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Aware Laravel Package
awareness/aware
Aware is a lightweight Laravel package that helps you add awareness-focused functionality to your app. It offers simple configuration, an intuitive PHP API, and clean integration with existing Laravel projects.
Self-validating models for Eloquent in Laravel 4
Frequently asked questions about Aware
- What is awareness/aware and what does it do in Laravel?
- Aware is a Laravel 4 package that adds self-validating behavior to Eloquent models. It lets you define validation inside the model lifecycle so saves can enforce rules without a separate FormRequest or validator service. It is aimed at legacy Laravel 4 applications, not modern Laravel versions.
- How do I install awareness/aware with Composer?
- Install it with Composer in a Laravel 4 project using a compatible PHP runtime and a pinned package version. Because Laravel 4 is end-of-life, verify Composer constraints against your existing dependencies and consider forking the package into private VCS if upstream availability is a concern. Run a branch spike on one model before rolling it out.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does awareness/aware support?
- The package targets Laravel 4 and its Eloquent ORM, so it expects the corresponding legacy PHP runtime. It is not a realistic direct fit for Laravel 8+ without a fork or reimplementation. Confirm exact supported versions in the package metadata and test them against your application before adoption.
- Does awareness/aware validate on create, update, save, and mass assignment?
- The context describes validation inside model lifecycle behavior, but the exact paths are not confirmed. You must test create, update, save, mass assignment, and direct query-builder writes because some Eloquent operations can bypass model-level validation. Do not assume every write path is covered.
- How are validation failures surfaced when using self-validating Eloquent models?
- The context does not confirm whether failures surface as exceptions, false returns, or model error bags. Define a consistent error-handling contract for controllers and jobs before rolling out. Add characterization tests for success and failure flows so your application handles failures predictably.
- Can I disable validation per operation for imports, queues, or admin workflows?
- The package context does not confirm a per-operation disable mechanism. Because validation-on-save can surprise developers and interact poorly with imports, queues, seeders, and bulk updates, you should test bypass paths explicitly. If needed, isolate adoption or wrap writes in controlled services that skip the model lifecycle.
- Are unique and exists validation rules safe under concurrency in awareness/aware?
- Rules that query the database, such as unique, exists, or custom checks, can become expensive and are not inherently concurrency-safe at the model layer. Treat model-level validation as a convenience, not a substitute for database constraints. Add database indexes and unique constraints where correctness matters.
- How should I test a Laravel 4 app that uses awareness/aware?
- Add characterization tests around create, update, delete, validation success, validation failure, mass assignment, and bypass paths before and after adoption. Test interactions with observers, global scopes, soft deletes, and queue serialization. Keep tests focused on the models you adopt first so rollback remains practical.
- Is awareness/aware maintained and safe for production?
- It is a legacy Laravel 4 package with low adoption and limited maintenance signal, so production use carries high inherited security and dependency risk. Expect to own patches, dependency pinning, and documentation if you adopt it. Fork it into private VCS when you need control over fixes and compatibility.
- What are alternatives to awareness/aware for validation in Laravel?
- For modern Laravel, use FormRequests, dedicated validators, model observers, or application services instead of model-level validation. If you need the self-validating model pattern, treat awareness/aware as a reference implementation and port the intent into a trait or observer-based layer. For legacy Laravel 4, isolate adoption to low-risk models and plan to replace the pattern during modernization.
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