The InteractsWithData trait - Knowledge of Laravel

What is the InteractsWithData trait?

Illuminate\Support\Traits\InteractsWithData is a trait that groups common APIs for array-like input data. The trait itself requires only two abstract methods: all() and data(). Each class provides its own data retrieval logic. In return, the trait gives you many high-frequency methods:

Presence checks: has(), hasAny(), exists(), missing()
Emptiness checks: filled(), isNotFilled(), anyFilled()
Conditional execution: whenHas(), whenFilled(), whenMissing()
Extraction: only(), except()
Type conversion: string(), boolean(), integer(), float(), date(), enum(), collect()

Relationship to Request methods

Illuminate\Http\Request from the request() helper uses InteractsWithData through Concerns\InteractsWithInput. So everyday input access patterns are provided through this trait:

$search = request()->input('search');

if (request()->has('search')) {
    $filters = request()->only(['search', 'status']);
}

$payload = request()->except(['_token']);

Request::get() is a Symfony-compatible method defined in the Request class itself. In Laravel 13 source code, it is explicitly marked @deprecated use ->input() instead, so input() is the recommended method.

$legacy = request()->get('search');  // Compatibility method (prefer input())

Main implementations in Laravel core

Classes that directly use `InteractsWithData`

Class	Purpose
`Illuminate\Http\Concerns\InteractsWithInput`	Input access API for `Request`
`Illuminate\Support\ValidatedInput`	Wrapper for return values of `validated()` / `safe()`
`Illuminate\Support\Fluent`	Fluent access to settings and arbitrary attributes
`Illuminate\Support\UriQueryString`	Query string operations for `Uri`
`Illuminate\View\ComponentAttributeBag`	Operations on Blade component attributes

Illuminate\Session\Store implements similar APIs such as has(), get(), only(), and except() independently
Illuminate\Validation\Concerns\ValidatesAttributes provides validation judgment logic and is intentionally separate from input access APIs

Relationship between the trait and core classes

Add it to your package classes

InteractsWithData fits package classes that store input arrays and should expose Laravel-style access APIs.

Create a data container class

namespace Vendor\Package\Support;

use Illuminate\Support\Arr;
use Illuminate\Support\Traits\InteractsWithData;

class OptionBag
{
    use InteractsWithData;

    /**
     * @param  array<string, mixed>  $items
     */
    public function __construct(
        protected array $items = [],
    ) {}

    public function all($keys = null): array
    {
        if (! $keys) {
            return $this->items;
        }

        $result = [];

        $keyList = is_array($keys) ? $keys : [$keys];

        foreach ($keyList as $key) {
            Arr::set($result, $key, Arr::get($this->items, $key));
        }

        return $result;
    }

    protected function data($key = null, $default = null): mixed
    {
        return data_get($this->items, $key, $default);
    }
}

Read values safely with typed accessors

$options = new OptionBag([
    'feature.enabled' => 'true',
    'retry.max' => '5',
    'channels' => ['mail', 'slack'],
]);

$enabled = $options->boolean('feature.enabled'); // true
$retryMax = $options->integer('retry.max');      // 5
$channels = $options->collect('channels');       // Collection
$public = $options->except(['secret']);          // Excludes "secret"

Practical use cases

Option bags for external API clients
Normalization layers for webhook payloads
Configuration override resolver classes in packages

If you implement only all() and data(), you avoid rebuilding input access APIs repeatedly and lower maintenance cost.

Documentation Index

​What is the InteractsWithData trait?

​Relationship to Request methods

​Main implementations in Laravel core

​Classes that directly use InteractsWithData

​Related implementations with similar responsibilities

​Relationship between the trait and core classes

​Add it to your package classes

​Practical use cases

​Related pages