Database: Query Builder

• Introduction
• Running Database Queries
  • Chunking Results
  • Streaming Results Lazily
  • Aggregates
• Select Statements
• Raw Expressions
• Joins
• Unions
• Basic Where Clauses
  • Where Clauses
  • Or Where Clauses
  • Where Not Clauses
  • Where Any / All / None Clauses
  • JSON Where Clauses
  • Additional Where Clauses
  • Logical Grouping
• Advanced Where Clauses
  • Where Exists Clauses
  • Subquery Where Clauses
  • Full Text Where Clauses
• Ordering, Grouping, Limit and Offset
  • Ordering
  • Grouping
  • Limit and Offset
• Conditional Clauses
• Insert Statements
  • Upserts
• Update Statements
  • Updating JSON Columns
  • Increment and Decrement
• Delete Statements
• Pessimistic Locking
• Debugging

Introduction

Laravel's database query builder provides a convenient, fluent interface to creating and running database queries. It can be used to perform most database operations in your application and works perfectly with all of Laravel's supported database systems.

The Laravel query builder uses PDO parameter binding to protect your application against SQL injection attacks. There is no need to clean or sanitize strings passed to the query builder as query bindings.

Running Database Queries

Retrieving All Rows From a Table

You may use the table method provided by the DB facade to begin a query. The table method returns a fluent query builder instance for the given table, allowing you to chain more constraints onto the query and then finally retrieve the results of the query using the get method:

 1<?php
 2 
 3namespace App\Http\Controllers;
 4 
 5use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 6use Illuminate\View\View;
 7 
 8class UserController extends Controller
 9{
10    /**
11     * Show a list of all of the application's users.
12     */
13    public function index(): View
14    {
15        $users = DB::table('users')->get();
16 
17        return view('user.index', ['users' => $users]);
18    }
19}
 1<?php
 2 
 3namespace App\Http\Controllers;
 4 
 5use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 6use Illuminate\View\View;
 7 
 8class UserController extends Controller
 9{
10    /**
11     * Show a list of all of the application's users.
12     */
13    public function index(): View
14    {
15        $users = DB::table('users')->get();
16 
17        return view('user.index', ['users' => $users]);
18    }
19}

The get method returns an Illuminate\Support\Collection instance containing the results of the query where each result is an instance of the PHP stdClass object. You may access each column's value by accessing the column as a property of the object:

1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3$users = DB::table('users')->get();
4 
5foreach ($users as $user) {
6    echo $user->name;
7}
1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3$users = DB::table('users')->get();
4 
5foreach ($users as $user) {
6    echo $user->name;
7}

Retrieving a Single Row / Column From a Table

If you just need to retrieve a single row from a database table, you may use the DB facade's first method. This method will return a single stdClass object:

1$user = DB::table('users')->where('name', 'John')->first();
2 
3return $user->email;
1$user = DB::table('users')->where('name', 'John')->first();
2 
3return $user->email;

If you would like to retrieve a single row from a database table, but throw an Illuminate\Database\RecordNotFoundException if no matching row is found, you may use the firstOrFail method. If the RecordNotFoundException is not caught, a 404 HTTP response is automatically sent back to the client:

1$user = DB::table('users')->where('name', 'John')->firstOrFail();
1$user = DB::table('users')->where('name', 'John')->firstOrFail();

If you don't need an entire row, you may extract a single value from a record using the value method. This method will return the value of the column directly:

1$email = DB::table('users')->where('name', 'John')->value('email');
1$email = DB::table('users')->where('name', 'John')->value('email');

To retrieve a single row by its id column value, use the find method:

1$user = DB::table('users')->find(3);
1$user = DB::table('users')->find(3);

Retrieving a List of Column Values

If you would like to retrieve an Illuminate\Support\Collection instance containing the values of a single column, you may use the pluck method. In this example, we'll retrieve a collection of user titles:

1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3$titles = DB::table('users')->pluck('title');
4 
5foreach ($titles as $title) {
6    echo $title;
7}
1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3$titles = DB::table('users')->pluck('title');
4 
5foreach ($titles as $title) {
6    echo $title;
7}

You may specify the column that the resulting collection should use as its keys by providing a second argument to the pluck method:

1$titles = DB::table('users')->pluck('title', 'name');
2 
3foreach ($titles as $name => $title) {
4    echo $title;
5}
1$titles = DB::table('users')->pluck('title', 'name');
2 
3foreach ($titles as $name => $title) {
4    echo $title;
5}

Chunking Results

If you need to work with thousands of database records, consider using the chunk method provided by the DB facade. This method retrieves a small chunk of results at a time and feeds each chunk into a closure for processing. For example, let's retrieve the entire users table in chunks of 100 records at a time:

