laravel-forum

When consuming the API, a post object is represented via PostResource. The JSON response includes core post attributes and a set of available actions for performing operations on the post.

Attributes:

• id: The unique identifier of the post.
• thread_id: The ID of the thread this post belongs to.
• author_id: The ID of the post author.
• author_name: The name of the post author.
• content: The body content of the post.
• post_id: The ID of the parent post (if this is a reply).
• sequence: The position of the post in the thread.
• created_at, updated_at, deleted_at: Timestamps.

Actions: The actions object contains generated URLs for specific operations:

• patch:update: URL to update the post.
• delete:delete: URL to delete the post.
• post:restore: URL to restore a deleted post.

Links: Metadata links are provided in a links object:

• self: URL to fetch the specific post.
• thread: URL to fetch the parent thread.
• parent: (Conditional) If post_id is present, the URL to fetch the parent post.

{
  "id": 1,
  "thread_id": 10,
  "author_id": 5,
  "author_name": "John Doe",
  "content": "Hello World",
  "post_id": null,
  "sequence": 1,
  "created_at": "2026-07-14T00:00:00.000000Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-07-14T00:00:00.000000Z",
  "deleted_at": null,
  "actions": {
    "patch:update": "/api/posts/1",
    "delete:delete": "/api/posts/1",
    "post:restore": "/api/posts/1"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "/api/posts/1",
    "thread": "/api/threads/10"
  }
}

When consuming the forum's API, category objects are represented using the CategoryResource. The JSON response includes metadata about the category, its hierarchy, and available API actions.

Key fields include:

• id: Unique identifier.
• title: Category name.
• description: Category description.
• accepts_threads: Boolean indicating if threads can be created here.
• is_private: Boolean indicating if the category is private.
• thread_count & post_count: Statistics for the category.
• left & right: Nested set model values (_lft and _rgt) used for hierarchical positioning.
• actions: An object containing API routes for performing operations on the category.
• links: HATEOAS-style links for navigating to the category or its related threads.

{
  "id": 1,
  "title": "General",
  "description": "Discussion for everyone",
  "accepts_threads": true,
  "newest_thread_id": 10,
  "latest_active_thread_id": 12,
  "thread_count": 5,
  "post_count": 25,
  "is_private": false,
  "left": 1,
  "right": 10,
  "parent_id": null,
  "color_light_mode": "#ffffff",
  "color_dark_mode": "#000000",
  "created_at": "2023-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z",
  "updated_at": "2023-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z",
  "actions": {
    "patch:update": "/api/category/1/update",
    "delete:delete": "/api/category/1/delete"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "/api/category/1/fetch",
    "newest_thread": "/api/thread/10/fetch",
    "latest_active_thread": "/api/thread/12/fetch"
  }
}

When consuming the forum API, a ThreadResource represents a discussion thread. The JSON response includes core thread attributes, boolean flags for status, and a set of available administrative actions.

Core Attributes

• id: Unique identifier for the thread.
• category_id: ID of the category the thread belongs to.
• author_id: ID of the user who created the thread.
• author_name: Name of the thread author.
• title: The thread title.
• pinned: Boolean (true if the thread is pinned).
• locked: Boolean (true if the thread is locked).
• first_post_id: ID of the initial post in the thread.
• last_post_id: ID of the most recent post in the thread.
• reply_count: Total number of replies.
• created_at, updated_at, deleted_at: Timestamps.

Available Actions

The actions object contains URLs for performing administrative tasks on the thread via POST requests:

• post:lock: Lock the thread.
• post:unlock: Unlock the thread.
• post:pin: Pin the thread.
• post:unpin: Unpin the thread.
• post:rename: Rename the thread.
• post:move: Move the thread.
• delete:delete: Delete the thread.
• post:restore: Restore a deleted thread.

Links

The links object provides related resource endpoints:

• self: The endpoint to fetch the thread details.
• category: The endpoint to fetch the associated category.
• posts: The endpoint to fetch all posts within this thread.
• first_post_id: The endpoint to fetch the first post.
• last_post_id: The endpoint to fetch the last post.

{
  "id": 1,
  "category_id": 5,
  "author_id": 10,
  "author_name": "John Doe",
  "title": "How to use Laravel Forum",
  "pinned": true,
  "locked": false,
  "first_post_id": 100,
  "last_post_id": 150,
  "reply_count": 5,
  "created_at": "2026-07-14T10:00:00.000000Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-07-14T11:00:00.000000Z",
  "deleted_at": null,
  "actions": {
    "post:lock": "/api/thread/1/lock",
    "post:unlock": "/api/thread/1/unlock",
    "post:pin": "/api/thread/1/pin",
    "post:unpin": "/api/thread/1/unpin",
    "post:rename": "/api/thread/1/rename",
    "post:move": "/api/thread/1/move",
    "delete:delete": "/api/thread/1/delete",
    "post:restore": "/api/thread/1/restore"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "/api/thread/1",
    "category": "/api/category/5",
    "posts": "/api/thread/1/posts",
    "first_post_id": "/api/post/100",
    "last_post_id": "/api/post/150"
  }
}

The following services are defined in the docker-compose.yml file for local development and testing:

• mysql: A MySQL database container built from docker/mysql/Dockerfile. Uses tmpfs for /var/lib/mysql to ensure high-speed testing.
• composer: A container for running Composer commands. It maps the current directory to /app and sets the entrypoint to /usr/bin/composer.
• phpunit: A container for running tests. It maps the current directory to /app and sets the entrypoint to vendor/bin/phpunit.

services:
  mysql:
    container_name: lf-tests-mysql
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: docker/mysql/Dockerfile
    tmpfs: /var/lib/mysql

  composer:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: docker/composer/Dockerfile
    environment:
      COMPOSER_CACHE_DIR: /app/var/cache/composer
    volumes:
      - .:/app
    working_dir: /app
    entrypoint: /usr/bin/composer

  phpunit:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: docker/phpunit/Dockerfile
    restart: "no"
    volumes:
      - .:/app
    working_dir: /app
    entrypoint: vendor/bin/phpunit