Laravel API Routes

Laravel makes it very easy to build REST APIs.

Unlike web routes, API routes are separated because APIs usually:

• Return JSON responses instead of HTML views.
• Do not use sessions or CSRF protection by default (stateless).
• Are mostly consumed by frontend apps (React, Vue, Angular, Mobile Apps).

Create Route:

Laravel don't have api.php file. You should create in routes folder

api.php (routes/api.php):

<?php

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::get('/hello', function () {
    return response()->json(['message' => 'Hello from API!']);
});

This means:

• No session state
• No CSRF token
• JSON response by default

Register Route:

you should register api.php file in bootstrap\app.php

app.php (bootstrap\app.php)

return Application::configure(basePath: dirname(__DIR__))
    ->withRouting(
        web: __DIR__.'/../routes/web.php',
        api: __DIR__.'/../routes/api.php',
        commands: __DIR__.'/../routes/console.php',
        health: '/up',
    )
    ->withMiddleware(function (Middleware $middleware): void {

    })
    ->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions): void {
        //
    })->create();

Install Postman:

• Postman is a software tool used to test APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).
• It helps developers send requests (like GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) to an API and see the response.
• You can think of it like a browser for APIs.
• A browser is used to visit websites.
• Postman is used to visit and test APIs.

Install postman Link

Run route in Postman: 

Run http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/hello in postman in prefix after url should come api