1use Illuminate\Support\Collection;
2use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
3 
4DB::table('users')->orderBy('id')->chunk(100, function (Collection $users) {
5    foreach ($users as $user) {
6        // ...
7    }
8});
1use Illuminate\Support\Collection;
2use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
3 
4DB::table('users')->orderBy('id')->chunk(100, function (Collection $users) {
5    foreach ($users as $user) {
6        // ...
7    }
8});

You may stop further chunks from being processed by returning false from the closure:

1DB::table('users')->orderBy('id')->chunk(100, function (Collection $users) {
2    // Process the records...
3 
4    return false;
5});
1DB::table('users')->orderBy('id')->chunk(100, function (Collection $users) {
2    // Process the records...
3 
4    return false;
5});

If you are updating database records while chunking results, your chunk results could change in unexpected ways. If you plan to update the retrieved records while chunking, it is always best to use the chunkById method instead. This method will automatically paginate the results based on the record's primary key:

1DB::table('users')->where('active', false)
2    ->chunkById(100, function (Collection $users) {
3        foreach ($users as $user) {
4            DB::table('users')
5                ->where('id', $user->id)
6                ->update(['active' => true]);
7        }
8    });
1DB::table('users')->where('active', false)
2    ->chunkById(100, function (Collection $users) {
3        foreach ($users as $user) {
4            DB::table('users')
5                ->where('id', $user->id)
6                ->update(['active' => true]);
7        }
8    });

Since the chunkById and lazyById methods add their own "where" conditions to the query being executed, you should typically logically group your own conditions within a closure:

1DB::table('users')->where(function ($query) {
2    $query->where('credits', 1)->orWhere('credits', 2);
3})->chunkById(100, function (Collection $users) {
4    foreach ($users as $user) {
5        DB::table('users')
6          ->where('id', $user->id)
7          ->update(['credits' => 3]);
8    }
9});
1DB::table('users')->where(function ($query) {
2    $query->where('credits', 1)->orWhere('credits', 2);
3})->chunkById(100, function (Collection $users) {
4    foreach ($users as $user) {
5        DB::table('users')
6          ->where('id', $user->id)
7          ->update(['credits' => 3]);
8    }
9});

Streaming Results Lazily

The lazy method works similarly to the chunk method in the sense that it executes the query in chunks. However, instead of passing each chunk into a callback, the lazy() method returns a LazyCollection, which lets you interact with the results as a single stream:

1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3DB::table('users')->orderBy('id')->lazy()->each(function (object $user) {
4    // ...
5});
1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3DB::table('users')->orderBy('id')->lazy()->each(function (object $user) {
4    // ...
5});

Once again, if you plan to update the retrieved records while iterating over them, it is best to use the lazyById or lazyByIdDesc methods instead. These methods will automatically paginate the results based on the record's primary key:

1DB::table('users')->where('active', false)
2    ->lazyById()->each(function (object $user) {
3        DB::table('users')
4            ->where('id', $user->id)
5            ->update(['active' => true]);
6    });
1DB::table('users')->where('active', false)
2    ->lazyById()->each(function (object $user) {
3        DB::table('users')
4            ->where('id', $user->id)
5            ->update(['active' => true]);
6    });

Aggregates

The query builder also provides a variety of methods for retrieving aggregate values like count, max, min, avg, and sum. You may call any of these methods after constructing your query:

1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3$users = DB::table('users')->count();
4 
5$price = DB::table('orders')->max('price');
1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3$users = DB::table('users')->count();
4 
5$price = DB::table('orders')->max('price');

Of course, you may combine these methods with other clauses to fine-tune how your aggregate value is calculated:

1$price = DB::table('orders')
2                ->where('finalized', 1)
3                ->avg('price');
1$price = DB::table('orders')
2                ->where('finalized', 1)
3                ->avg('price');

Determining if Records Exist

Instead of using the count method to determine if any records exist that match your query's constraints, you may use the exists and doesntExist methods:

1if (DB::table('orders')->where('finalized', 1)->exists()) {
2    // ...
3}
4 
5if (DB::table('orders')->where('finalized', 1)->doesntExist()) {
6    // ...
7}
1if (DB::table('orders')->where('finalized', 1)->exists()) {
2    // ...
3}
4 
5if (DB::table('orders')->where('finalized', 1)->doesntExist()) {
6    // ...
7}

Select Statements

Specifying a Select Clause

You may not always want to select all columns from a database table. Using the select method, you can specify a custom "select" clause for the query:

1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3$users = DB::table('users')
4            ->select('name', 'email as user_email')
5            ->get();
1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3$users = DB::table('users')
4            ->select('name', 'email as user_email')
5            ->get();

The distinct method allows you to force the query to return distinct results:

1$users = DB::table('users')->distinct()->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')->distinct()->get();

