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Rule Builders

Fresh inline factory calls and exact construction of the listed classes can recover the equivalent built-in rule. Shared conservative cases are in Static Resolvability. This page records support, version boundaries, and behavior unique to each API.

Enum

Fresh Rule::enum(Status::class) and new Illuminate\Validation\Rules\Enum(Status::class) recover the enum class and literal filter state.

$validated = Validator::make($input, [
    'status' => ['required', Rule::enum(Status::class)->only(Status::Published)],
])->validated();

\PHPStan\dumpType($validated);
// array{status: Status::Published}

Literal only() and except() calls are modeled from Laravel 10.46. Backed enums also include the original backing values and weakly coerced native values that Laravel can accept and preserve. They are not assumed to return only enum objects.

Rule::in()

Fresh Rule::in() calls with literal scalar values recover the equivalent parameterized in rule.

$validated = Validator::make($input, [
    'status' => ['required', Rule::in(['draft', 'published'])],
])->validated();

\PHPStan\dumpType($validated);
// array{status: 'draft'|'published'|Stringable}

The union includes every native value Laravel can accept and preserve through its loose string comparison. Numeric parameters can narrow safely representable native integers to literals, but retain broad float, numeric-string, and Stringable branches. A builder containing a float also retains broad int: application code can change PHP’s precision before Laravel stringifies the builder.

From Laravel 10.21.1, literal enum arguments are serialized to their case names or backing values. Rule::in([Status::Draft]) is not an enum-object rule.

Exact fresh new In([...]) matches the factory. Laravel 10.36 expands the constructor to accept scalar and variadic inputs.

Rule::notIn()

Fresh Rule::notIn() calls are a type-neutral not_in predicate. Adjacent value and presence rules remain responsible for the useful type.

$validated = Validator::make($input, [
    'role' => ['required', 'string', Rule::notIn(['admin'])],
])->validated();

\PHPStan\dumpType($validated);
// array{role: string}

The extension does not express “every string except admin.” Because the forbidden set does not affect this neutral contribution, its expression may be dynamic while a fresh factory call or exact new NotIn(...) remains visible. Direct array construction works throughout the supported range; scalar, variadic, and Arrayable constructor inputs begin in Laravel 10.36.

Literal conditional builders

Fresh Rule::requiredIf(), Rule::excludeIf(), and Rule::prohibitedIf() calls with a statically known boolean become the corresponding unconditional required, exclude, or prohibited rule. Exact new RequiredIf, ExcludeIf, and ProhibitedIf construction is supported.

$validated = Validator::make($input, [
    'name' => ['string', Rule::requiredIf(true)],
    'legacy_name' => ['string', Rule::excludeIf(true)],
])->validated();

\PHPStan\dumpType($validated);
// array{name: string}

A false condition serializes to an empty rule that contributes no validation constraint. Adjacent rules remain. Present input is preserved when the empty rule stands alone. The explicit rule path still participates in output projection, so an empty rule on a nested parent can preserve unvalidated sibling keys.

Fresh Rule::when() calls with a statically known boolean expose the selected string or array branch. Rule::unless() has the same support from Laravel 10.33, with the condition inverted. Selected rules are flattened into surrounding rule lists as Laravel flattens them. An empty selected branch still marks an explicit parent path for nested projection. Nested conditional wrappers are not recursively expanded because Laravel performs only one expansion pass.

Rule::array()

Introduced in Laravel 11.7. Fresh calls with statically visible scalar or enum keys recover the equivalent array rule.

$validated = Validator::make($input, [
    'payload' => ['required', Rule::array(['name', 'email'])],
])->validated();

\PHPStan\dumpType($validated);
// array{payload: array{name?: mixed, email?: mixed}}

Rule::array() and Rule::array([]) serialize to a bare array rule, so nested child rules rebuild the returned parent. A non-empty key list preserves the complete permitted parent. Explicit null serializes to array: and permits only the empty-string key.

Unquoted comma joining is lossy: Rule::array(['a,b']) becomes array:a,b and permits keys a and b. Float keys remain conservative because PHP’s runtime precision can change the serialized spelling.

Exact fresh new ArrayRule(...) matches the factory.

