Dynamic Cache, Database, and Mail Builders in Laravel 11

The Laravel team released v11.31, which includes dynamic cache/db/mail builders, a cache token repository, a URL::forceHttps() convenience method, and more.

1 - Cache Token Repository

Andrew Brown contributed a cache token repository as an alternative way to store password reset tokens:

– This PR proposes a new CacheTokenRepository which will allow the password reset tokens to be handled via cache. IMO cache is a perfect storage medium because it can be more ephemeral, just like the password reset tokens.

– To enable this new CacheTokenRepository, adjust your config/auth.php like so:

'passwords' => [
 
    //new cache driver
    'customers' => [
        'driver'   => 'cache',
        'store'    => 'passwords',
        'provider' => 'customers',
        'expire'   => 60,
        'throttle' => 60,
    ],
 
   //default old database driver
    'users'     => [
        'provider' => 'users',
        'table'    =>'password_reset_tokens',
        'expire'   => 60,
        'throttle' => 60,
    ],
],

2 - Dynamically Build Mailers On-Demand

Steve Bauman contributed the ability to dynamically build a mailer and send it using the Mail::build() method. 

– This allows developers to create mailers based on a given configuration instead of being hard-coded in the config files:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Mail;
 
$mailer = Mail::build([
    'transport' => 'smtp',
    'host' => '127.0.0.1',
    'port' => 587,
    'encryption' => 'tls',
    'username' => 'usr',
    'password' => 'pwd',
    'timeout' => 5,
]);
 
$mailer->send($mailable);

3 - Add DB::build() Method

Similar to the Mail::build() method, Steve Bauman contributed DB::build() to dynamically create new DB connections that are not defined in your configuration file:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 
$sqlite = DB::build([
    'driver' => 'sqlite',
    'database' => ':memory:',
]);
 
$mysql = DB::build([
    'driver' => 'mysql',
    'database' => 'forge',
    'username' => 'root',
    'password' => 'secret',
]);
 
$pgsql = DB::build([
    'driver' => 'pgsql',
    // ...
]);
 
$sqlsrv = DB::build([
    'driver' => 'sqlsrv',
    // ...
]);

4 - Add Cache::build() to Create On-demand Cache Repositories

Steve Bauman contributed the ability to dynamically build Cache repositories on-demand using the Cache::build() method. 

– Similar to the DB and Mailer dynamic build method, you can create cache repositories not defined in your configuration file:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Cache;
 
$apc = Cache::build([
    'driver' => 'apc',
]);
 
$array = Cache::build([
    'driver' => 'array',
    'serialize' => false,
]);
 
$database = Cache::build([
    'driver' => 'database',
    'table' => 'cache',
    'connection' => null,
    'lock_connection' => null,
]);
 
$file = Cache::build([
    'driver' => 'file',
    'path' => storage_path('framework/cache/data'),
]);

5 - Batch and Chain onQueue() Method Accepts Backed Enums

Philip Iezzi contributed the ability to use a backed enumeration with the onQueue() method of a Bus chain:

// Before
Bus::chain($jobs)
    ->onQueue(QueueName::long->value)->dispatch();
 
// After
Bus::chain($jobs)
    ->onQueue(QueueName::long)->dispatch();

6 - Add Application removeDeferredServices() Method

Ollie Read contributed the removeDeferredServices() application method to remove a deferred service from the application container.

// Before
$deferredServices = $app->getDeferredServices();
 
unset($deferredServices['auth.password'], $deferredServices['auth.password.broker']);
 
$app->setDeferredServices($deferredServices);
 
// After
$app->removeDeferredServices(['auth.password', 'auth.password.broker']);

– This use-case isn't a common one that you'll need, but this method compliments to get and set methods of deferred services nicely.

7 - Ability to Append and Prepend Middleware Priority from the Application Builder

Ollie Read contributed another low-level change to append and prepend middleware priority to the application builder, allowing access to add middleware after/before methods on the kernel:

return Application::configure(basePath: dirname(__DIR__))
    ->withRouting(
        web: __DIR__.'/../routes/web.php',
        commands: __DIR__.'/../routes/console.php',
        health: '/up',
    )
    ->withMiddleware(function (Middleware $middleware) {
        $middleware->appendToPriorityList(
            [
                \Illuminate\Cookie\Middleware\EncryptCookies::class,
                \Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\Middleware\AuthenticatesRequests::class,
            ],
            \Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\ValidateSignature::class
        );
 
        $middleware->prependToPriorityList(
            [
                \Illuminate\Cookie\Middleware\EncryptCookies::class,
                \Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\Middleware\AuthenticatesRequests::class,
            ],
            \Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\ValidateSignature::class
        );
    })
    ->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {
        //
    })->create();

8 - Add forceHttps() Method to Enforce HTTPs Scheme for URLs

Dasun Tharanga contributed the forceHttps() method, which simplifies enforcing HTTPs for URLs requiring such. The method accepts a boolean, making it easy to force HTTPs for a given set of environments:

URL::forceHttps(
    $this->app->isProduction()
);
 
URL::forceHttps(
    $this->app->environment('staging', 'production')
);