If you already have a query builder instance and you wish to add a column to its existing select clause, you may use the addSelect method:

1$query = DB::table('users')->select('name');
2 
3$users = $query->addSelect('age')->get();
1$query = DB::table('users')->select('name');
2 
3$users = $query->addSelect('age')->get();

Raw Expressions

Sometimes you may need to insert an arbitrary string into a query. To create a raw string expression, you may use the raw method provided by the DB facade:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2             ->select(DB::raw('count(*) as user_count, status'))
3             ->where('status', '<>', 1)
4             ->groupBy('status')
5             ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2             ->select(DB::raw('count(*) as user_count, status'))
3             ->where('status', '<>', 1)
4             ->groupBy('status')
5             ->get();

Raw Methods

Instead of using the DB::raw method, you may also use the following methods to insert a raw expression into various parts of your query. Remember, Laravel cannot guarantee that any query using raw expressions is protected against SQL injection vulnerabilities.

selectRaw

The selectRaw method can be used in place of addSelect(DB::raw(/* ... */)). This method accepts an optional array of bindings as its second argument:

1$orders = DB::table('orders')
2                ->selectRaw('price * ? as price_with_tax', [1.0825])
3                ->get();
1$orders = DB::table('orders')
2                ->selectRaw('price * ? as price_with_tax', [1.0825])
3                ->get();

whereRaw / orWhereRaw

The whereRaw and orWhereRaw methods can be used to inject a raw "where" clause into your query. These methods accept an optional array of bindings as their second argument:

1$orders = DB::table('orders')
2                ->whereRaw('price > IF(state = "TX", ?, 100)', [200])
3                ->get();
1$orders = DB::table('orders')
2                ->whereRaw('price > IF(state = "TX", ?, 100)', [200])
3                ->get();

havingRaw / orHavingRaw

The havingRaw and orHavingRaw methods may be used to provide a raw string as the value of the "having" clause. These methods accept an optional array of bindings as their second argument:

1$orders = DB::table('orders')
2                ->select('department', DB::raw('SUM(price) as total_sales'))
3                ->groupBy('department')
4                ->havingRaw('SUM(price) > ?', [2500])
5                ->get();
1$orders = DB::table('orders')
2                ->select('department', DB::raw('SUM(price) as total_sales'))
3                ->groupBy('department')
4                ->havingRaw('SUM(price) > ?', [2500])
5                ->get();

orderByRaw

The orderByRaw method may be used to provide a raw string as the value of the "order by" clause:

1$orders = DB::table('orders')
2                ->orderByRaw('updated_at - created_at DESC')
3                ->get();
1$orders = DB::table('orders')
2                ->orderByRaw('updated_at - created_at DESC')
3                ->get();

groupByRaw

The groupByRaw method may be used to provide a raw string as the value of the group by clause:

1$orders = DB::table('orders')
2                ->select('city', 'state')
3                ->groupByRaw('city, state')
4                ->get();
1$orders = DB::table('orders')
2                ->select('city', 'state')
3                ->groupByRaw('city, state')
4                ->get();

Joins

Inner Join Clause

The query builder may also be used to add join clauses to your queries. To perform a basic "inner join", you may use the join method on a query builder instance. The first argument passed to the join method is the name of the table you need to join to, while the remaining arguments specify the column constraints for the join. You may even join multiple tables in a single query:

1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3$users = DB::table('users')
4            ->join('contacts', 'users.id', '=', 'contacts.user_id')
5            ->join('orders', 'users.id', '=', 'orders.user_id')
6            ->select('users.*', 'contacts.phone', 'orders.price')
7            ->get();
1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3$users = DB::table('users')
4            ->join('contacts', 'users.id', '=', 'contacts.user_id')
5            ->join('orders', 'users.id', '=', 'orders.user_id')
6            ->select('users.*', 'contacts.phone', 'orders.price')
7            ->get();

Left Join / Right Join Clause

If you would like to perform a "left join" or "right join" instead of an "inner join", use the leftJoin or rightJoin methods. These methods have the same signature as the join method:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2            ->leftJoin('posts', 'users.id', '=', 'posts.user_id')
3            ->get();
4 
5$users = DB::table('users')
6            ->rightJoin('posts', 'users.id', '=', 'posts.user_id')
7            ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2            ->leftJoin('posts', 'users.id', '=', 'posts.user_id')
3            ->get();
4 
5$users = DB::table('users')
6            ->rightJoin('posts', 'users.id', '=', 'posts.user_id')
7            ->get();

Cross Join Clause

You may use the crossJoin method to perform a "cross join". Cross joins generate a cartesian product between the first table and the joined table:

1$sizes = DB::table('sizes')
2            ->crossJoin('colors')
3            ->get();
1$sizes = DB::table('sizes')
2            ->crossJoin('colors')
3            ->get();

