Model Observers group lifecycle event listeners for an ActiveRecord model into a dedicated class. Instead of scattering event callbacks across models or controllers, observers encapsulate model-driven business logic such as sending welcome emails, dispatching jobs, clearing caches, or generating slugs.

Generating an Observer

Use the CLI generator to scaffold an observer class:

Terminal • bash

php veldora make:observer UserObserver --model=User

This creates app/Observers/UserObserver.php:

example.php

PHP

namespace App\Observers;

use App\Models\User;

class UserObserver
{
    public function creating(User $user): void
    {
        // Executed before a new record is inserted
    }

    public function created(User $user): void
    {
        // Executed after a new record is inserted
    }

    public function updating(User $user): void
    {
        // Executed before an existing record is updated
    }

    public function updated(User $user): void
    {
        // Executed after an existing record is updated
    }

    public function saving(User $user): void
    {
        // Executed before insert or update
    }

    public function saved(User $user): void
    {
        // Executed after insert or update
    }

    public function deleting(User $user): void
    {
        // Executed before record is deleted
    }

    public function deleted(User $user): void
    {
        // Executed after record is deleted
    }

    public function restoring(User $user): void
    {
        // Executed before a soft-deleted record is restored
    }

    public function restored(User $user): void
    {
        // Executed after a soft-deleted record is restored
    }

    public function forceDeleted(User $user): void
    {
        // Executed after record is permanently deleted
    }
}

Registering Observers

Register an observer using Model::observe(), typically in your application bootstrap (bootstrap/app.php) or a Service Provider:

example.php

PHP

use App\Models\User;
use App\Observers\UserObserver;

// Pass class-string (instantiated automatically)
User::observe(UserObserver::class);

// Or pass an existing instance
User::observe(new UserObserver());

Supported Lifecycle Events

Event Hook	When It Fires
`creating`	Before a new record is inserted into the database
`created`	After a new record has been inserted
`updating`	Before an existing record is updated
`updated`	After an existing record has been updated
`saving`	Before a record is saved (both new and updated)
`saved`	After a record has been saved (both new and updated)
`deleting`	Before a record is deleted from the database
`deleted`	After a record has been deleted
`restoring`	Before a soft-deleted record is restored
`restored`	After a soft-deleted record has been restored
`forceDeleted`	After a record is permanently removed from the database

Returning false from a creating, updating, saving, or deleting observer method will cancel the database operation immediately.