next($request);  // Let request through

        // After request (response available here)
        $duration = round((microtime(true) - $start) * 1000, 2);

        Log::info("Request", [
            'method'   => $request->method(),
            'url'      => $request->fullUrl(),
            'status'   => $response->status(),
            'duration' => "{$duration}ms",
            'user_id'  => auth()->id(),
        ]);

        return $response;
    }
}
?>

💡

Middleware order matters! Middleware runs in the order it's registered. The auth middleware should come before any middleware that assumes the user is logged in.

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