Advanced Join Clauses

You may also specify more advanced join clauses. To get started, pass a closure as the second argument to the join method. The closure will receive a Illuminate\Database\Query\JoinClause instance which allows you to specify constraints on the "join" clause:

1DB::table('users')
2        ->join('contacts', function (JoinClause $join) {
3            $join->on('users.id', '=', 'contacts.user_id')->orOn(/* ... */);
4        })
5        ->get();
1DB::table('users')
2        ->join('contacts', function (JoinClause $join) {
3            $join->on('users.id', '=', 'contacts.user_id')->orOn(/* ... */);
4        })
5        ->get();

If you would like to use a "where" clause on your joins, you may use the where and orWhere methods provided by the JoinClause instance. Instead of comparing two columns, these methods will compare the column against a value:

1DB::table('users')
2        ->join('contacts', function (JoinClause $join) {
3            $join->on('users.id', '=', 'contacts.user_id')
4                 ->where('contacts.user_id', '>', 5);
5        })
6        ->get();
1DB::table('users')
2        ->join('contacts', function (JoinClause $join) {
3            $join->on('users.id', '=', 'contacts.user_id')
4                 ->where('contacts.user_id', '>', 5);
5        })
6        ->get();

Subquery Joins

You may use the joinSub, leftJoinSub, and rightJoinSub methods to join a query to a subquery. Each of these methods receives three arguments: the subquery, its table alias, and a closure that defines the related columns. In this example, we will retrieve a collection of users where each user record also contains the created_at timestamp of the user's most recently published blog post:

1$latestPosts = DB::table('posts')
2                   ->select('user_id', DB::raw('MAX(created_at) as last_post_created_at'))
3                   ->where('is_published', true)
4                   ->groupBy('user_id');
5 
6$users = DB::table('users')
7        ->joinSub($latestPosts, 'latest_posts', function (JoinClause $join) {
8            $join->on('users.id', '=', 'latest_posts.user_id');
9        })->get();
1$latestPosts = DB::table('posts')
2                   ->select('user_id', DB::raw('MAX(created_at) as last_post_created_at'))
3                   ->where('is_published', true)
4                   ->groupBy('user_id');
5 
6$users = DB::table('users')
7        ->joinSub($latestPosts, 'latest_posts', function (JoinClause $join) {
8            $join->on('users.id', '=', 'latest_posts.user_id');
9        })->get();

Lateral Joins

You may use the joinLateral and leftJoinLateral methods to perform a "lateral join" with a subquery. Each of these methods receives two arguments: the subquery and its table alias. The join condition(s) should be specified within the where clause of the given subquery. Lateral joins are evaluated for each row and can reference columns outside the subquery.

In this example, we will retrieve a collection of users as well as the user's three most recent blog posts. Each user can produce up to three rows in the result set: one for each of their most recent blog posts. The join condition is specified with a whereColumn clause within the subquery, referencing the current user row:

1$latestPosts = DB::table('posts')
2                   ->select('id as post_id', 'title as post_title', 'created_at as post_created_at')
3                   ->whereColumn('user_id', 'users.id')
4                   ->orderBy('created_at', 'desc')
5                   ->limit(3);
6 
7$users = DB::table('users')
8            ->joinLateral($latestPosts, 'latest_posts')
9            ->get();
1$latestPosts = DB::table('posts')
2                   ->select('id as post_id', 'title as post_title', 'created_at as post_created_at')
3                   ->whereColumn('user_id', 'users.id')
4                   ->orderBy('created_at', 'desc')
5                   ->limit(3);
6 
7$users = DB::table('users')
8            ->joinLateral($latestPosts, 'latest_posts')
9            ->get();

Unions

The query builder also provides a convenient method to "union" two or more queries together. For example, you may create an initial query and use the union method to union it with more queries:

1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3$first = DB::table('users')
4            ->whereNull('first_name');
5 
6$users = DB::table('users')
7            ->whereNull('last_name')
8            ->union($first)
9            ->get();
1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
2 
3$first = DB::table('users')
4            ->whereNull('first_name');
5 
6$users = DB::table('users')
7            ->whereNull('last_name')
8            ->union($first)
9            ->get();

In addition to the union method, the query builder provides a unionAll method. Queries that are combined using the unionAll method will not have their duplicate results removed. The unionAll method has the same method signature as the union method.

Basic Where Clauses

Where Clauses

You may use the query builder's where method to add "where" clauses to the query. The most basic call to the where method requires three arguments. The first argument is the name of the column. The second argument is an operator, which can be any of the database's supported operators. The third argument is the value to compare against the column's value.

