Check if laravel model got saved or query got executed
Stefan Izdrail
Founder & Senior Architect · 2026-06-29
Title: Safe Ways to Check if Laravel Model Operations are Successful
Introduction
Laravel is a popular PHP framework that provides powerful tools for building robust and scalable web applications. As developers, we must ensure our codebase is safe, efficient, and always executes as intended. This blog post aims to explore the best practices for checking if Laravel model operations are successful, including whether a model got saved or if a query executed properly.
Checking If Model Got Saved
1. Use Validation: Before saving your model, use Eloquent validation to ensure that the data is correct and meets all requirements. This ensures you have a clean database with only valid records.
2. Check return value of save(): This method returns true on success or false otherwise. Here's an example:
$myModel = new User(); // Assuming User model
// Validate and set data before saving
if (!$model->save()) {
App::abort(500, 'Error');
}
3. Handle Exceptions: Laravel's exception handling allows you to catch potential errors during the process. You can use try-catch statements around your model operations and log the exceptions or show relevant error messages. This ensures your code is prepared for unexpected situations.
Checking If a Query Returned a Result
1. Use Eloquent Relationships: Laravel provides many relationship methods that return models when conditions are met. In this case, you can simply check if the result is not empty (or null) to determine if the query executed properly. For example:
$UserProduct = Product::where('seller_id', '=', $userId)->first();
if (! $UserProduct) {
App::abort(401); //Error
}
2. Utilize Eloquent Model Scope Methods: These methods allow you to perform complex queries and retrieve filtered collections of data. Once you have the results, you can easily check if any row was returned or not. For example:
$newUser = User::where('username', '=', Input::get('username'))->first(); // Checks for an existing username
if (! $newUser) {
App::abort(500, 'Some Error');
}
Checking If a Query Got Executed
1. Use Query Builder: Laravel's query builder provides an easy way to build and execute complex queries, making it ideal for checking if they were successful or not. In case of no records found or an error occurred during the query execution, you can handle exceptions appropriately.
$result = DB::table('products')->where('seller_id', '=', $userId)->get();
if (! $result || $result->count() == 0) {
App::abort(401); //Error
}
2. Handle Exceptions: Ensure that you're prepared for unexpected situations by using appropriate exception handlers, logging errors, and showing relevant error messages to the user.
Conclusion
In summary, it is vital to incorporate best practices while working with Laravel models and queries. Always check your code for validation, use model scopes if possible, and handle exceptions properly. By following these guidelines, you can ensure a safe and efficient development process in your Laravel projects.