Use Model shouldBeStrict when starting a new Laravel app

So you have an idea for a brand new app. You install Laravel, you're ready to get started. What's the first thing you should do?

For me, I open up the app service provider and go down to the boot method and set the global Model::shouldBeStrict():

public function boot(): void
{
    Model::shouldBeStrict();
}

With this turned on it does the following:

public static function shouldBeStrict(bool $shouldBeStrict = true)
{
    static::preventLazyLoading($shouldBeStrict);
    static::preventSilentlyDiscardingAttributes($shouldBeStrict);
    static::preventAccessingMissingAttributes($shouldBeStrict);
}

This does three things:

1. Prevents lazy loading
2. It prevents silently discarding attributes.
3. It prevents accessing missing attributes.

#Preventing Lazy Loading

Here is an example of lazy loading.

$articles = \App\Models\Article::get();
 
foreach ($articles as $article) {
     echo "<li>" . $article->user->name . "</li>\n";
}

If you run this, it will output what you expect. However, it’s lazy loading the user relationship, causing a new query for every loop.

With shouldBeStrict turned on instead of running the code you’ll get an error giving you instant feedback:

Attempted to lazy load [user] on model [App\Models\Article] but lazy loading is disabled.

#Prevent Silently Discarding Attributes

Here is an example showing trying to update an attribute that is not fillable:

$user->fill(["remember_token" => "bar"]);

Now this will return an exception:

Add fillable property [remember_token] to allow mass assignment on [App\Models\User].

#Prevent Accessing Missing Attributes.

Let’s pretend we are trying to display a property on the User that may not exist:

{{ $user->nonexistant }}

By default, Laravel will just not display anything because the property is not found, but with Strict mode turned on you get:

The attribute [nonexistant] either does not exist or was not retrieved for model [App\Models\User].

This really helps in cases where you might make a spelling mistake like:

{{ $user->emial }}

Now, you’ll get instant feedback you messed up.

Turning on Model::shouldBeStrict() is now the first thing I do on every app, and it helps prevent me from making basic mistakes that could be harmful to the app later on.