For example, the following query retrieves users where the value of the votes column is equal to 100 and the value of the age column is greater than 35:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->where('votes', '=', 100)
3                ->where('age', '>', 35)
4                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->where('votes', '=', 100)
3                ->where('age', '>', 35)
4                ->get();

For convenience, if you want to verify that a column is = to a given value, you may pass the value as the second argument to the where method. Laravel will assume you would like to use the = operator:

1$users = DB::table('users')->where('votes', 100)->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')->where('votes', 100)->get();

As previously mentioned, you may use any operator that is supported by your database system:

 1$users = DB::table('users')
 2                ->where('votes', '>=', 100)
 3                ->get();
 4 
 5$users = DB::table('users')
 6                ->where('votes', '<>', 100)
 7                ->get();
 8 
 9$users = DB::table('users')
10                ->where('name', 'like', 'T%')
11                ->get();
 1$users = DB::table('users')
 2                ->where('votes', '>=', 100)
 3                ->get();
 4 
 5$users = DB::table('users')
 6                ->where('votes', '<>', 100)
 7                ->get();
 8 
 9$users = DB::table('users')
10                ->where('name', 'like', 'T%')
11                ->get();

You may also pass an array of conditions to the where function. Each element of the array should be an array containing the three arguments typically passed to the where method:

1$users = DB::table('users')->where([
2    ['status', '=', '1'],
3    ['subscribed', '<>', '1'],
4])->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')->where([
2    ['status', '=', '1'],
3    ['subscribed', '<>', '1'],
4])->get();

Or Where Clauses

When chaining together calls to the query builder's where method, the "where" clauses will be joined together using the and operator. However, you may use the orWhere method to join a clause to the query using the or operator. The orWhere method accepts the same arguments as the where method:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                    ->where('votes', '>', 100)
3                    ->orWhere('name', 'John')
4                    ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                    ->where('votes', '>', 100)
3                    ->orWhere('name', 'John')
4                    ->get();

If you need to group an "or" condition within parentheses, you may pass a closure as the first argument to the orWhere method:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2            ->where('votes', '>', 100)
3            ->orWhere(function (Builder $query) {
4                $query->where('name', 'Abigail')
5                      ->where('votes', '>', 50);
6            })
7            ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2            ->where('votes', '>', 100)
3            ->orWhere(function (Builder $query) {
4                $query->where('name', 'Abigail')
5                      ->where('votes', '>', 50);
6            })
7            ->get();

The example above will produce the following SQL:

1select * from users where votes > 100 or (name = 'Abigail' and votes > 50)
1select * from users where votes > 100 or (name = 'Abigail' and votes > 50)

Where Not Clauses

The whereNot and orWhereNot methods may be used to negate a given group of query constraints. For example, the following query excludes products that are on clearance or which have a price that is less than ten:

1$products = DB::table('products')
2                ->whereNot(function (Builder $query) {
3                    $query->where('clearance', true)
4                          ->orWhere('price', '<', 10);
5                })
6                ->get();
1$products = DB::table('products')
2                ->whereNot(function (Builder $query) {
3                    $query->where('clearance', true)
4                          ->orWhere('price', '<', 10);
5                })
6                ->get();

Where Any / All / None Clauses

Sometimes you may need to apply the same query constraints to multiple columns. For example, you may want to retrieve all records where any columns in a given list are LIKE a given value. You may accomplish this using the whereAny method:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2            ->where('active', true)
3            ->whereAny([
4                'name',
5                'email',
6                'phone',
7            ], 'like', 'Example%')
8            ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2            ->where('active', true)
3            ->whereAny([
4                'name',
5                'email',
6                'phone',
7            ], 'like', 'Example%')
8            ->get();

The query above will result in the following SQL:

1SELECT *
2FROM users
3WHERE active = true AND (
4    name LIKE 'Example%' OR
5    email LIKE 'Example%' OR
6    phone LIKE 'Example%'
7)
1SELECT *
2FROM users
3WHERE active = true AND (
4    name LIKE 'Example%' OR
5    email LIKE 'Example%' OR
6    phone LIKE 'Example%'
7)

Similarly, the whereAll method may be used to retrieve records where all of the given columns match a given constraint:

1$posts = DB::table('posts')
2            ->where('published', true)
3            ->whereAll([
4                'title',
5                'content',
6            ], 'like', '%Laravel%')
7            ->get();
1$posts = DB::table('posts')
2            ->where('published', true)
3            ->whereAll([
4                'title',
5                'content',
6            ], 'like', '%Laravel%')
7            ->get();

The query above will result in the following SQL:

1SELECT *
2FROM posts
3WHERE published = true AND (
4    title LIKE '%Laravel%' AND
5    content LIKE '%Laravel%'
6)
1SELECT *
2FROM posts
3WHERE published = true AND (
4    title LIKE '%Laravel%' AND
5    content LIKE '%Laravel%'
6)

