Add meta to JSON:API resource relationships

Hi, I am using the native JSON:API implementation added in Laravel 13 to gererate resources from my models.

One of my models have a many-to-many relationship with pivot values. I want them to be included in the relationship on the resource object.
With the help of laraveljsonapi package documentation and AI, I found that I am supposed to put the pivot values in the meta object of my relationship, however I can't find in Laravel documentation how to do it.

Does someone know how to put meta information on a relationship object using Laravel native JSON:API resource feature?

Thanks.

imrandevbd

5 days ago

Level 5

The v13 native JSON:API implementation is solid, but the docs are definitely a bit light on the deeper relationship customizations right now.

You can chain the meta() method directly onto your relationship definition. Since you're dealing with pivot values, you can pass a closure to meta() which receives the related model, allowing you to pull those pivot fields dynamically.

1 like

AxelG

5 days ago

Level 1

Hi, thanks for your reply!

However, meta() is a function from the laraveljsonapi package, I don't think it exists in native Laravel 13. Moreover, I don't understand how I'm supposed to "chain it on my relationship definition" because the definition is litteraly just a string or callable.

1 like

imrandevbd

3 days ago

Level 5

My bad you're right, I crossed the streams with the package syntax there.

In native Laravel 13, you need to use the Relation class within your resource's relationships() method. Instead of just returning a string or a simple callable, you return a relation object, which actually has the meta() method built-in.

Try this structure:

use Illuminate\Http\Resources\JsonApi\Relation;

public function relationships(Request $request): array
{
    return [
        'items' => Relation::toMany('items')
            ->meta(fn ($item) => [
                'pivot_data' => $item->pivot->your_column,
            ]),
    ];
}

1 like

ghabriel25

2 days ago

Level 1

@imrandevbd Please dont bring your AI generated answer here without checking first.

There is no Relation class inside Illuminate\Http\Resources\JsonApi https://github.com/laravel/framework/tree/13.x/src%2FIlluminate%2FHttp%2FResources%2FJsonApi

AxelG

4 hours ago

Level 1

For further reference, here is how I solved my problem:

I gave up on my idea, Laravel 13 just doesn't implement a feature at the moment to add meta on a relationship.

Instead, I turned my pivot table into a model and splitted the many-to-many relationship in two one-to-many relationships.

This is more work, but it is more standard than pivot values in meta, and Laravel just has no support for this right now.

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