Skip to main content

User Interaction Trait

The UserHasInteraction trait allows your User model to track and manage all interactions (likes, dislikes, loves) that a user has made. This is different from the HasLike trait, which is used on content models (Post, Article, Video, etc.).

TraitModelRelationship
HasLike / HasLoveContent model (Post, Article, Video)likes() — MorphMany (the content has interactions)
UserHasInteractionUser modellikes() — HasMany (the user owns interactions)

Prerequisites​

  • Installation completed
  • User authentication set up
  • A content model with the HasLike / HasLove trait

Setting Up the User Model​

Add the UserHasInteraction trait to your User model:

namespace App\Models;

use CSlant\LaravelLike\UserHasInteraction;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Auth\User as Authenticatable;

class User extends Authenticatable
{
    use UserHasInteraction;

    // Your model code...
}

Available methods​

The trait provides a likes() HasMany relationship plus bulk-removal helpers:

MethodReturnsDescription
likes()HasManyAll the user's interaction records
forgetInteractions(?string $type)static ($this)Delete all (or one type of) the user's interactions
forgetInteractionsOfType(string $type)static ($this)Delete a specific interaction type

Get all user interactions​

$user = User::find(1);

// All interactions (likes, dislikes, loves) by this user
$allInteractions = $user->likes()->get();

// Filter by type
$userLikes    = $user->likes()->where('type', 'like')->get();
$userDislikes = $user->likes()->where('type', 'dislike')->get();
$userLoves    = $user->likes()->where('type', 'love')->get();

// Filter by content type
$postsLiked = $user->likes()
    ->where('model_type', Post::class)
    ->where('type', 'like')
    ->with('model') // eager load the liked content
    ->get();

Count interactions per user​

// Count of all the user's interactions
$total = $user->likes()->count();

// Count per type
$likesCount    = $user->likes()->where('type', 'like')->count();
$dislikesCount = $user->likes()->where('type', 'dislike')->count();
$lovesCount    = $user->likes()->where('type', 'love')->count();

Eager loading​

Avoid N+1 queries when working with multiple users by eager loading:

// Users with their interactions
$users = User::with('likes')->get();

// Users with interaction counts
$users = User::withCount('likes')->get();

foreach ($users as $user) {
    echo "{$user->name} has {$user->likes_count} interactions";
}

Forget user interactions​

$user = User::find(1);

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

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

// Remove only dislikes
$user->forgetInteractions('dislike');

// Remove only loves
$user->forgetInteractions('love');

// Or use the typed method directly
$user->forgetInteractionsOfType('like');
Chainable

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

$countAfter = $user->forgetInteractions('like')->likes()->count();

Practical example: user profile page​

public function profile(User $user)
{
    // A user's liked posts (eager-loaded content)
    $likedPosts = $user->likes()
        ->where('type', 'like')
        ->where('model_type', Post::class)
        ->with('model')
        ->latest()
        ->paginate(10);

    return view('profile', compact('user', 'likedPosts'));
}

User activity feed​

$recentActivity = $user->likes()
    ->with('model')
    ->latest()
    ->take(20)
    ->get()
    ->map(fn ($interaction) => [
        'type'    => $interaction->type->value,
        'content' => $interaction->model,
        'date'    => $interaction->created_at->diffForHumans(),
    ]);

Configuration​

The likes() relationship is built from config/like.php:

'users' => [
    'model' => null,             // null = falls back to auth provider model
    'foreign_key' => 'user_id',  // Foreign key in the likes table
],

If you use a custom user model or a different foreign key, update the configuration so the relationship resolves to the correct table/columns.

Next Steps​