Getting Started

Minimal Setup

Installation:

composer require devdojo/laravel-reactions

Add the service provider to config/app.php:

DevDojo\LaravelReactions\Providers\ReactionsServiceProvider::class,

Publish and run migrations:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="DevDojo\LaravelReactions\Providers\ReactionsServiceProvider" --tag="migrations"
php artisan migrate

First Use Case: Add the Reacts trait to your Eloquent model (e.g., Post):
```
use DevDojo\LaravelReactions\Traits\Reacts;

class Post extends Model
{
    use Reacts;
}
```
Now, a reactions() relationship is automatically added to your model.

Implementation Patterns

Core Workflows

Adding Reactions:

// User reacts to a Post with a specific emoji (e.g., 'like')
$post->reactions()->attach($user->id, ['emoji' => 'like']);

Fetching Reactions:

// Get all reactions for a Post
$reactions = $post->reactions;

// Get reactions by emoji (e.g., 'like')
$likes = $post->reactions->where('emoji', 'like');

Counting Reactions:

// Total reactions
$totalReactions = $post->reactions()->count();

// Count reactions by emoji
$likeCount = $post->reactions()->where('emoji', 'like')->count();

Polymorphic Reactions: Add the Reactable trait to any model to enable reactions on it:

use DevDojo\LaravelReactions\Traits\Reactable;

class Comment extends Model
{
    use Reactable;
}

Now, reactions can be attached to both Post and Comment:

$comment->reactions()->attach($user->id, ['emoji' => 'love']);

Customizing Reactions: Extend the Reaction model to add custom fields:

class CustomReaction extends \DevDojo\LaravelReactions\Models\Reaction
{
    protected $casts = [
        'metadata' => 'array',
    ];
}

Update the Reacts trait to use your custom model:

use DevDojo\LaravelReactions\Traits\Reacts as BaseReacts;

trait Reacts
{
    use BaseReacts;

    protected static function getReactionModel()
    {
        return \App\Models\CustomReaction::class;
    }
}

Integration Tips

API Endpoints: Create routes for adding/removing reactions:

Route::post('/posts/{post}/react', [PostReactionController::class, 'store']);
Route::delete('/posts/{post}/react', [PostReactionController::class, 'destroy']);

Frontend Integration: Use JavaScript to toggle reactions dynamically:

// Example: Toggle a 'like' reaction
async function toggleReaction(postId, emoji) {
    const response = await fetch(`/posts/${postId}/react`, {
        method: 'POST',
        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
        body: JSON.stringify({ emoji })
    });
    return response.json();
}

Real-Time Updates: Use Laravel Echo/Pusher to update reaction counts in real-time:

// Broadcast reaction changes
$post->reactions()->attach($user->id, ['emoji' => 'like']);
broadcast(new ReactionUpdated($post, 'like'));

Validation: Validate reactions in a Form Request:

public function rules()
{
    return [
        'emoji' => 'required|in:like,love,laugh,care,sad,angry,wow',
    ];
}

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

Migration Conflicts: If you manually modify the reactions or reactables tables, ensure you update the package's migrations or disable them in config/reactions.php:
```
'migrations' => [
    'run' => false,
],
```
Polymorphic Relationships: The reactables table uses reactable_type and reactable_id for polymorphic relationships. Ensure these columns are correctly populated when attaching reactions to models.
Duplicate Reactions: By default, the package does not prevent duplicate reactions (e.g., a user reacting twice with the same emoji). Add validation in your controller or use a unique constraint:
```
$post->reactions()->updateOrCreate(
    ['user_id' => $user->id, 'emoji' => 'like'],
    ['emoji' => 'like']
);
```

Performance: Avoid eager-loading reactions for models with many reactions. Use withCount for counts:

$posts = Post::withCount(['reactions' => function($query) {
    $query->where('emoji', 'like');
}])->get();

Debugging

Check Database: Verify the reactions and reactables tables contain expected data:

php artisan tinker
>>> \DevDojo\LaravelReactions\Models\Reaction::all();
>>> \DevDojo\LaravelReactions\Models\Reactable::all();

Log Queries: Enable Laravel query logging to debug relationship issues:

DB::enableQueryLog();
$post->reactions; // Trigger query
dd(DB::getQueryLog());

Clear Cached Compiled Views: If reactions aren’t displaying, clear the view cache:
```
php artisan view:clear
```

Extension Points

Custom Reaction Models: Override the Reaction model to add fields like created_at timestamps or metadata:

class Reaction extends \DevDojo\LaravelReactions\Models\Reaction
{
    protected $fillable = ['user_id', 'emoji', 'metadata'];
}

Event Listeners: Listen for reaction events to trigger actions (e.g., notifications):

// In EventServiceProvider
protected $listen = [
    \DevDojo\LaravelReactions\Events\ReactionAdded::class => [
       \App\Listeners\SendReactionNotification::class,
    ],
];

Scopes: Add custom scopes to the Reaction model for querying:

public function scopeRecent($query, $minutes = 5)
{
    return $query->where('created_at', '>=', now()->subMinutes($minutes));
}

Middleware: Protect reaction endpoints with middleware (e.g., auth):

Route::post('/posts/{post}/react', [PostReactionController::class, 'store'])->middleware('auth');

Configuration Quirks

Table Names: Customize table names in config/reactions.php:

'tables' => [
    'reactions' => 'custom_reactions',
    'reactables' => 'custom_reactables',
],

Default Emojis: Override default emojis in the config:
```
'emojis' => ['heart', 'star', 'thumbs-up'],
```

Soft Deletes: Enable soft deletes for reactions by adding SoftDeletes to the Reaction model and configuring the trait:

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\SoftDeletes;

class Reaction extends \DevDojo\LaravelReactions\Models\Reaction
{
    use SoftDeletes;
}

Laravel Reactions Laravel Package