Laravel 11 / Foundation PolicyMakeCommand::userProviderModel()

Introduction to the userProviderModel Method in the PolicyMakeCommand Class in Laravel 11

Hello! Today we want to talk about one of the new features of Laravel 11, namely the userProviderModel() method in the PolicyMakeCommand class. Laravel is one of the most popular PHP frameworks and each new version adds more features to it. This method allows us to specify the type of user model that we want to use with access policies. This capability can assist developers to have more precise control over the access layers.

Now you might be wondering what this method is used for. By using this method, you can easily manage models that are typically used in the backend of applications. Particularly in projects that have multiple user models and require different access policies, this capability can be a great help. In summary, this method gives us the ability to ensure that access policies correspond with the user models we are working with.

Let's discuss how to use this method more extensively. Whenever you use the make:policy command in Laravel to create a new policy, this method automatically find your user model and allows you to add it to that policy. This work allows you to define and implement stricter access laws.

Now let's dive into the code section. Below is an example of how to use the userProviderModel() method to create a new policy:

php
namespace App\Policies;

use App\Models\User;
use Illuminate\Auth\Access\HandlesAuthorization;

class ArticlePolicy
{
    use HandlesAuthorization;

    public function before($user)
    {
        // Check if the user is an admin
        if ($user->isAdmin()) {
            return true;
        }
    }

    public function view(User $user, Article $article)
    {
        return $user->id === $article->user_id;
    }
}

// Using PolicyMakeCommand
public function model()
{
    return $this->userProviderModel();
}

Code Explanation

Let's analyze each section of this code:

This line defines the namespace that this class ArticlePolicy belongs to.

Here we import the user model User so we can use it in our access policies.

This method is called before checking the other methods in this class. If the user is an admin, it automatically allows access.

This method checks whether the user has permissions to view a specific article. Here we confirm that only the author of the article has access to it with $user->id === $article->user_id.

It calls the userProviderModel() method to retrieve the appropriate user model.