route-parameters.md

Route parameters & patterns

Route paths can contain parameters. A parameter compiles to a capturing group, and whatever it captures is passed to your handler (see Dependency injection).

There are two parameter syntaxes, and they behave differently.

{name} — match any segment

A {name} placeholder matches any single non-slash segment. The name is just a label; it does not constrain the value.

$router->get('/users/{id}', function ($id) {
    return 'User ' . $id; // $id is whatever was in that segment: "42", "abc", ...
});

/users/42 and /users/abc both match. Use this when you don't need a constraint, or when you'll validate the value yourself.

:type — match a typed segment

A :type placeholder constrains what it matches. :id only matches digits, so /users/:id matches /users/42 but not /users/abc.

$router->get('/users/:id', function ($id) {
    return 'User ' . $id; // guaranteed to be digits
});

Built-in types

Pattern	Matches
:any	any non-slash segment
:id, :int	digits
:number, :float	numbers (incl. sign / decimals)
:bool	true, false, 1, 0
:string, :slug	word characters, - and _
:uuid	a UUID
:date	YYYY-MM-DD
:locale	en or en-US / en_US
:everything	everything, including slashes

The {name} form of these (e.g. {id}) does not apply the constraint — it always matches any non-slash segment. Use the :type form to constrain.

To reuse the same type more than once in a path, append a digit: :id, :id2, :id3 all match digits.

$router->get('/teams/:id/members/:id2', function ($teamId, $memberId) {
    return $teamId . ' / ' . $memberId;
});

Custom patterns: where() / pattern()

Register your own named pattern. where() is an alias of pattern().

$router->where('hex', '[0-9a-f]+');
$router->get('/color/:hex', function ($hex) {
    return '#' . $hex;
});

/color/abc123 matches; /color/zzz does not. The pattern is wrapped in a capturing group automatically if it isn't already.

Notes:

• Reference a custom pattern with the :name form (:hex). The {name} form is always "any non-slash segment".
• Choose a name that doesn't collide with a built-in type, so the built-in rule doesn't take precedence.

Optional parameters

A trailing ? makes the last segment optional.

$router->get('/admin/{slug}?', 'AdminController@show')->name('admin');

This matches both /admin/ and /admin/dashboard. When generating a URL for a route with an optional parameter, unused optional segments are stripped — see Named routes & URLs.

Next: Route groups.