Philsquare Permissions Package

This skill provides guidance for implementing role-based permissions through Laravel policies using the philsquare/permissions package.

Package Detection

Check if the project uses this package by looking for:

• philsquare/permissions in composer.json
• Policies extending Philsquare\Permissions\BasePolicy
• A rolePermissions() method in existing policies

Core Concepts

BasePolicy

All policies requiring role-based permissions must extend BasePolicy:

use Philsquare\Permissions\BasePolicy;

class PostPolicy extends BasePolicy
{
    public function rolePermissions(): array
    {
        return [
            'admin' => $this->permissions()->all(),
        ];
    }

    // Policy methods...
}

How Authorization Works

1. User calls $user->can('update', $post) or Gate::authorize('update', $post)
2. Laravel routes to the policy's update() method
3. BasePolicy::before() runs first, checking if user's roles have the permission
4. If permission exists (post:update), the policy method executes
5. If permission missing, access denied immediately

The before() hook converts:

• Policy class: PostPolicy to post
• Method: updateEta to update-eta
• Combined: post:update-eta

Permission Naming Convention

Permissions are stored in kebab-case: {model}:{action}

Policy Method	Database Permission
viewAny()	model:view-any
forceDelete()	model:force-delete
updateEta()	model:update-eta

The rolePermissions() Method

Define which roles can access which policy methods:

public function rolePermissions(): array
{
    return [
        'admin' => $this->permissions()->all(),
        'manager' => $this->permissions()->crud(['approve', 'reject']),
        'editor' => $this->permissions()->only(['viewAny', 'view', 'update']),
        'viewer' => $this->permissions()->only(['viewAny', 'view']),
    ];
}

Permission Helpers

Access via $this->permissions() in any policy extending BasePolicy.

all()

Returns all public methods (excluding system methods like before, allow, deny).

crud(array $additional = [])

Returns: viewAny, view, create, update, delete plus any additional methods.

$this->permissions()->crud(['publish', 'archive'])
// Returns: viewAny, view, create, update, delete, publish, archive

only(array $methods)

Returns only the specified methods.

$this->permissions()->only(['viewAny', 'view'])

except(array $methods)

Returns all methods except specified ones.

$this->permissions()->except(['delete', 'forceDelete'])

Policy Method Implementation

Policy methods define business logic for when actions are allowed:

public function update(User $user, Order $order): bool
{
    // Role check happens in before() hook
    // This method handles additional business logic
    return $order->status === 'draft';
}

Return true to allow, false to deny. The role permission check happens first in before().

Syncing Permissions

After modifying policies, run:

php artisan permissions:refresh

This scans all policies extending BasePolicy and syncs role-permission mappings to the database.

Add to deployment scripts to auto-sync on deploy.

Defining Roles

Roles are created automatically when permissions:refresh runs. Use an enum for type safety:

namespace App\Enums;

enum Roles: string
{
    case Admin = 'admin';
    case Manager = 'manager';
    case Editor = 'editor';
}

Use in policies:

use App\Enums\Roles;

public function rolePermissions(): array
{
    return [
        Roles::Admin->value => $this->permissions()->all(),
    ];
}

Additional Resources

For detailed helper documentation, consult:

• references/permission-helpers.md - Complete helper method reference with examples