The whereNone method may be used to retrieve records where none of the given columns match a given constraint:

1$posts = DB::table('albums')
2            ->where('published', true)
3            ->whereNone([
4                'title',
5                'lyrics',
6                'tags',
7            ], 'like', '%explicit%')
8            ->get();
1$posts = DB::table('albums')
2            ->where('published', true)
3            ->whereNone([
4                'title',
5                'lyrics',
6                'tags',
7            ], 'like', '%explicit%')
8            ->get();

The query above will result in the following SQL:

1SELECT *
2FROM albums
3WHERE published = true AND NOT (
4    title LIKE '%explicit%' OR
5    lyrics LIKE '%explicit%' OR
6    tags LIKE '%explicit%'
7)
1SELECT *
2FROM albums
3WHERE published = true AND NOT (
4    title LIKE '%explicit%' OR
5    lyrics LIKE '%explicit%' OR
6    tags LIKE '%explicit%'
7)

JSON Where Clauses

Laravel also supports querying JSON column types on databases that provide support for JSON column types. Currently, this includes MariaDB 10.3+, MySQL 8.0+, PostgreSQL 12.0+, SQL Server 2017+, and SQLite 3.39.0+. To query a JSON column, use the -> operator:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->where('preferences->dining->meal', 'salad')
3                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->where('preferences->dining->meal', 'salad')
3                ->get();

You may use whereJsonContains to query JSON arrays:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereJsonContains('options->languages', 'en')
3                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereJsonContains('options->languages', 'en')
3                ->get();

If your application uses the MariaDB, MySQL, or PostgreSQL databases, you may pass an array of values to the whereJsonContains method:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereJsonContains('options->languages', ['en', 'de'])
3                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereJsonContains('options->languages', ['en', 'de'])
3                ->get();

You may use whereJsonLength method to query JSON arrays by their length:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereJsonLength('options->languages', 0)
3                ->get();
4 
5$users = DB::table('users')
6                ->whereJsonLength('options->languages', '>', 1)
7                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereJsonLength('options->languages', 0)
3                ->get();
4 
5$users = DB::table('users')
6                ->whereJsonLength('options->languages', '>', 1)
7                ->get();

Additional Where Clauses

whereLike / orWhereLike / whereNotLike / orWhereNotLike

The whereLike method allows you to add "LIKE" clauses to your query for pattern matching. These methods provide a database-agnostic way of performing string matching queries, with the ability to toggle case-sensitivity. By default, string matching is case-insensitive:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->whereLike('name', '%John%')
3           ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->whereLike('name', '%John%')
3           ->get();

You can enable a case-sensitive search via the caseSensitive argument:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->whereLike('name', '%John%', caseSensitive: true)
3           ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->whereLike('name', '%John%', caseSensitive: true)
3           ->get();

The orWhereLike method allows you to add an "or" clause with a LIKE condition:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->where('votes', '>', 100)
3           ->orWhereLike('name', '%John%')
4           ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->where('votes', '>', 100)
3           ->orWhereLike('name', '%John%')
4           ->get();

The whereNotLike method allows you to add "NOT LIKE" clauses to your query:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->whereNotLike('name', '%John%')
3           ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->whereNotLike('name', '%John%')
3           ->get();

Similarly, you can use orWhereNotLike to add an "or" clause with a NOT LIKE condition:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->where('votes', '>', 100)
3           ->orWhereNotLike('name', '%John%')
4           ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->where('votes', '>', 100)
3           ->orWhereNotLike('name', '%John%')
4           ->get();

whereIn / whereNotIn / orWhereIn / orWhereNotIn

The whereIn method verifies that a given column's value is contained within the given array:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                    ->whereIn('id', [1, 2, 3])
3                    ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                    ->whereIn('id', [1, 2, 3])
3                    ->get();

The whereNotIn method verifies that the given column's value is not contained in the given array:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                    ->whereNotIn('id', [1, 2, 3])
3                    ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                    ->whereNotIn('id', [1, 2, 3])
3                    ->get();

You may also provide a query object as the whereIn method's second argument:

1$activeUsers = DB::table('users')->select('id')->where('is_active', 1);
2 
3$users = DB::table('comments')
4                    ->whereIn('user_id', $activeUsers)
5                    ->get();
1$activeUsers = DB::table('users')->select('id')->where('is_active', 1);
2 
3$users = DB::table('comments')
4                    ->whereIn('user_id', $activeUsers)
5                    ->get();

The example above will produce the following SQL:

