Laravel Messaging

Wire up conversations between any Eloquent models. Users, teams, orders, support tickets — anything. Laravel Messaging handles conversations, participants, messages, and a lifecycle event system.

Installation

composer require phunky/laravel-messaging

Optionally publish the config and migrations:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag="messaging-config"
php artisan vendor:publish --tag="messaging-migrations"
php artisan migrate

The Messenger facade is auto-discovered.

Making models messageable

Any model that participates in conversations needs to implement Messageable and pull in the HasMessaging trait:

use Phunky\LaravelMessaging\Contracts\Messageable;
use Phunky\LaravelMessaging\Traits\HasMessaging;

class User extends Authenticatable implements Messageable
{
    use HasMessaging;
}

class Order extends Model implements Messageable
{
    use HasMessaging;
}

Participant types mix freely. A Customer and an Order can share a conversation.

Usage

Sending messages

use Phunky\LaravelMessaging\Facades\Messenger;

// Two users
Messenger::conversation($userA, $userB)->as($userA)->send('Hello');

// Cross-type (customer ↔ order)
Messenger::conversation($customer, $order)->as($customer)->send('Where is my order?');

// More than two participants
Messenger::conversation($userA, $userB, $userC)->as($userA)->send('Hey everyone');

// With metadata
Messenger::conversation($userA, $userB)->as($userA)->send('Hello', meta: ['source' => 'web']);

// Fetch messages without creating a conversation
Messenger::conversation($userA, $userB)->messages();

Receipts and read state

Messenger::conversation($userA, $userB)->as($userB)->unreadCount();
Messenger::conversation($userA, $userB)->as($userB)->markAllRead();

Messenger::message($id)->as($userB)->received();
Messenger::message($id)->as($userB)->read();

// Inbox — participating conversations, most recent first, with unread_count
Messenger::conversationsFor($userA)->with('latestMessage')->get();

Events, edits, deletes

// Custom per-message event — idempotent per participant + event name
Messenger::message($id)->as($userB)->recordEvent('message.voice.first_play', ['seconds' => 42]);

// Conversation-scoped events
Messenger::conversation($userA, $userB)->as($userB)->recordInviteAccepted(['invite_id' => 1]);
Messenger::conversation($userA, $userB)->as($userB)->recordMemberLeft();

// Edit and delete (sender only)
Messenger::message($id)->as($userA)->edit('Updated text');
Messenger::message($id)->as($userA)->delete();

Direct access via the trait:

$userA->conversations;
$userA->messages;

Event name constants live on Phunky\LaravelMessaging\MessagingEventName.

Extensions

The core ships with nothing beyond the basics. Install only what you need:

Register extensions in config/messaging.php:

'extensions' => [
    \LaravelMessagingReactions\ReactionsExtension::class,
    \LaravelMessagingAttachments\AttachmentExtension::class,
    \LaravelMessagingGroups\GroupsExtension::class,
],

Writing your own extension

Implement Phunky\LaravelMessaging\Contracts\MessagingExtension:

• register(Application $app) — bind services, register macros, define relationships
• boot(Application $app) — listen to lifecycle events, add migrations

Extensions can listen to MessageSending, MessageSent, ConversationCreated, etc., register macros on Message, and add their own migrations (the table prefix is applied automatically).

Intercepting sends

MessageSending fires before the message hits the database and outside the transaction. Listeners can mutate the body, append metadata, or cancel the send entirely:

use Phunky\LaravelMessaging\Events\MessageSending;

Event::listen(MessageSending::class, function (MessageSending $event) {
    $event->body = ai_moderate($event->body);
    $event->meta['moderated'] = true;

    if (contains_prohibited_content($event->body)) {
        $event->cancel(); // throws MessageRejectedException at the call site
    }
});

Broadcasting

Set broadcasting.enabled = true in the config. Events that implement ShouldBroadcast — ConversationCreated, MessageSent, MessageEdited, MessageDeleted, MessageReceived, MessageRead, AllMessagesRead — will broadcast on private channels in the format {channel_prefix}.conversation.{conversationId} (default prefix: messaging). Authorize those channels in routes/channels.php. MessageSending is never broadcast.

Lifecycle events

Custom models

Swap any model in config/messaging.php under models. Extend the package's base classes rather than replacing them — this keeps foreign keys and contracts intact. If your class name implies a different table name, set protected $table = messaging_table('conversations') to respect the configured prefix.

Table prefix

Defaults to messaging_. Change it in config. Use the messaging_table('conversations') helper anywhere you need the full table name.

License

MIT