Laravel

How to Create a REST API in Laravel (Step-by-Step Guide)

Shahroz Javed

Jul 28, 2025 . 40 views

🚀 How to Create a REST API in Laravel (Step-by-Step Guide)

Introduction

Laravel makes it incredibly easy to create RESTful APIs with built-in routing, controllers, and model integration. In this guide, we'll build a basic Product API from scratch — ideal for SPAs, mobile apps, or third-party consumers.

Prerequisites

Ensure the following before you begin:

✅ PHP 7.4 or higher
✅ Composer installed
✅ Laravel installed (latest preferred)
✅ Basic understanding of Laravel MVC

Create New Laravel Project

Use Composer to create a fresh Laravel installation:

composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel myApiProject
cd myApiProject

Configure Database

Update your .env file with valid DB credentials:

DB_DATABASE=your_database
DB_USERNAME=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

Then run migrations:

php artisan migrate

Create Model & Migration

Generate the model and its migration:

php artisan make:model Product -m

Now define the schema in the migration file:

Schema::create('products', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->id();
    $table->string('name');
    $table->text('description')->nullable();
    $table->decimal('price', 8, 2);
    $table->timestamps();
});

Then run:

php artisan migrate

Create API Controller

Generate a RESTful controller using:

php artisan make:controller ProductController --api

Define API Routes

Open routes/api.php and register this:

use App\Http\Controllers\ProductController;

Route::apiResource('products', ProductController::class);

Implement Controller Logic

Edit app/Http/Controllers/ProductController.php like this:

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

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

class ProductController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        return Product::all();
    }

    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        $validated = $request->validate([
            'name' => 'required|string',
            'description' => 'nullable|string',
            'price' => 'required|numeric',
        ]);

        $product = Product::create($validated);
        return response()->json($product, 201);
    }

    public function show($id)
    {
        return Product::findOrFail($id);
    }

    public function update(Request $request, $id)
    {
        $product = Product::findOrFail($id);

        $validated = $request->validate([
            'name' => 'sometimes|required|string',
            'description' => 'nullable|string',
            'price' => 'sometimes|required|numeric',
        ]);

        $product->update($validated);
        return response()->json($product);
    }

    public function destroy($id)
    {
        Product::destroy($id);
        return response()->json(null, 204);
    }
}

Test the API

You can use Postman, Insomnia, or cURL to test:

GET     /api/products        → List all products
POST    /api/products        → Create a new product
GET     /api/products/{id}   → Retrieve a product
PUT     /api/products/{id}   → Update a product
DELETE  /api/products/{id}   → Delete a product

Conclusion

You now have a fully working RESTful API in Laravel. Laravel’s built-in tooling — from routing to controllers and validation — makes it quick and clean to deliver robust backend APIs. Consider adding authentication with Sanctum or Passport if needed.

💡 Related: Learn how to secure your API with Laravel Sanctum.

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