1select * from comments where user_id in (
2    select id
3    from users
4    where is_active = 1
5)
1select * from comments where user_id in (
2    select id
3    from users
4    where is_active = 1
5)

whereBetween / orWhereBetween

The whereBetween method verifies that a column's value is between two values:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->whereBetween('votes', [1, 100])
3           ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->whereBetween('votes', [1, 100])
3           ->get();

whereNotBetween / orWhereNotBetween

The whereNotBetween method verifies that a column's value lies outside of two values:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                    ->whereNotBetween('votes', [1, 100])
3                    ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                    ->whereNotBetween('votes', [1, 100])
3                    ->get();

whereBetweenColumns / whereNotBetweenColumns / orWhereBetweenColumns / orWhereNotBetweenColumns

The whereBetweenColumns method verifies that a column's value is between the two values of two columns in the same table row:

1$patients = DB::table('patients')
2                       ->whereBetweenColumns('weight', ['minimum_allowed_weight', 'maximum_allowed_weight'])
3                       ->get();
1$patients = DB::table('patients')
2                       ->whereBetweenColumns('weight', ['minimum_allowed_weight', 'maximum_allowed_weight'])
3                       ->get();

The whereNotBetweenColumns method verifies that a column's value lies outside the two values of two columns in the same table row:

1$patients = DB::table('patients')
2                       ->whereNotBetweenColumns('weight', ['minimum_allowed_weight', 'maximum_allowed_weight'])
3                       ->get();
1$patients = DB::table('patients')
2                       ->whereNotBetweenColumns('weight', ['minimum_allowed_weight', 'maximum_allowed_weight'])
3                       ->get();

whereNull / whereNotNull / orWhereNull / orWhereNotNull

The whereNull method verifies that the value of the given column is NULL:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereNull('updated_at')
3                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereNull('updated_at')
3                ->get();

The whereNotNull method verifies that the column's value is not NULL:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereNotNull('updated_at')
3                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereNotNull('updated_at')
3                ->get();

whereDate / whereMonth / whereDay / whereYear / whereTime

The whereDate method may be used to compare a column's value against a date:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereDate('created_at', '2016-12-31')
3                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereDate('created_at', '2016-12-31')
3                ->get();

The whereMonth method may be used to compare a column's value against a specific month:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereMonth('created_at', '12')
3                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereMonth('created_at', '12')
3                ->get();

The whereDay method may be used to compare a column's value against a specific day of the month:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereDay('created_at', '31')
3                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereDay('created_at', '31')
3                ->get();

The whereYear method may be used to compare a column's value against a specific year:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereYear('created_at', '2016')
3                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereYear('created_at', '2016')
3                ->get();

The whereTime method may be used to compare a column's value against a specific time:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereTime('created_at', '=', '11:20:45')
3                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereTime('created_at', '=', '11:20:45')
3                ->get();

whereColumn / orWhereColumn

The whereColumn method may be used to verify that two columns are equal:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereColumn('first_name', 'last_name')
3                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereColumn('first_name', 'last_name')
3                ->get();

You may also pass a comparison operator to the whereColumn method:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereColumn('updated_at', '>', 'created_at')
3                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereColumn('updated_at', '>', 'created_at')
3                ->get();

You may also pass an array of column comparisons to the whereColumn method. These conditions will be joined using the and operator:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereColumn([
3                    ['first_name', '=', 'last_name'],
4                    ['updated_at', '>', 'created_at'],
5                ])->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->whereColumn([
3                    ['first_name', '=', 'last_name'],
4                    ['updated_at', '>', 'created_at'],
5                ])->get();

Logical Grouping

Sometimes you may need to group several "where" clauses within parentheses in order to achieve your query's desired logical grouping. In fact, you should generally always group calls to the orWhere method in parentheses in order to avoid unexpected query behavior. To accomplish this, you may pass a closure to the where method:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->where('name', '=', 'John')
3           ->where(function (Builder $query) {
4               $query->where('votes', '>', 100)
5                     ->orWhere('title', '=', 'Admin');
6           })
7           ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->where('name', '=', 'John')
3           ->where(function (Builder $query) {
4               $query->where('votes', '>', 100)
5                     ->orWhere('title', '=', 'Admin');
6           })
7           ->get();

As you can see, passing a closure into the where method instructs the query builder to begin a constraint group. The closure will receive a query builder instance which you can use to set the constraints that should be contained within the parenthesis group. The example above will produce the following SQL:

1select * from users where name = 'John' and (votes > 100 or title = 'Admin')
1select * from users where name = 'John' and (votes > 100 or title = 'Admin')

