Shadow Documentation

Welcome to the comprehensive documentation for Shadow - a powerful Laravel package that automatically generates RESTful APIs for your Eloquent models.

🌑 What is Shadow?

Shadow is a robust Laravel package that transforms your Eloquent models into fully-featured RESTful APIs with minimal configuration. It provides automatic endpoint generation, standardized responses, comprehensive error handling, and advanced features like caching, documentation generation, and foreign key resolution.

🎯 Key Features

• 🚀 Automatic API Generation: Instant RESTful endpoints for all your models
• 📊 Standardized Responses: Consistent JSON response format across all endpoints
• 🔗 Relationship Support: Automatic handling of model relationships and foreign keys
• ⚡ Performance: Built-in caching and query optimization
• 📚 Documentation: Auto-generated API documentation (Swagger, Postman, Markdown)
• 🛡️ Security: Comprehensive error handling and validation
• 🔧 Flexible Configuration: Extensive customization options
• 🎨 Modern Architecture: Clean, extensible codebase

🚀 Quick Start

Ready to get started? Here's how to install Shadow and create your first API:

# Install Shadow
composer require thinkneverland/shadow

# Publish configuration
php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Thinkneverland\Shadow\ShadowServiceProvider" --tag="config"

# Register routes
# Add to your RouteServiceProvider.php:
Shadow::routes();
⟩

Add the HasShadow trait to your model:

use Thinkneverland\Shadow\Traits\HasShadow;

class User extends Model
{
    use HasShadow;
    
    protected $fillable = ['name', 'email'];
}
⟩

That's it! Your API is now available at /shadow-api/model/users.

📚 Documentation Structure

🚀 Getting Started

• Installation Guide - Complete setup instructions
• Quick Start - Your first API in 5 minutes
• Basic Configuration - Essential settings

📖 Core Concepts

• Architecture Overview - How Shadow works
• Model Integration - Working with Eloquent models
• API Endpoints - Understanding generated routes
• Response Format - Standardized response structure

🔧 Configuration

• Configuration Reference - All available options
• Model Configuration - Per-model settings
• Route Configuration - Customizing API routes
• Cache Configuration - Performance optimization

🛠️ Usage Guides

• Basic Operations - CRUD operations
• Advanced Queries - Filtering, sorting, searching
• Relationships - Working with related data
• Validation - Input validation and error handling

🚀 Advanced Features

• Caching Strategies - Performance optimization
• Custom Controllers - Extending functionality
• Middleware - Request/response processing
• Events - Hooks and custom logic

📚 API Reference

• Endpoint Reference - Complete API documentation
• Query Parameters - Available query options
• Response Examples - Real-world usage examples
• Error Codes - Error handling reference

🔒 Security & Performance

• Security Best Practices - Keeping your API secure
• Authentication - User authentication
• Authorization - Access control
• Performance Optimization - Speed and efficiency

🛠️ Development

• Extending Shadow - Custom functionality
• Testing - Testing your APIs
• Debugging - Troubleshooting guide
• Contributing - Contributing to Shadow

📋 Additional Resources

• Troubleshooting - Common issues and solutions
• Migration Guide - Upgrading between versions
• Examples - Real-world implementations
• FAQ - Frequently asked questions

🎯 Use Cases

Shadow is perfect for:

• Rapid Prototyping: Quickly create APIs for new projects
• Admin Panels: Generate admin interfaces with minimal code
• Mobile Backends: Provide APIs for mobile applications
• Microservices: Create focused API services
• Content Management: Build CMS APIs with ease
• E-commerce: Generate product and order APIs
• Social Platforms: Create user and content APIs

🔧 System Requirements

• PHP: 8.1 or higher
• Laravel: 9.0 or higher
• Database: MySQL 5.7+, PostgreSQL 9.6+, or SQLite 3.8+

📞 Support

• Documentation: Browse the comprehensive guides above
• Issues: Report bugs and request features on GitHub
• Discussions: Join the community discussions
• Email: support@thinkneverland.com

📄 License

Shadow is open-source software licensed under the MIT License.

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Ready to dive in? Start with our Installation Guide to get Shadow up and running in your Laravel application.