Laravel API Resources: Sparse Fieldsets & Cursor Pagination | Mohamed Said [ ![Mohamed Said](https://cdn.msaied.com/01KT78WE565VEMM3PSNQAAB0MH.png) Mohamed Said Laravel Backend Engineer ](https://www.msaied.com) [ Home ](https://www.msaied.com) [ Projects ](https://www.msaied.com/projects) [ Articles ](https://www.msaied.com/articles) [ Certificates ](https://www.msaied.com/certificates) [ Contact ](https://www.msaied.com#contact-section) [ ](https://github.com/EG-Mohamed) [ Home ](https://www.msaied.com) [ Projects ](https://www.msaied.com/projects) [ Articles ](https://www.msaied.com/articles) [ Certificates ](https://www.msaied.com/certificates) [ Contact ](https://www.msaied.com#contact-section) [ home ](https://www.msaied.com) [ articles ](https://www.msaied.com/articles) Laravel API Resources: Sparse Fieldsets, Conditional Relationships, and Cursor Pagination On this page 1. [ Beyond Basic JsonResource ](#beyond-basic-jsonresource) 2. [ Sparse Fieldsets ](#sparse-fieldsets) 3. [ Conditional Relationships Without N+1 ](#conditional-relationships-without-n1) 4. [ Nested Conditional Data ](#nested-conditional-data) 5. [ Cursor Pagination at Scale ](#cursor-pagination-at-scale) 6. [ Exposing Pagination Links in Resources ](#exposing-pagination-links-in-resources) 7. [ Takeaways ](#takeaways) ![Laravel API Resources: Sparse Fieldsets, Conditional Relationships, and Cursor Pagination](https://cdn.msaied.com/710/4f310773d50e6b3a7ab53e64d3e76921.png) #laravel #api #eloquent #performance Laravel API Resources: Sparse Fieldsets, Conditional Relationships, and Cursor Pagination =========================================================================================== 27 Sep 2026 3 min read ![Mohamed Said](https://cdn.msaied.com/01M22N44A70A5MC2S599JP0MPH.webp) Mohamed Said Table of contents 1. [ 01 Beyond Basic JsonResource ](#beyond-basic-jsonresource) 2. [ 02 Sparse Fieldsets ](#sparse-fieldsets) 3. [ 03 Conditional Relationships Without N+1 ](#conditional-relationships-without-n1) 4. [ 04 Nested Conditional Data ](#nested-conditional-data) 5. [ 05 Cursor Pagination at Scale ](#cursor-pagination-at-scale) 6. [ 06 Exposing Pagination Links in Resources ](#exposing-pagination-links-in-resources) 7. [ 07 Takeaways ](#takeaways) Beyond Basic JsonResource ------------------------- Most Laravel APIs start with a `JsonResource` that dumps every column and calls it a day. That works until clients complain about payload size, mobile teams beg for field filtering, and your DBA notices the missing indexes on `OFFSET`-based pagination. This article tackles all three with concrete, production-ready patterns. --- Sparse Fieldsets ---------------- Sparse fieldsets let clients request only the columns they need — a pattern borrowed from JSON:API. Implement it cleanly by reading a `fields` query parameter inside your resource. ```php // app/Http/Resources/PostResource.php class PostResource extends JsonResource { public function toArray(Request $request): array { $fields = $this->requestedFields($request, 'posts'); $all = [ 'id' => $this->id, 'title' => $this->title, 'body' => $this->body, 'created_at' => $this->created_at->toIso8601String(), 'author' => new UserResource($this->whenLoaded('author')), ]; return $fields ? array_intersect_key($all, array_flip($fields)) : $all; } private function requestedFields(Request $request, string $type): array { $raw = $request->query('fields', []); if (is_string($raw)) { return []; } return array_map('trim', explode(',', $raw[$type] ?? '')); } } ``` A request like `GET /posts?fields[posts]=id,title` now returns only those two keys. Keep the logic in a `HasSparseFieldsets` trait if you need it across many resources. --- Conditional Relationships Without N+1 ------------------------------------- `whenLoaded()` is the correct primitive, but the real trap is forgetting to eager-load based on what the client actually requested. ```php // app/Http/Controllers/PostController.php public function index(Request $request): AnonymousResourceCollection { $includes = array_filter( explode(',', $request->query('include', '')), fn(string $rel) => in_array($rel, ['author', 'tags', 'comments'], true) ); $posts = Post::query() ->with($includes) // only load what was asked for ->cursorPaginate(25); return PostResource::collection($posts); } ``` Whitelisting allowed includes server-side prevents clients from triggering arbitrary eager loads. Pair this with `whenLoaded()` in the resource and you get zero N+1 queries regardless of which includes the client sends. ### Nested Conditional Data For attributes that are expensive to compute, use `when()`: ```php 'read_time' => $this->when( $request->boolean('meta'), fn() => $this->computeReadTime() ), ``` The closure is only evaluated when the condition is truthy, so the computation never runs for clients that don't need it. --- Cursor Pagination at Scale -------------------------- `OFFSET` pagination degrades as page numbers grow because the database must scan and discard all preceding rows. Cursor pagination solves this by encoding the last-seen position in an opaque token. ```php $posts = Post::query() ->orderBy('id') ->cursorPaginate(25); return PostResource::collection($posts); // Response includes: // "next_cursor": "eyJpZCI6MTAwfQ" // "prev_cursor": "eyJpZCI6NzZ9" ``` Laravel's `cursorPaginate()` automatically adds a `WHERE id > ?` clause using the decoded cursor, keeping the query O(1) relative to dataset size. **One constraint:** cursor pagination requires a stable, unique sort column (or composite). Sorting by `created_at` alone breaks when two rows share the same timestamp. Add `id` as a tiebreaker: ```php ->orderBy('created_at') ->orderBy('id') ->cursorPaginate(25); ``` Laravel encodes both columns in the cursor automatically. ### Exposing Pagination Links in Resources ```php return PostResource::collection($posts) ->additional([ 'links' => [ 'next' => $posts->nextPageUrl(), 'prev' => $posts->previousPageUrl(), ], ]); ``` --- Takeaways --------- - **Sparse fieldsets** reduce payload size and keep serialization logic in one place — use a per-type `fields` query parameter. - **Whitelist includes** server-side before passing them to `with()`; never trust raw client input for eager loading. - **`whenLoaded()` + `when()`** are your tools for zero-cost conditional data — lean on closures to defer expensive computation. - **Cursor pagination** is always preferable to offset for large, append-heavy tables; ensure your sort key is unique or add a tiebreaker. - Keep resource classes thin: move field-filtering and include-parsing logic into traits or dedicated resolver classes as the API grows. Found this useful? [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.msaied.com%2Farticles%2Flaravel-api-resources-sparse-fieldsets-conditional-relationships-and-cursor-pagination&text=Laravel+API+Resources%3A+Sparse+Fieldsets%2C+Conditional+Relationships%2C+and+Cursor+Pagination) [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.msaied.com%2Farticles%2Flaravel-api-resources-sparse-fieldsets-conditional-relationships-and-cursor-pagination) Frequently Asked Questions ---------------------------- 3 questions Q01 Can sparse fieldsets break API consumers that expect a fixed schema? Yes, if consumers rely on every field always being present. Document the default (all fields) clearly and treat sparse fieldsets as an opt-in optimization. Consider versioning your API contract separately from the fieldset feature. Q02 When should I prefer offset pagination over cursor pagination? Offset pagination is acceptable for small, rarely-updated datasets where clients need random page access (e.g., jump to page 10). For large or frequently-inserted tables, cursor pagination is almost always the right choice. Q03 How do I test that N+1 queries are not introduced when new includes are added? Use `DB::enableQueryLog()` in a Pest test or the `assertQueryCount()` helper from the `laravel-query-detector` package. Assert the exact query count for a known set of includes so regressions surface immediately in CI. 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