API Routes & Resources in PHP
From the Laravel cheat sheet · API Development · verified Jul 2026
API Routes & Resources
Building RESTful APIs
php
// API routes (routes/api.php)
Route::apiResource('posts', PostController::class);
// API resource (transformation)
php artisan make:resource PostResource
class PostResource extends JsonResource
{
public function toArray($request)
{
return [
'id' => $this->id,
'title' => $this->title,
'body' => $this->body,
'author' => new UserResource($this->user),
];
}
}💡 Use API resources to transform model data consistently
⚡ whenLoaded() prevents N+1 queries in resources
📌 API routes are automatically prefixed with /api
🔥 Use conditional fields to hide sensitive data