README

In a vanilla Laravel application the query builder paginators will listen to page request parameter. This works great, but it does not follow the example solution of the json:api spec. That example expects the query builder paginator to listen to the page[number] and page[size] request parameters.

This package adds a jsonPaginate method to the Eloquent query builder that listens to those parameters and adds the pagination links the spec requires.

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Installation

You can install the package via composer:

composer require spatie/laravel-json-api-paginate

In Laravel 5.5 and above the service provider will automatically get registered. In older versions of the framework just add the service provider in config/app.php file:

'providers' => [
    ...
    Spatie\JsonApiPaginate\JsonApiPaginateServiceProvider::class,
];

Optionally you can publish the config file with:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Spatie\JsonApiPaginate\JsonApiPaginateServiceProvider" --tag="config"

This is the content of the file that will be published in config/json-api-paginate.php

<?php

return [

    /*
     * The maximum number of results that will be returned
     * when using the JSON API paginator.
     */
    'max_results' => 30,

    /*
     * The default number of results that will be returned
     * when using the JSON API paginator.
     */
    'default_size' => 30,

    /*
     * The key of the page[x] query string parameter for page number.
     */
    'number_parameter' => 'number',

    /*
     * The key of the page[x] query string parameter for page size.
     */
    'size_parameter' => 'size',

    /*
     * The key of the page[x] query string parameter for cursor.
     */
    'cursor_parameter' => 'cursor',

    /*
     * The name of the macro that is added to the Eloquent query builder.
     */
    'method_name' => 'jsonPaginate',

    /*
     * If you only need to display Next and Previous links, you may use
     * simple pagination to perform a more efficient query.
     */
    'use_simple_pagination' => false,

    /*
     * If you want to use cursor pagination, set this to true.
     * This would override use_simple_pagination.
     */
    'use_cursor_pagination' => false,

    /*
     * use simpleFastPaginate() or fastPaginate from https://github.com/aarondfrancis/fast-paginate
     * use may installed it via `composer require aaronfrancis/fast-paginate`
     */
    'use_fast_pagination' => false,

    /*
     * The name of the query parameter used for pagination
     */
    'pagination_parameter' => 'page',
];

Usage

To paginate the results according to the json API spec, simply call the jsonPaginate method.

YourModel::jsonPaginate();

Of course you may still use all the builder methods you know and love:

YourModel::where('my_field', 'myValue')->jsonPaginate();

You can also paginate results for relations:

$model = YourModel::find(1);

$model->relation()->jsonPaginate();

Override default behavior

By default the maximum page size is set to 30. You can change this number in the config file or just pass the value to jsonPaginate.

$maxResults = 60;

YourModel::jsonPaginate($maxResults);

By default the default page size is set to 30. You can change this number in the config file or just pass the value to jsonPaginate.

$defaultSize = 15;

YourModel::jsonPaginate(null, $defaultSize);

You can also pass the total count to the paginate function directly. This can be useful for performance reasons or to prevent issues with DISTINCT keyword (more info).

⚠️ This is effective only with basic pagination (no effect with cursor, simple or fast pagination)

$total = 42;

YourModel::jsonPaginate(null, null, $total);

Cursor pagination

This package also supports cursor pagination, which can be briefly defined by the Laravel Framework as follows:

While paginate and simplePaginate create queries using the SQL "offset" clause, cursor pagination works by constructing "where" clauses that compare the values of the ordered columns contained in the query, providing the most efficient database performance available amongst all of Laravel's pagination methods.

You can find more about cursor pagination in the Laravel Documentation.

If you want to use cursor pagination, you can set the use_cursor_pagination to true in the config file.

It's also possible to modify the pagination parameter in the config file, by modifying the cursor_parameter value.

<?php

return [
    // ..... other config options .....

    /*
     * The key of the page[x] query string parameter for cursor.
     */
    'cursor_parameter' => 'cursor',

    /*
     * If you want to cursor pagination, set this to true.
     * This would override use_simple_pagination.
     */
    'use_cursor_pagination' => true,

    // ..... other config options .....
];

IDE Support

This package includes IDE helper stubs that provide autocompletion and type hints for the jsonPaginate() method in PhpStorm, VSCode (with Intelephense), and other modern PHP IDEs.

After installing the package, your IDE will automatically recognize the jsonPaginate() method on Eloquent models, query builders, and relationships. The method signature includes proper type hints for all parameters and return types.

If you've configured a custom method name using the method_name config option, you may need to create custom IDE hints for your specific method name. The included _ide_helper.php file can serve as a reference for this purpose.

Changelog

Please see CHANGELOG for more information what has changed recently.

Upgrading from v3.x to v4.x

Breaking Change: base_url Config Removed

The base_url configuration option has been removed due to a design flaw where it would completely overwrite the request path, causing all pagination URLs to lose their resource-specific paths.

Before (v3.x - BROKEN for multi-endpoint APIs):

// config/json-api-paginate.php
'base_url' => 'https://example.com',

// Result: /api/users becomes https://example.com?page=2 (lost path!)
// Result: /api/posts becomes https://example.com?page=2 (same URL!)

After (v4.x - Use Laravel's native solution):

// app/Providers/AppServiceProvider.php
public function boot()
{
    // Force HTTPS for all URLs
    \Illuminate\Support\Facades\URL::forceScheme('https');

    // Or force both scheme and domain (behind proxies/load balancers)
    \Illuminate\Support\Facades\URL::forceRootUrl('https://example.com');
}

This approach correctly preserves request paths while controlling the scheme and domain:

• /api/users → https://example.com/api/users?page=2 ✓
• /api/posts → https://example.com/api/posts?page=2 ✓

Why was this removed?

The base_url option used Laravel's setPath() method which completely replaces the pagination path. In real-world applications with multiple endpoints, this caused all resources to generate identical pagination URLs, breaking pagination for all but one endpoint.

For more context, see GitHub Discussion #53.

Testing

composer test

Contributing

Please see CONTRIBUTING for details.

Security

If you've found a bug regarding security please mail security@spatie.be instead of using the issue tracker.

Credits

• Freek Van der Herten
• All Contributors

The base code of this page was published on this Laracasts forum thread by Joram van den Boezem

License

The MIT License (MIT). Please see License File for more information.