Rule::arrayKeys()

Introduced in Laravel 13.24. Fresh calls recover the equivalent array_keys rule.

Unlike bare array, this rule preserves the complete permitted parent around nested child rules. Commas split parameters. An empty key list becomes array_keys: and permits the empty-string key. Float keys remain conservative for the same precision reason as Rule::array().

Exact fresh new ArrayKeys(...) matches the factory.

Array predicates

Laravel 12.16 introduced Rule::contains() and Contains. Laravel 12.22 introduced Rule::doesntContain() and DoesntContain. Fresh factory calls and exact direct construction recover the built-in array predicate.

$validated = Validator::make($input, [
    'features' => ['required', Rule::contains('search')],
    'roles' => ['required', Rule::doesntContain('blocked')],
])->validated();

\PHPStan\dumpType($validated);
// array{features: array, roles: array}

Laravel checks and preserves the original array. These builders do not describe its keys or values.

Numeric builders

Laravel 11.42 introduced Rule::numeric() and Numeric. Fresh factory calls, direct construction, and declared predicate methods retain Laravel’s preserved numeric representations.

$validated = Validator::make($input, [
    'amount' => ['required', Rule::numeric()->between(1, 100)],
    'count' => ['required', Rule::numeric()->integer(strict: true)],
])->validated();

\PHPStan\dumpType($validated);
// Laravel 12.55+: array{amount: float|int|numeric-string, count: int}

Non-strict integer(), digits(), digitsBetween(), and exactly() do not imply a native int. Laravel 12.55 adds integer(strict: true), which does justify int. Earlier releases ignore a positional boolean passed to integer(). Other fluent methods constrain which values pass without changing their possible native PHP representations.

String builders

Laravel 12.55 introduced Rule::string() and StringRule. Fresh factory calls, direct construction, and declared predicate methods infer a native string.

The builder begins with Laravel’s native string rule. Fluent predicates constrain contents or length but do not convert other values into strings. Inference currently recovers that native representation rather than every content refinement: Rule::string()->min(1) remains string, while string|min:1 can be refined to non-empty-string.

Date builders

Laravel 11.40 introduced Rule::date(). The parser understood only builders that serialized to one rule until 11.41 (chains inside rule lists) and 11.43.2 (standalone field rules). At the applicable boundary, fresh factory calls, direct construction, and declared comparison predicates recover Laravel’s preserved date family.

format() changes that family because date_format rejects DateTimeInterface objects.

$validated = Validator::make($input, [
    'published_on' => ['required', Rule::date()->format('Y-m-d')],
    'deadline' => ['required', Rule::date()->afterToday()],
])->validated();

\PHPStan\dumpType($validated);
// Laravel 11.41+: array{
//   published_on: float|int|non-empty-string,
//   deadline: DateTimeInterface|float|int|non-empty-string
// }

Laravel 12.44 adds Rule::dateTime() and the past(), future(), nowOrPast(), and nowOrFuture() predicates. dateTime() has the same native family as a formatted date. Laravel 12.3 changed how format() serializes; both forms produce that same sound output family.

These builders validate and preserve successful input. They do not parse it into a canonical date object.

Dimensions

Fresh Rule::dimensions() and new Dimensions() recover the same Symfony File type as the dimensions string rule, including width, height, and ratio constraints. Laravel 11.23 adds minRatio(), maxRatio(), and ratioBetween(). Laravel validates and preserves the original file.

File builders

Fresh Rule::file(), Rule::imageFile(), File::types(), File::image(), new File(), and new ImageFile() recover Symfony file predicates. Size, MIME, extension, encoding, dimension, and additional-rule fluent constraints retain the same successful native value type.

extensions() begins at Laravel 10.34. encoding() begins at Laravel 12.40.

Late-bound self / parent / static forwarding calls and global File::default() configuration remain conservative.

Database builders

Fresh Rule::exists() and Rule::unique(), and exact Exists / Unique construction, are type-neutral predicates. The database query changes whether validation succeeds. Successful validation preserves the original input, so an adjacent value rule remains responsible for the native PHP type.

Supported fluent methods include where*(), soft-delete, query-callback, and unique-ignore methods. Those methods return the same rule object and do not transform validated output.