Why this lesson matters

Understand api validation errors and apply it in a small Laravel feature. A Laravel API is a public contract: routes define the surface, validation protects input, resources shape output, and status/error behavior lets clients integrate predictably.

How to reason about it

  • For API Validation Errors, the outcome to verify is: Keep validation close to the boundary where data enters the system.
  • In API Validation Errors, keep this failure controlled: Returning raw model attributes or exception messages creates a brittle API and can leak fields that were never meant to be public.
  • API Validation Errors practice target: Create one JSON endpoint with validation and a Resource, then test success and validation-error responses.

Practical walkthrough

In the API Validation Errors walkthrough: Keep validation close to the boundary where data enters the system.

app/Http/Requests/StoreUserRequest.phpphp
public function rules(): array
{
    return [
        'name' => ['required', 'string', 'max:120'],
        'email' => ['required', 'email'],
    ];
}

Practice it yourself

Practice

API Validation Errors exercise

Create one JSON endpoint with validation and a Resource, then test success and validation-error responses.

  • Record the expected result before execution
  • Test one valid path and one lesson-specific failure path
  • Explain in two lines which boundary owns the decision

Summary