Querying Models

Querying with where

Eloquent builds queries using chainable methods. Start with where to filter results:

$users = User::where('active', true)->get();
    

Chain multiple conditions together:

$users = User::where('active', true)
    ->where('age', '>=', 18)
    ->get();
    

orWhere and whereIn

Use orWhere when you need an OR condition, and whereIn for matching against a list:

$users = User::where('status', 'active')
    ->orWhere('status', 'pending')
    ->get();

$users = User::whereIn('id', [1, 2, 3])->get();
    

Ordering and Limiting

Sort results with orderBy and limit them with take or limit:

$users = User::orderBy('name', 'asc')->take(10)->get();

$latest = User::orderBy('created_at', 'desc')->first();
    

Aggregates: sum, avg, count

Eloquent makes it easy to run aggregate queries without writing SQL functions:

$totalUsers = User::count();
$averageAge = User::avg('age');
$totalBalance = Account::sum('balance');
    

You can also use pluck to get a single column's values:

$emails = User::pluck('email');
$names = User::where('active', true)->pluck('name');
    

Query Scopes

Scopes let you encapsulate common queries into reusable methods. Define a scope in your model:

class User extends Model
{
    public function scopeActive($query)
    {
        return $query->where('active', true);
    }
}
    

Then use it in your queries:

$activeUsers = User::active()->get();
    

Collections

Eloquent queries return Collection objects. Collections have dozens of useful methods for working with data in memory:

$users = User::all();

$names = $users->map(function ($user) {
    return $user->name;
});

$active = $users->filter(function ($user) {
    return $user->active;
});
    

Collections make data manipulation clean and chainable.