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Installation via Composer

You can install Laravel Data using Composer: 
composer require spatie/laravel-data
Laravel’s package auto-discovery will automatically register the service provider, so no manual registration is needed.

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Publishing the configuration

The package works out of the box with sensible defaults. However, you can optionally publish the configuration file to customize behavior: 
php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Spatie\LaravelData\LaravelDataServiceProvider" --tag="data-config"
This creates a config/data.php file in your application.

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Configuration overview

The published configuration file allows you to customize:
Configure date formats and timezones for date transformations:
'date_format' => DATE_ATOM,
'date_timezone' => null,
Define transformers that convert complex types to simple types:
'transformers' => [
    DateTimeInterface::class => \Spatie\LaravelData\Transformers\DateTimeInterfaceTransformer::class,
    \Illuminate\Contracts\Support\Arrayable::class => \Spatie\LaravelData\Transformers\ArrayableTransformer::class,
    BackedEnum::class => Spatie\LaravelData\Transformers\EnumTransformer::class,
],
Define casts that convert simple types to complex types:
'casts' => [
    DateTimeInterface::class => Spatie\LaravelData\Casts\DateTimeInterfaceCast::class,
    BackedEnum::class => Spatie\LaravelData\Casts\EnumCast::class,
],
Configure how validation rules are automatically inferred from property types:
'rule_inferrers' => [
    Spatie\LaravelData\RuleInferrers\SometimesRuleInferrer::class,
    Spatie\LaravelData\RuleInferrers\NullableRuleInferrer::class,
    Spatie\LaravelData\RuleInferrers\RequiredRuleInferrer::class,
    Spatie\LaravelData\RuleInferrers\BuiltInTypesRuleInferrer::class,
    Spatie\LaravelData\RuleInferrers\AttributesRuleInferrer::class,
],
Enable caching for improved performance in production:
'structure_caching' => [
    'enabled' => true,
    'directories' => [app_path('Data')],
    'cache' => [
        'store' => env('CACHE_STORE', env('CACHE_DRIVER', 'file')),
        'prefix' => 'laravel-data',
        'duration' => null,
    ],
],
Control when data objects are validated:
'validation_strategy' => \Spatie\LaravelData\Support\Creation\ValidationStrategy::OnlyRequests->value,
Options:
  • OnlyRequests: Validate only when creating from requests (default)
  • Always: Validate on every creation
  • Disabled: Never validate automatically
Configure the make:data Artisan command:
'commands' => [
    'make' => [
        'namespace' => 'Data',
        'suffix' => 'Data',
    ],
],
Controls how data objects appear when using dump() or dd():
  • 'enabled' - Always use the custom caster (shows data properties clearly)
  • 'disabled' - Never use the custom caster (standard object dump)
  • 'development' (default) - Use custom caster only in non-production environments
'var_dumper_caster_mode' => 'development',

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Creating data classes

You can quickly generate a data class using the Artisan command: 
php artisan make:data Post
This creates app/Data/PostData.php: 
<?php

namespace App\Data;

use Spatie\LaravelData\Data;

class PostData extends Data
{
    //
}
By default, data classes are created in the app/Data directory with a Data suffix. You can customize this in the configuration file or via command options.

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Performance optimization

For production environments, ensure structure caching is enabled in config/data.php: 
'structure_caching' => [
    'enabled' => true,
    'directories' => [app_path('Data')],
],
This caches reflection analysis of data objects, significantly improving performance.
If you add data classes outside of app/Data, add those directories to the structure_caching.directories array.

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Next steps

Quickstart

Build your first data object

Requirements

Check system requirements