How to Return JSON Response in Laravel?

Hi Friends,

This simple article demonstrates of how to return json response in laravel. If you have a question about laravel return json from controller then I will give a simple example with a solution. This article goes in detailed on return response()->json laravel. This example will help you laravel return json response with status code.

You can use this example with laravel 6, laravel 7, laravel 8, laravel 9 and laravel 10 versions.

In this example, i will give you simple three examples of how to return json response in laravel controller. we will use response()->json() function to return response in laravel.

So, let's see the simple examples:

Example 1:

app/Http/Controllers/UserController.php

<?php
     
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
    
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\Models\User;
    
class UserController extends Controller
{
    /**
     * Display a listing of the resource.
     *
     * @return \Illuminate\Http\Response
     */
    public function index(Request $request)
    {
        $user = User::first();
          
        return response()->json(['success' => true]);
    }
}

Output:

{
    "success": true
}

Example 2:

app/Http/Controllers/UserController.php

<?php
     
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
    
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\Models\User;
    
class UserController extends Controller
{
    /**
     * Display a listing of the resource.
     *
     * @return \Illuminate\Http\Response
     */
    public function index(Request $request)
    {
        $user = User::first();
          
        return response()->json(['success' => true], 201);
    }
}

Output:

{
    "success": true
}

Example 3:

app/Http/Controllers/UserController.php

<?php
     
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
    
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\Models\User;
    
class UserController extends Controller
{
    /**
     * Display a listing of the resource.
     *
     * @return \Illuminate\Http\Response
     */
    public function index(Request $request)
    {
        $user = User::get();
          
        return $user;
    }
}

Output:

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "name": "Hardik Savani",
    "email": "antonetta69@example.net",
    "email_verified_at": "2023-02-20T03:48:46.000000Z",
    "created_at": "2023-04-28T03:48:46.000000Z",
    "updated_at": "2023-01-20T03:48:46.000000Z",
    "google_id": null,
    "birthdate": null
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "name": "Brain Lebsack",
    "email": "joana38@example.com",
    "email_verified_at": "2023-02-20T03:48:46.000000Z",
    "created_at": "2023-02-20T03:48:46.000000Z",
    "updated_at": "2023-02-20T03:48:46.000000Z",
    "google_id": null,
    "birthdate": null
  }
]

I hope it can help you...