Level 2
How did you define those relationships? Because these cases are very different
#1 Calling relationship, no data retrieved yet
$workoutSession->microcycle()
#2 Calling eloquent collection, data retrieved
$workoutSession->microcycle
May 31, 2026
3
Level 1
Is it worth defining helper methods on models that traverse relationship chains?
I have a nested relationship chain in my app: WorkoutSession → Microcycle → Mesocycle → Macrocycle → User → actualTrainer.
I defined a helper method on the Microcycle model called actualTrainer() that traverses this chain internally:
public function actualTrainer() { return $this->mesocycle->macrocycle->user->actualTrainer()->first(); }
My question is: if I eager load all the relationships beforehand with load('mesocycle.macrocycle.user.actualTrainer'), will calling this helper method still use the already loaded relationships from memory? Or will it fire additional queries because it's traversing the chain through its own internal logic?
And more generally, does it make sense to define these kinds of helper methods on models when the relationships are this deeply nested, or is it better to always traverse the chain directly and rely on eager loading?
Thanks
Level 6
To answer your first question directly: Yes, your current setup will fire additional queries.
To use the eager-loaded data in memory, you need to access it as a property instead of a method:
public function actualTrainer() {
return $this->mesocycle?->macrocycle?->user?->actualTrainer;
}
As for your second question about architecture: yes, it absolutely makes sense to define these helpers. It actually aligns perfectly with the Law of Demeter. Wrapping deep traversals in a helper keeps your views and controllers clean and prevents you from repeating massive chains all over your codebase.
That said, if you find yourself needing to actually query against this deep relationship (e.g., filtering Microcycle records by a specific trainer), standard helper methods won't work. For that, you should check out Staudenmeir's eloquent-has-many-deep package. It lets you define native Eloquent relationships across unlimited intermediate tables so you can eager load and query them directly.
Level 80
@mikelmedina No. You shouldn’t be using helpers to “fix” bad code. You should just be eager-loading the relationships you actually need for a request.
Please or to participate in this conversation.