Laravel get query string
Stefan Izdrail
Founder & Senior Architect · 2026-06-29
In today's modern web applications, users often visit pages with specific parameters or query strings attached to their URLs. In the world of Laravel Framework, you may want to access and manipulate these query parameters. This article will show you the proper way to handle query strings in your Laravel application and ensure that they are successfully stored in your database.
Understanding Query Strings
Query strings are data passed through a URL as name-value pairs. These parameters help web applications process dynamic content or handle specific states during user navigation. For instance, if you wanted to filter products based on their category in an e-commerce application, your URL would contain the query string (category_id=1) to specify the chosen category.
Accessing Query Strings in Laravel
In Laravel, you can access query strings through the request object. The request object contains a method called get(), which lets you retrieve a specified key from the query string or returns null if it doesn't exist.
Here's how to update your original code: ```php if (!empty($request->get('invitee')) { $user->invitee = $request->get('invitee'); } ```This code checks if the 'invitee' query parameter exists in the request and, if so, assigns its value to the invitee property of a user model. If no 'invitee' is found, the code will proceed without affecting the invitee property.
Storing Query String Values in Laravel
As mentioned earlier, your original problem was that the stored query string value could not be saved in the database. One way to solve this issue is by setting up a model with a relation for storing invitee data.
Firstly, create a new Invitee model:
```php belongsTo(User::class); } } ```This model represents an invitee and has a one-to-one relation with the User model. It also contains the necessary relationships to maintain data integrity between the two models.
You can now update your controller's code as follows: ```php if (!empty($request->get('invitee')) { $user = User::find(1); // Assuming user ID 1 for demonstration purposes $invitee = Invitee::firstOrCreate(['invite_code' => $request->get('invitee')], ['user_id' => $user->id]); } ```This code checks if the invite code exists. If it doesn't, it creates a new Invitee entry in the database and associates it with the specified User. The 'findOrCreate()' method will automatically create an Invitee record if one doesn't exist or return an already existing one.
Conclusion
Accessing query strings is essential for web applications that require dynamic content or specific user states. In Laravel, you can easily retrieve them using the request object and get() method, while maintaining data integrity by leveraging relationships between models.