Advanced Where Clauses

Where Exists Clauses

The whereExists method allows you to write "where exists" SQL clauses. The whereExists method accepts a closure which will receive a query builder instance, allowing you to define the query that should be placed inside of the "exists" clause:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->whereExists(function (Builder $query) {
3               $query->select(DB::raw(1))
4                     ->from('orders')
5                     ->whereColumn('orders.user_id', 'users.id');
6           })
7           ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->whereExists(function (Builder $query) {
3               $query->select(DB::raw(1))
4                     ->from('orders')
5                     ->whereColumn('orders.user_id', 'users.id');
6           })
7           ->get();

Alternatively, you may provide a query object to the whereExists method instead of a closure:

1$orders = DB::table('orders')
2                ->select(DB::raw(1))
3                ->whereColumn('orders.user_id', 'users.id');
4 
5$users = DB::table('users')
6                    ->whereExists($orders)
7                    ->get();
1$orders = DB::table('orders')
2                ->select(DB::raw(1))
3                ->whereColumn('orders.user_id', 'users.id');
4 
5$users = DB::table('users')
6                    ->whereExists($orders)
7                    ->get();

Both of the examples above will produce the following SQL:

1select * from users
2where exists (
3    select 1
4    from orders
5    where orders.user_id = users.id
6)
1select * from users
2where exists (
3    select 1
4    from orders
5    where orders.user_id = users.id
6)

Subquery Where Clauses

Sometimes you may need to construct a "where" clause that compares the results of a subquery to a given value. You may accomplish this by passing a closure and a value to the where method. For example, the following query will retrieve all users who have a recent "membership" of a given type;

 1use App\Models\User;
 2use Illuminate\Database\Query\Builder;
 3 
 4$users = User::where(function (Builder $query) {
 5    $query->select('type')
 6        ->from('membership')
 7        ->whereColumn('membership.user_id', 'users.id')
 8        ->orderByDesc('membership.start_date')
 9        ->limit(1);
10}, 'Pro')->get();
 1use App\Models\User;
 2use Illuminate\Database\Query\Builder;
 3 
 4$users = User::where(function (Builder $query) {
 5    $query->select('type')
 6        ->from('membership')
 7        ->whereColumn('membership.user_id', 'users.id')
 8        ->orderByDesc('membership.start_date')
 9        ->limit(1);
10}, 'Pro')->get();

Or, you may need to construct a "where" clause that compares a column to the results of a subquery. You may accomplish this by passing a column, operator, and closure to the where method. For example, the following query will retrieve all income records where the amount is less than average;

1use App\Models\Income;
2use Illuminate\Database\Query\Builder;
3 
4$incomes = Income::where('amount', '<', function (Builder $query) {
5    $query->selectRaw('avg(i.amount)')->from('incomes as i');
6})->get();
1use App\Models\Income;
2use Illuminate\Database\Query\Builder;
3 
4$incomes = Income::where('amount', '<', function (Builder $query) {
5    $query->selectRaw('avg(i.amount)')->from('incomes as i');
6})->get();

Full Text Where Clauses

The whereFullText and orWhereFullText methods may be used to add full text "where" clauses to a query for columns that have full text indexes. These methods will be transformed into the appropriate SQL for the underlying database system by Laravel. For example, a MATCH AGAINST clause will be generated for applications utilizing MariaDB or MySQL:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->whereFullText('bio', 'web developer')
3           ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2           ->whereFullText('bio', 'web developer')
3           ->get();

Ordering, Grouping, Limit and Offset

Ordering

The orderBy Method

The orderBy method allows you to sort the results of the query by a given column. The first argument accepted by the orderBy method should be the column you wish to sort by, while the second argument determines the direction of the sort and may be either asc or desc:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->orderBy('name', 'desc')
3                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->orderBy('name', 'desc')
3                ->get();

To sort by multiple columns, you may simply invoke orderBy as many times as necessary:

1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->orderBy('name', 'desc')
3                ->orderBy('email', 'asc')
4                ->get();
1$users = DB::table('users')
2                ->orderBy('name', 'desc')
3                ->orderBy('email', 'asc')
4                ->get();

The latest and oldest Methods

The latest and oldest methods allow you to easily order results by date. By default, the result will be ordered by the table's created_at column. Or, you may pass the column name that you wish to sort by:

1$user = DB::table('users')
2                ->latest()
3                ->first();
1$user = DB::table('users')
2                ->latest()
3                ->first();

Random Ordering

The inRandomOrder method may be used to sort the query results randomly. For example, you may use this method to fetch a random user:

1$randomUser = DB::table('users')
2                ->inRandomOrder()
3                ->first();
1$randomUser = DB::table('users')
2                ->inRandomOrder()
3                ->first();

Removing Existing Orderings

The reorder method removes all of the "order by" clauses that have previously been applied to the query:

1$query = DB::table('users')->orderBy('name');
2 
3$unorderedUsers = $query->reorder()->get();
1$query = DB::table('users')->orderBy('name');
2 
3$unorderedUsers = $query->reorder()->get();