Auth::check with laravel passport always return false

Problem with Custom Guard and Middleware in Laravel Passport

Laravel Version: 9.26.1 Passport Version: 10.4.2

I'm facing an issue with my custom guard and middleware setup using Laravel Passport. My middleware always returns false for authentication. Here are the details of my configuration:

Config/auth.php:

'guards' => [
    'channel_partner' => [
        'driver' => 'passport',
        'provider' => 'channel_partners',
    ],
],

'providers' => [
    'channel_partners' => [
        'driver' => 'eloquent',
        'model' => App\User::class,
    ],
],

App\Providers\AuthServiceProvider.php:

public function boot()
{
    $this->registerPolicies();
    Passport::routes();
    Passport::tokensExpireIn(Carbon::now()->addHours(24));
    Passport::refreshTokensExpireIn(Carbon::now()->addDays(30));
}

routes/api.php:

Route::apiResource('country', 'CountryListController', ['only' => ['index'], 'as' => 'country'])->middleware('channel_partner_auth');

App\Http\Middleware\ChannelPartnerAuth.php:

public function handle($request, Closure $next)
{
    if (!Auth::guard('channel_partner')->check()) {
        return response()->json(["status" => "Error", 'message' => 'Unauthorized'], 401);
    }

    return $next($request);
}

Login Code:

$response = Http::asForm()->post($appUrl . '/oauth/token', array_merge([
    'grant_type' => $grantType,
    'client_id' => $this->client->id,
    'client_secret' => $this->client->secret,
    'scope' => '',
], $params));

if ($response->successful()) {
    $data = $response->json();
    $responseArray = [
        'status' => 'Success',
        'data' => [
            'token' => $data['access_token'],
            'refreshToken' => $data['refresh_token'],
            "tokenExpiry" => $tokenExpiryDate,
            "refrshTokenExpiry" => $refrshTokenExpiryDate
        ]
    ];

    return response()->json($responseArray, 200);
}

In the User model, I've added:

• findForPassport

• validateForPassportPasswordGrant

• Used the HasApiTokens trait.

The login code returns a valid access and refresh token. When debugging, I see that the request has the expected headers. Additionally, I'm able to authenticate the request by adding an additional check after decoding the token.

Despite this,Auth::guard('channel_partner')->check()always returns false in my middleware.

Any advice on what I might be missing or what to check next?