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Toggle Interactions

toggle() is designed for the classic "dislike ↔ like" UI where a single user action switches between states. It's available on the model, the facade, and the LikeManager.

Prerequisites​

  • Installation completed
  • HasLike / HasLove trait on your content model

How toggle works​

toggle() follows a fixed circuit based on the user's current interaction:

Current interactiontoggle() result
noneCreates a like and returns the Like row
likeRemoves the interaction and returns null
dislikeChanges the interaction to like and returns the Like row
loveLeaves it unchanged and returns the current Like row

Usage from the model​

$post = Post::find(1);

$post->toggle();        // none  → LIKE (returns Like)
$post->toggle();        // like  → removed (returns null)
$post->toggle();        // none  → LIKE again

Usage from the facade​

use CSlant\LaravelLike\Facades\Like;

$result = Like::toggle($post);
// $result is a Like instance, or null if the interaction was removed

Explicit user id​

$post->toggle($someOtherUserId);

Why this circuit?​

Because the package guarantees "single-active" interactions — a user can only have one interaction type per model at a time — toggle() gives you a predictable state machine without ever having two rows for the same user + model:

User actionBeforeAfter
Click like on a none statetype = nulltype = like
Click like on a like statetype = liketype = null (removed)
Click like on a dislike statetype = disliketype = like
Click like on a love statetype = lovetype = love (unchanged)

The Like model's own toggle​

If you already hold a Like record, toggleLikeInteraction() mutates it in memory (like ↔ dislike) and returns the new type as a string:

use CSlant\LaravelLike\Models\Like;

$like = Like::where('user_id', auth()->id())
    ->where('model_type', Post::class)
    ->where('model_id', $post->id)
    ->first();

if ($like) {
    $newType = $like->toggleLikeInteraction(); // 'dislike' if it was 'like'
    $like->save();
}
info

toggleLikeInteraction() updates the in-memory value, so you must save() afterwards. It toggles between like and dislike only — love interactions are intentionally unaffected.

Practical example: single-button like​

use CSlant\LaravelLike\Facades\Like;

class PostLikeController extends Controller
{
    public function toggleLike(Post $post)
    {
        $interaction = Like::toggle($post);

        return response()->json([
            'liked' => $interaction !== null && $interaction->isLiked(),
            'likes_count' => $post->likesCount(),
        ]);
    }
}

Tap once → liked. Tap again → unliked. No extra state tracking needed in your application.

Next Steps​