Validation Rules

Complete reference of all built-in validation rules.

String Rules

required

Field must not be empty, null, or an empty array.

$rules = ['name' => 'required'];

filled

Field must not be empty if present.

$rules = ['description' => 'filled'];

string

Field must be a string.

$rules = ['title' => 'string'];

min

Field must have at least X characters.

$rules = ['password' => 'min:8'];

max

Field must not exceed X characters.

$rules = ['username' => 'max:20'];

length

Field must be exactly X characters.

$rules = ['pin' => 'length:4'];

regex

Field must match the regex pattern.

$rules = [
    'slug' => 'regex:/^[a-z0-9-]+$/',
    'code' => 'regex:/^[A-Z]{3}[0-9]{4}$/',
];

---

Numeric Rules

integer

Field must be an integer.

$rules = ['age' => 'integer'];

numeric

Field must be a number (integer or float).

$rules = ['price' => 'numeric'];

min_value

Field must be at least X (numeric comparison).

$rules = ['age' => 'min_value:18'];

max_value

Field must not exceed X (numeric comparison).

$rules = ['quantity' => 'max_value:100'];

---

Format Rules

email

Field must be a valid email address.

$rules = ['email' => 'email'];

phone

Field must be a valid phone number. Optionally specify region code.

$rules = [
    'phone' => 'phone',        // Any valid number
    'phone' => 'phone:US',     // US number
    'phone' => 'phone:UA',     // Ukrainian number
];

Uses libphonenumber for validation.

date

Field must be a valid date. Optionally specify format.

$rules = [
    'created_at' => 'date',              // Any parseable date
    'birth_date' => 'date:Y-m-d',        // Specific format
    'event_time' => 'date:Y-m-d H:i:s',  // With time
];

Also accepts Unix timestamps:

$data = ['timestamp' => 1705334400];
$rules = ['timestamp' => 'date'];  // Valid

uuid

Field must be a valid UUID (v1-v5).

$rules = ['id' => 'uuid'];

// Valid
$data = ['id' => '550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000'];

// Invalid
$data = ['id' => 'not-a-uuid'];

---

Type Rules

boolean

Field must be a boolean value. Accepts:

• true, false
• 1, 0
• '1', '0'
• 'true', 'false'
• 'yes', 'no'
• 'on', 'off'

$rules = ['is_active' => 'boolean'];

// All valid:
$data = ['is_active' => true];
$data = ['is_active' => 1];
$data = ['is_active' => 'yes'];
$data = ['is_active' => 'on'];

array

Field must be an array. Optionally specify allowed keys.

$rules = [
    'tags' => 'array',                      // Any array
    'user' => 'array:name,email,phone',     // Only these keys allowed
];

Example with key validation:

// Valid
$data = ['user' => ['name' => 'John', 'email' => 'john@example.com']];

// Invalid - 'password' key not allowed
$data = ['user' => ['name' => 'John', 'password' => 'secret']];

---

Choice Rules

in

Field must be one of the specified values.

$rules = [
    'status' => 'in:active,inactive,pending',
    'role' => 'in:admin,user,guest',
];

Also works with arrays:

$rules = ['tags' => 'in:php,javascript,python,go'];

// Valid - all values are in the allowed list
$data = ['tags' => ['php', 'javascript']];

// Invalid - 'ruby' is not allowed
$data = ['tags' => ['php', 'ruby']];

nullable

Field can be null or empty. Skips all other rules if empty.

$rules = [
    'middle_name' => 'nullable|min:2',
    'website' => 'nullable|regex:/^https?:\/\//',
];

// Both valid:
$data = ['middle_name' => null];
$data = ['middle_name' => 'James'];

---

Rules Reference Table

Rule	Parameters	Description
required	—	Must not be empty
filled	—	Must not be empty if present
string	—	Must be a string
integer	—	Must be an integer
numeric	—	Must be a number
boolean	—	Must be true/false
array	keys (optional)	Must be an array
email	—	Must be valid email
phone	region (optional)	Must be valid phone
date	format (optional)	Must be valid date
uuid	—	Must be valid UUID
min	length	Minimum string length
max	length	Maximum string length
length	length	Exact string length
min_value	value	Minimum numeric value
max_value	value	Maximum numeric value
in	values	Must be in list
regex	pattern	Must match pattern
nullable	—	Allow null/empty

---

Combining Rules

Rules are processed left to right:

$rules = [
    // Required, then validate format
    'email' => 'required|email',

    // Required, then check length
    'password' => 'required|min:8|max:100',

    // Required, numeric, then range
    'age' => 'required|integer|min_value:18|max_value:120',

    // Optional, but if present must be valid
    'website' => 'nullable|regex:/^https?:\/\//',
];

TIP

Place nullable first to skip validation for empty values.