Using Fluent to Work With HTTP Client Responses in Laravel

In Laravel 11.2.0, we got a fluent() helper to conveniently convert array data into a Fluent instance. Now, starting in Laravel 11.35, we have a convenient method for transforming an HTTP client response into a fluent instance:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;
 
$response = Http::get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts')->fluent();
 
$response->get('0.title'); // sunt aut facere...
$response->collect()->pluck('title'); // ["sunt aut facere...", "qui est esse
", ...]

Another neat feature is converting JSON data into specific types. Take this example where we can convert a string date into a Carbon instance:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;
 
$response = Http::get('https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/random')->fluent();
 
$response->date('created_at');
$response->date('updated_at');
 
/*
Illuminate\Support\Carbon @1578231741 {#261 ▼ // routes/web.php:9
  date: 2020-01-05 13:42:21.455187 UTC (+00:00)
}
*/

Fluent also supports other helpful types like boolean, enum, array of enum, and more. One of my favorites is using familiar methods like only and except to retrieve specific data:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;
 
$response = Http::get('https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/random')->fluent();
 
$response->except('categories'),
/*
array:6 [▼ // routes/web.php:9
  "created_at" => "2020-01-05 13:42:19.897976"
  "icon_url" => "https://api.chucknorris.io/img/avatar/chuck-norris.png"
  "id" => "KqoQdIJdSE2ezokPmHSvdw"
  "updated_at" => "2020-01-05 13:42:19.897976"
  "url" => "https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/KqoQdIJdSE2ezokPmHSvdw"
  "value" => "One night Chuck Norris had Chili for dinner. The very next day the Big Bang happened."
]
*/
 
$response->only('id', 'url', 'value');

#Learn More

I would recommend getting familiar with the Fluent class in the Laravel API docs. Fluent uses the InteractsWithData trait, which gives us a bunch of convenient methods for working with Fluent data.