Piper: Laravel-Style Array and String Helpers for PHP's Pipe Operator

PHP 8.5 introduced the pipe operator (|>), which passes the value on its left as the argument to the callable on its right. It works with any single-argument callable, but PHP's built-in functions and Laravel's chainable classes weren't designed around it. Piper fills that gap: it ports Laravel's collection and string methods into standalone, curried functions made to sit on the right side of a pipe.

Working on plain values

Laravel's Collection and Stringable are method-chainable because you're working with a wrapper object: you collect() going in and call ->all() or ->toString() coming out. Piper takes a different route suited to the pipe operator — its functions operate directly on native arrays and strings:

use function Spatie\Piper\Arr\{filter, map, values, join};

$result = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
    |> filter(fn (int $i) => $i % 2 === 0)
    |> map(fn (int $i) => pow($i, 2))
    |> values()
    |> join(', ', ', and ');

// "4, 16, and 36"

There's no wrapper instance in that pipeline. Each function takes an array, returns an array (or in the case of join(), a string), and the pipe operator threads the value through. It's a style that fits the |> syntax, and a natural companion to Collection when you're already working with native values.

Functions are curried for the pipe

Each Piper helper is written so that calling it with its configuration arguments returns a closure waiting for the value being piped. filter(fn (int $i) => $i % 2 === 0) doesn't filter anything on its own — it returns a callable that filters whatever array arrives via |>. That's what lets replace('world', 'Piper') read naturally inside a chain:

use function Spatie\Piper\Str\{lower, replace};

$greeting = 'Hello, World!'
    |> lower()
    |> replace('world', 'Piper');

// "hello, Piper"

Mixing array and string steps

Because the functions pass native values, an array step and a string step belong to the same pipeline. A list can be reduced to a string partway through and keep going:

use function Spatie\Piper\Arr\{map, join};
use function Spatie\Piper\Str\{upper, prefix};

$headline = ['laravel', 'news']
    |> map(fn (string $word) => ucfirst($word))
    |> join(' ')
    |> upper()
    |> prefix('>> ');

// ">> LARAVEL NEWS"

The Arr namespace covers helpers like filter, map, values, and join; the Str namespace covers lower, upper, replace, prefix, suffix, and others. The method names and behavior mirror Laravel's, so the API is already familiar if you've used Illuminate\Support.