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Unliking and Removing Interactions

This guide explains how to remove interactions from your content using the Laravel Like package. You can remove specific interactions by user, remove all interactions of a certain type, or clear all interactions entirely.

Prerequisites​

  • Laravel 9.0 or higher
  • PHP 8.1 or higher
  • Laravel Like package installed and configured
  • Models set up with the HasLike trait (see Liking Content)

Removing Interactions from Content Models​

The HasLike trait (via InteractionRelationship) provides methods to remove interactions directly from your content models.

Remove All Interactions​

Use forgetInteractions() to remove all interactions from a model:

$post = Post::find(1);

// Remove ALL interactions (likes, dislikes, loves) from this post
$post->forgetInteractions();

Remove Interactions by Type​

Use forgetInteractionsOfType() or pass a type to forgetInteractions() to remove only specific interaction types:

$post = Post::find(1);

// Remove only likes from this post
$post->forgetInteractions('like');

// Remove only dislikes from this post
$post->forgetInteractions('dislike');

// Remove only loves from this post
$post->forgetInteractions('love');

// Or use forgetInteractionsOfType() directly
$post->forgetInteractionsOfType('like');

Remove a Specific User's Interaction​

To remove a specific user's interaction from a content model:

$post = Post::find(1);
$userId = auth()->id();

// Remove a specific user's interaction (all types)
$post->likes()->where('user_id', $userId)->delete();

// Remove only a specific user's like
$post->likes()
    ->where('user_id', $userId)
    ->where('type', 'like')
    ->delete();

// Remove only a specific user's dislike
$post->likes()
    ->where('user_id', $userId)
    ->where('type', 'dislike')
    ->delete();

Removing Interactions from User Models​

If your User model uses the UserHasInteraction trait, you can also remove interactions from the user side:

$user = User::find(1);

// Remove all interactions by this user
$user->forgetInteractions();

// Remove only likes by this user
$user->forgetInteractions('like');

// Remove a user's interaction on a specific post
$user->likes()
    ->where('model_type', Post::class)
    ->where('model_id', $postId)
    ->delete();

Toggle Interaction​

The Like model provides a toggleLikeInteraction() method to toggle between like and dislike:

use CSlant\LaravelLike\Models\Like;

$interaction = Like::where('user_id', $userId)
    ->where('model_type', Post::class)
    ->where('model_id', $postId)
    ->first();

if ($interaction) {
    // Toggle: if liked → dislike, if disliked → like
    $newType = $interaction->toggleLikeInteraction();
    $interaction->save();

    echo "Interaction changed to: {$newType}";
}

Practical Examples​

Unlike Button in Controller​

use CSlant\LaravelLike\Models\Like;

class PostInteractionController extends Controller
{
    /**
     * Remove the user's interaction from a post.
     */
    public function unlike(Post $post)
    {
        $userId = auth()->id();

        $deleted = $post->likes()
            ->where('user_id', $userId)
            ->delete();

        if ($deleted) {
            return response()->json([
                'message' => 'Interaction removed successfully',
                'likes_count' => $post->likesCount(),
            ]);
        }

        return response()->json([
            'message' => 'No interaction found',
        ], 404);
    }

    /**
     * Toggle the user's like on a post.
     */
    public function toggle(Post $post)
    {
        $userId = auth()->id();

        $existing = $post->likes()
            ->where('user_id', $userId)
            ->first();

        if ($existing) {
            $existing->delete();
            return response()->json([
                'status' => 'removed',
                'likes_count' => $post->fresh()->likesCount(),
            ]);
        }

        $post->likes()->create([
            'user_id' => $userId,
            'type' => 'like',
        ]);

        return response()->json([
            'status' => 'liked',
            'likes_count' => $post->fresh()->likesCount(),
        ]);
    }
}

Bulk Remove Interactions​

// Remove all interactions older than 30 days
$post = Post::find(1);
$post->likes()
    ->where('created_at', '<', now()->subDays(30))
    ->delete();

// Remove all interactions from a list of users
$userIds = [1, 2, 3];
$post->likes()
    ->whereIn('user_id', $userIds)
    ->delete();

Check Before Removing​

$post = Post::find(1);
$userId = auth()->id();

// Check if user has interacted before removing
if ($post->isInteractedBy($userId)) {
    $post->likes()->where('user_id', $userId)->delete();
    echo "Interaction removed!";
} else {
    echo "No interaction to remove.";
}

// Check specific type
if ($post->isLikedBy($userId)) {
    $post->likes()
        ->where('user_id', $userId)
        ->where('type', 'like')
        ->delete();
}

Method Chaining​

The forgetInteractions() and forgetInteractionsOfType() methods return the model instance, so you can chain:

$post = Post::find(1);

// Remove all likes, then get updated count
$likesRemaining = $post->forgetInteractionsOfType('like')->likesCount();

echo "Likes remaining: {$likesRemaining}";

Next Steps​