Form Request Classes

For anything beyond a couple of rules, extracting validation into a dedicated Form Request class keeps controllers thin and rules reusable.

php artisan make:request StorePostRequest

namespace App\Http\Requests;

use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\FormRequest;

class StorePostRequest extends FormRequest
{
    public function authorize(): bool
    {
        return $this->user()->can('create', Post::class);
    }

    public function rules(): array
    {
        return [
            'title' => 'required|string|max:255',
            'body'  => 'required|string|min:10',
        ];
    }

    public function messages(): array
    {
        return [
            'title.required' => 'Please give your post a title.',
        ];
    }
}

Then simply type-hint it in the controller — Laravel automatically validates the request before the method body even runs, and returns a redirect with errors if it fails:

public function store(StorePostRequest $request)
{
    Post::create($request->validated());
    return redirect('/posts');
}

The authorize() method lets you combine validation with authorization in one place — returning false triggers a 403 response automatically, before validation even runs.