API Features¶

RubikREST provides a powerful URL-based query language. All registered resources inherit these features automatically.

Field Selection¶

Return only the required data to save bandwidth.

GET /api/users?select=id,name,email

Pagination¶

Control how many records are returned.

limit: Number of records.
offset: Number of records to skip.

GET /api/users?limit=10&offset=20

Sorting¶

Sort by one or more columns. Use the column.direction format.

GET /api/products?order=price.desc,name.asc

Eager Loading (Relationships)¶

Automatically load Rubik relationships in the response.

GET /api/users?with=posts,profile

Filters (Where)¶

You can filter any column using the column.operator=value syntax. If the operator is omitted, equality (eq) is assumed.

Available Operators¶

Operator	URL Example	SQL Equivalent
Equality	`status=active` or `status.eq=active`	`WHERE status = 'active'`
Not equal	`status.neq=banned`	`WHERE status <> 'banned'`
Greater than	`age.gt=18`	`WHERE age > 18`
Greater than or equal	`age.gte=18`	`WHERE age >= 18`
Less than	`price.lt=100`	`WHERE price < 100`
Less than or equal	`price.lte=100`	`WHERE price <= 100`
Like (Search)	`name.like=Jo` (use `` as wildcard)	`WHERE name LIKE 'Jo%'`
ILike (Case insensitive)	`name.ilike=jo*`	`WHERE name ILIKE 'jo%'`
IN (List)	`id.in=1,2,3`	`WHERE id IN (1, 2, 3)`
IS (Boolean/Null)	`deleted_at.is=null`	`WHERE deleted_at IS NULL`

Wildcard Tip

In like and ilike filters, use the asterisk * in the URL to represent SQL’s %. The system performs the substitution automatically.

Total Count¶

To retrieve the total number of records (useful for frontend pagination), add count to the query. The result will be returned in the count key of the JSON response.

GET /api/users?limit=5&count

Custom Error Responses¶

You can control the HTTP status code returned by the API simply by throwing exceptions with the desired code in your Rubik Models hooks (e.g., beforeSave, beforeDelete).

Example: preventing deletion of a specific record

// In your User Model
public function beforeDelete(): bool
{
    if ($this->id === 1) {
        // This will result in a 403 Forbidden response
        throw new \Exception("Cannot delete the root admin.", 403);
    }
    return true;
}