Validator Laravel Package

Product Decisions This Supports

• Centralized validation logic: Consolidate validation rules into reusable, maintainable rule sets (e.g., UserValidator, OrderValidator) to reduce duplication in controllers, services, and jobs.
• Improved developer experience: Enable developers to define validation rules declaratively (e.g., RuleSet::create(['email' => 'required|email'])) instead of embedding logic in controllers or forms.
• Consistent error handling: Standardize error message formatting for APIs (JSON) and UI (flash messages) to improve debugging and user feedback.
• Decoupling business logic: Separate validation from application flow (e.g., controllers) to adhere to Single Responsibility Principle (SRP) and improve testability.
• Roadmap for API-first validation: Lay groundwork for future API validation needs (e.g., OpenAPI/Swagger integration) by centralizing rules in a structured way.
• Build vs. buy: Avoid reinventing validation logic (e.g., custom Laravel Form Requests or manual Validator facades) and leverage a lightweight, focused package instead.

When to Consider This Package

• Adopt if:

  • Your Laravel app has repeated validation logic across controllers, jobs, or services (e.g., user registration, order processing).
  • You need consistent error formatting for APIs (e.g., standardized JSON responses) or UI (e.g., flash messages).
  • Your team prioritizes DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principles and wants to centralize validation rules.
  • You’re building a modular Laravel app where validation rules should be reusable across features.
  • You want to reduce boilerplate in controllers by moving validation logic to dedicated validator classes.

• Look elsewhere if:

  • You’re using Laravel’s built-in Form Request validation and it meets your needs (this package is lighter but lacks some built-in features like authorization).
  • You need advanced validation features (e.g., dynamic rules, nested validation for complex objects) that aren’t supported (check Laravel’s core or packages like spatie/laravel-validation-rules).
  • Your project has strict dependency constraints (last release was 2020; ensure compatibility with your Laravel version).
  • You require real-time validation (e.g., frontend validation) or custom validation pipelines beyond basic rule sets.

How to Pitch It (Stakeholders)

For Executives: "This package helps us reduce technical debt by centralizing validation logic—cutting down on duplicated code in controllers and services. It ensures consistent data integrity across APIs and forms while making our codebase easier to maintain. For example, instead of rewriting validation rules for user signups in every endpoint, we define them once in a reusable UserValidator class. This saves development time and reduces bugs, especially as our product scales."

For Engineering/Dev Teams: *"aaronadal/validator lets us define validation rules in a clean, reusable way (e.g., RuleSet::create(['email' => 'required|email'])) and reuse them across controllers, jobs, and services. Key benefits:

• No more scattered validation logic: Rules live in dedicated validator classes (e.g., OrderValidator).
• Consistent error handling: Standardized error messages for APIs (JSON) and UI (flash messages).
• Easier testing: Validation logic is decoupled from controllers, making it simpler to mock and test.
• Lightweight: Adds minimal overhead compared to Laravel’s built-in solutions.

Use case: If we’re validating user input for registration, profile updates, and API calls, this package lets us define the rules once and reuse them everywhere—saving time and reducing errors.*

For Developers: *"This package gives you a simple, fluent API to define validation rules (e.g., Validator::make($data, new UserRules())->validate()). It’s great for:

• Reusable validation: Create rule sets for users, orders, etc., and reuse them anywhere.
• Cleaner controllers: No more cluttered validate() calls in your code.
• Consistent errors: Get standardized error messages for APIs and forms out of the box.

Example: Instead of this:

// Controller
public function store(Request $request) {
    $validated = $request->validate([
        'email' => 'required|email',
        'password' => 'required|min:8',
    ]);
}

Do this:

// UserValidator.php
public function rules() {
    return [
        'email' => 'required|email',
        'password' => 'required|min:8',
    ];
}

// Controller
public function store(Request $request) {
    $validator = new UserValidator();
    $validator->validate($request->all());
}
```"*