How to modify http responses in Laravel

Laravel middleware provides a convenient mechanism for inspecting and filtering HTTP requests entering our application.

Learn more about Laravel middleware

Additionally, the middleware may also be used to modify the HTTP response.

Let’s see how to do it.

Create a new middleware:

php artisan make:middleware MyMiddleware

Open up app/Http/Kernel.php file and add the newly created middleware in the $middleware key:

class Kernel 
{
    protected $middleware = [
        // ...
        App\Http\Middleware\MyMiddleware::class,
    ];
}

Go back to MyMiddleware file, here you can easily modify the response:

public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next)
{
    /** @var \Illuminate\Http\Response $response */
    $response = $next($request);
    
    // Modify the response ...
    
    return $response;
}

For example, you may add a new Http header as follows:

$response->addHeader($response->header('X-ADMIN', Auth::user()->isAdmin);

You can also change the status code based on a certain criteria:

if (false) {
	$response->setStatusCode(400);
}

Inspect the Illuminate\Http\Response for more methods.

That’s it.

I hoped you enjoyed reading this post :-)