Laravel Pipeline: A Powerful Tool for Managing Data Flows

What is Laravel Pipeline and how does it work?

Pipeline is an implementation of the Pipeline Pattern, which allows an object to pass through a series of handlers, each performing a specific task. This is a great way to structure code following the Single Responsibility Principle (SRP), which is part of SOLID.

Key features of Pipeline

Pipeline is especially useful in scenarios like:

1. Object transformation - when you need to apply multiple handlers to modify or enrich an object.
2. Model processing before saving or after updating - when you need to execute several independent processes, such as creating relationships, sending notifications, or integrating with third-party services.

Example of Laravel Pipeline usage

Let’s say that after creating a user, we need to:

• Generate a profile picture
• Activate a subscription
• Send a welcome email

Instead of handling this logic in one place, Pipeline can be used:

use Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline;

$user = Pipeline::send($user)
            ->through([
                GenerateProfilePhoto::class,
                ActivateSubscription::class,
                SendWelcomeEmail::class,
            ])
            ->then(fn (User $user) => $user);

Each handler is a separate class, like this:

class GenerateProfilePhoto {
    public function handle(User $user, Closure $next) {
        // Generate profile photo
        $user->profile_photo = 'default.png';

        return $next($user);
    }
}

The key takeaway: each class receives the $user object, performs its logic, and passes it to the next handler using $next($user). This is similar to middleware but can be used beyond HTTP requests, in any business logic.

Why use Pipeline?

1. Cleaner and more readable code - each process is in its own class.
2. Flexibility - easily add or remove handlers.
3. Reusability - the same classes can be used in different parts of the application.

Additional resources

• Laravel Pipeline Documentation

Conclusion

If you need to process data sequentially, Pipeline is a great way to do it efficiently and elegantly. Now that this tool is officially documented in Laravel 10, using it is easier than ever.