Laravel API Tutorial: Build a REST API for Beginners

Learn how to build a REST API with Laravel — API routes, resource controllers, JSON responses, and API authentication with Sanctum.

Not every Laravel app needs to render HTML pages. If you're building a mobile app backend or a JavaScript frontend (React, Vue), you'll want Laravel to serve data as JSON through a REST API. This tutorial walks through building one from scratch. API Routes Live in a Separate File Unlike web routes, API routes are automatically prefixed with /api and are stateless (no sessions/CSRF by default). Define them in routes/api.php . Note: In newer Laravel versions, if routes/api.php doesn't exist yet, run: php artisan install:api Step 1: Create the Model and Migration php artisan make:model Product -m Schema::create('products', function (Blueprint $table) { $table->id(); $table->string('name'); $table->decimal('price', 8, 2); $table->timestamps(); }); php artisan migrate Step 2: Create an API Resource Controller php artisan make:controller Api/ProductController --api The --api fla...

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