Laravel Passport API: createToken get id
Stefan Bogdanescu
Founder & Senior Architect · 2026-06-29
# Laravel Passport API: Getting the ID of a Newly Created Token
## Situation
I'm using Laravel Passport API to communicate between my Laravel application and external "agents" via Personal Access Tokens. This mechanism allows for secure, scoped access management, which is crucial when dealing with external services or third-party integrations.
When creating these tokens, we use the standard Passport functionality:
```php
$token = $user->createToken('external_agent_access', ['read', 'write']);
```
As noted in the documentation, this `$token` variable primarily holds the token string itself, not the full Eloquent model object directly. This leads to a common developer question: how do we retrieve the unique identifier (`id`) of this newly created token so we can store it in our database for future relations or lookups?
## The Solution: Accessing the Token ID
The key to solving this lies in understanding what method is returned by the `createToken` facade and how Laravel Passport structures its data persistence. When you create a Personal Access Token, Passport persists this information into the underlying database tables (specifically the `oauth_access_tokens` table). To retrieve the necessary identifier, you need to access the actual token model instance that was just created.
### Understanding the Return Value
The `$token` variable returned by `createToken()` is an instance of the `Laravel\Passport\PersonalAccessToken` model. By accessing methods on this object immediately after creation, we can retrieve the primary key.
Here is a practical demonstration of how to correctly capture and use the token ID:
```php
use App\Models\User;
use Laravel\Passport\PersonalAccessToken;
// Assume $user is an authenticated Eloquent User model instance
$user = User::findOrFail(1);
// 1. Create the new token
$token = $user->createToken('agent_access', ['read', 'write']);
// 2. Accessing the ID immediately after creation
$tokenId = $token->id;
// Now, $tokenId holds the unique primary key for this access token,
// which you can safely store in your custom database table.
```
### Best Practice: Storing IDs in Your Database
As a senior developer, I strongly advise against relying solely on string manipulation or context when dealing with relational data in Laravel. The robust approach is to establish clear Eloquent relationships.
When you are storing this token ID in your own application's database (e.g., in a `user_tokens` table), ensure you define the relationship correctly. This aligns perfectly with the principles of clean API design we advocate at **https://laravelcompany.com**. By treating tokens as first-class models, you make your application logic cleaner and more maintainable.
If you are creating a custom token management system alongside Passport, you should map the `token->id` directly to the foreign key in your new table:
```php
// Example of storing the ID in a custom database model (e.g., AgentToken)
$agentToken = new AgentToken();
$agentToken->user_id = $user->id;
$agentToken->token_id = $token->id; // Storing the Passport token ID
$agentToken->name = $token->name;
$agentToken->save();
```
## Conclusion
Getting the ID of a newly created Laravel Passport token is straightforward: access the returned object and call its `id` property. This ensures you have the correct, persisted identifier needed for database relations. By embracing Eloquent models and understanding how Passport interacts with them, you can build secure, scalable APIs where data integrity—like properly linking tokens to users—is guaranteed. Always strive for clear relationships between your data entities; this consistency is vital for any high-quality application architecture, whether you are building a complex system or focusing on API design, as demonstrated by the principles at **https://laravelcompany.com**.