Laravel API Development in Morocco: Architecture Guide 2026

Laravel API Development in Morocco: Architecture Guide 2026 Laravel remains the #1 PHP framework for API development in 2026 Laravel remains the #1 PHP framework for API development in 2026, and Morocco has become a hub for quality Laravel freelancers and teams. Here is the complete guide to building production-grade APIs with Laravel, based on 40+ projects shipped. Why Laravel for APIs in 2026 Eloquent ORM — most expressive DB layer in any framework Sanctum for SPA/mobile auth (simpler than Passport for most cases) Scout for Meilisearch / Algolia / Elastic full-text search Queues with Horizon for background jobs Octane for performance (Swoole / RoadRunner) Deep ecosystem : Telescope, Pulse, Forge, Vapor REST vs GraphQL — What to Choose Criteria REST GraphQL Learning curve Low Medium-high Caching Easy (HTTP) Complex Over-fetching Common Solved Mobile bandwidth Higher Optimized Best for Public APIs, simple CRUD Complex dashboards, mobile apps My default : REST with Laravel API Resources unless the client has clear GraphQL-specific needs (mobile app with variable fields, highly nested data). Standard Laravel API Architecture app/ ├── Http/ │ ├── Controllers/Api/V1/ │ ├── Requests/ (FormRequest for validation) │ └── Resources/ (API Resources for shaping output) ├── Models/ ├── Services/ (business logic) ├── Repositories/ (optional, if complex queries) ├── Jobs/ └── Events/ Key architectural decisions Versioning via URL (/api/v1/users) not headers — simpler FormRequest for validation (never validate in controller) API Resources for every response (shape, transforms, conditionals) Services layer when controllers exceed 100 lines Dedicated DTOs for complex payloads (spatie/laravel-data) Authentication — Sanctum Setup SPA on same domain : cookie-based, CSRF protected Mobile app / 3rd party : personal access tokens Revocation endpoint for logout Token abilities for granular permissions Rate Limiting & Security RateLimiter facade — per user, per IP, per endpoint CORS : use c