Route Parameters

Capture dynamic segments from the URL using curly braces.

Basic Parameters

// Single parameter
$router->get('/users/{id}', [UserController::class, 'show']);
// Matches: /users/123, /users/abc

// Multiple parameters
$router->get('/posts/{postId}/comments/{commentId}', [CommentController::class, 'show']);
// Matches: /posts/5/comments/42

Regex Patterns

Constrain parameters with regex patterns using {name:pattern}:

// Numbers only
$router->get('/users/{id:[0-9]+}', [UserController::class, 'show']);
// Matches: /users/123
// Not: /users/abc

// Slug pattern
$router->get('/articles/{slug:[a-z0-9-]+}', [ArticleController::class, 'show']);
// Matches: /articles/hello-world
// Not: /articles/Hello_World

// Exact length
$router->get('/{lang:[a-z]{2}}/home', [HomeController::class, 'index']);
// Matches: /en/home, /ua/home
// Not: /eng/home, /e/home

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Common Patterns

Numeric ID

$router->get('/users/{id:[0-9]+}', [UserController::class, 'show']);

UUID

$router->get('/orders/{uuid:[a-f0-9-]{36}}', [OrderController::class, 'show']);

Slug

$router->get('/posts/{slug:[a-z0-9-]+}', [PostController::class, 'show']);

Language Code

$router->get('/{lang:[a-z]{2}}/about', [PageController::class, 'about']);

Date Components

$router->get('/archive/{year:[0-9]{4}}/{month:[0-9]{2}}', [ArchiveController::class, 'index']);
// Matches: /archive/2024/12

Alternation

$router->get('/{type:post|page|article}/{id:[0-9]+}', [ContentController::class, 'show']);
// Matches: /post/1, /page/5, /article/42

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Accessing Parameters

Parameters are returned in the params array:

$router->get('/users/{id}/posts/{postId}', [PostController::class, 'show']);

$match = $router->match('GET', '/users/5/posts/42');

$match['params'];
// ['id' => '5', 'postId' => '42']

Empty Parameters

Empty parameter values are filtered out:

$router->get('/{lang:(?:[a-z]{2}\/)?}users', [UserController::class, 'index']);

$match = $router->match('GET', '/users');
$match['params']; // []

$match = $router->match('GET', '/en/users');
$match['params']; // ['lang' => 'en/']

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Complex Patterns

Parameter with Slashes

$router->get('/{path:(foo|bar)/baz}', [Controller::class, 'handle']);
// Matches: /foo/baz, /bar/baz

Alternation with Length

$router->get('/{code:[a-z]{2}|[0-9]{2}}/info', [InfoController::class, 'show']);
// Matches: /en/info, /12/info
// Not: /abc/info, /1/info

Optional with Pattern

See Optional Segments for combining parameters with optional segments.

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Validation

Parameters are validated during matching:

$router->get('/users/{id:[0-9]+}', [UserController::class, 'show']);

$router->match('GET', '/users/123'); // Match!
$router->match('GET', '/users/abc'); // false - doesn't match pattern

TIP

Define strict patterns to prevent invalid requests from reaching your controllers.