Laravel Geo

atldays/laravel-geo retrieves visitor location from IP addresses using both online and local services. No matter which provider is used, the result is normalized geo data such as country, city, continent, and coordinates.

You can use it directly from the current request, from any Request instance, or from an explicit IP address.

All supported drivers are normalized into the same strongly typed GeoDataContract, so you work with consistent DTOs instead of provider-specific arrays.

Drivers

The package includes these drivers out of the box:

• IpApi
• MaxMind

The default driver is IpApi, because it lets developers install the package and see real results immediately.

Installation

composer require atldays/laravel-geo

Publish the config file if you want to customize driver order or provider settings:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=laravel-geo-config

Quick Start

Current request geo data

Use the Geo facade when you want data for the current request.

use Atldays\Geo\Facades\Geo;

$country = Geo::country();
$city = Geo::city();
$latitude = Geo::latitude();
$payload = Geo::data();

Available facade methods match GeoDataContract:

• Geo::ip()
• Geo::continent()
• Geo::country()
• Geo::city()
• Geo::registeredCountry()
• Geo::accuracyRadius()
• Geo::latitude()
• Geo::longitude()
• Geo::timeZone()
• Geo::postalCode()
• Geo::data()
• Geo::toArray()

Explicit IP and request lookups

Use the GeoManager facade when you want to resolve a specific IP or request instance.

use Atldays\Geo\Facades\GeoManager;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

$byIp = GeoManager::ip('8.8.8.8');
$currentRequest = GeoManager::request();

$request = Request::create('/?ip=8.8.8.8', 'GET');
$geo = GeoManager::request($request);

$country = $geo->country();
$city = $geo->city();
$payload = $geo->data();

GeoManager::ip() and GeoManager::request() return Atldays\Geo\Contracts\GeoDataContract.

Configuration

The main config file is config/geo.php.

Default driver and fallbacks

use Atldays\Geo\Drivers\IpApi;

return [
    'driver' => IpApi::class,
    'fallbacks' => [],
];

You can switch to MaxMind and keep IpApi as a fallback:

use Atldays\Geo\Drivers\IpApi;
use Atldays\Geo\Drivers\MaxMind;

return [
    'driver' => MaxMind::class,
    'fallbacks' => [
        IpApi::class,
    ],
];

Drivers are resolved in this order:

1. geo.driver
2. every class from geo.fallbacks

If a driver throws DriverUnavailableException, the manager moves to the next configured driver.

Request Macros

The package registers two request macros:

• request()->geo()
• request()->realIp()
• request()->fakeIp()

GeoManager::request() uses:

1. fakeIp() when debug mode is enabled and a valid fake IP is present
2. otherwise realIp()

The fake IP input key is configurable:

'request' => [
    'fake_ip_key' => env('GEO_FAKE_IP_KEY', 'ip'),
],

That makes local testing convenient:

// In debug mode, with GEO_FAKE_IP_KEY=ip
// GET /some-page?ip=8.8.8.8

Geo::country();

You can also resolve geo data directly from any Request instance:

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

$request = Request::create('/?ip=8.8.8.8', 'GET');
$geo = $request->geo();

$country = $geo->country();
$city = $geo->city();

IP-API

IP-API is the default driver because it gives immediate feedback after installation.

You do not need to create credentials or download a local database to start using it.

If you install the package and keep the default configuration, Geo and GeoManager will already resolve data through IpApi.

Example:

use Atldays\Geo\Facades\Geo;
use Atldays\Geo\Facades\GeoManager;

$currentCountry = Geo::country();
$byIp = GeoManager::ip('8.8.8.8');

Config:

'ip_api' => [
    'base_url' => env('GEO_IP_API_BASE_URL', 'http://ip-api.com'),
    'timeout' => env('GEO_IP_API_TIMEOUT'),
],

This is the recommended choice when you want to try the package quickly without creating external credentials or downloading a local database first.

MaxMind

MaxMind uses a local .mmdb database and is the better choice when you want stable local lookups backed by a real database file.

To use it, you need a MaxMind account and credentials for the GeoLite2 download service.

GeoLite2 is free, so developers can start with the free MaxMind offering and still get a solid local integration.

Config:

'maxmind' => [
    'account_id' => env('MAXMIND_ACCOUNT_ID'),
    'license_key' => env('MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY'),
    'edition_id' => env('MAXMIND_EDITION_ID', 'GeoLite2-City'),
    'download_url' => env('MAXMIND_DOWNLOAD_URL'),
    'database_path' => env('MAXMIND_DATABASE_PATH', storage_path('app/geo/maxmind')),
    'database_filename' => env('MAXMIND_DATABASE_FILENAME'),
    'metadata_filename' => env('MAXMIND_METADATA_FILENAME', 'metadata.json'),
],

MaxMind setup flow

1. Create or sign in to your MaxMind account.
2. Generate a license key for GeoLite2 downloads.
3. Add MAXMIND_ACCOUNT_ID and MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY to your environment.
4. Switch your geo.driver to MaxMind::class if you want it as the primary driver.
5. Run the update command to download the local database.

Example environment:

MAXMIND_ACCOUNT_ID=your-account-id
MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY=your-license-key

Updating the MaxMind database

Run:

php artisan geo:update

Force a fresh download even if the local file appears current:

php artisan geo:update --force

The updater stores:

• the downloaded .mmdb file
• a metadata JSON file next to it

UpdateResult is generic and only reports:

• whether the resource was downloaded
• the local stored path
• the metadata path

Source-specific details such as edition_id, download_url, or remote_last_modified live inside metadata instead of the shared DTO.

Geo Data

Resolved geo data is normalized into GeoDataContract.

That means driver-specific payloads are not exposed as arbitrary top-level structures. Every supported driver is mapped into the same typed result shape.

Depending on the driver and available source data, you may receive:

• continent
• country
• city
• registered country
• accuracy radius
• latitude and longitude
• time zone
• postal code
• raw provider payload

Nested geo objects are normalized too:

• continent() returns ContinentContract It provides a strict name and continent code.
• country() and registeredCountry() return CountryContract They provide a strict name, ISO code, and normalized continent object.
• city() returns CityContract It provides a strict name, normalized country object, and subdivisions collection.
• city subdivisions implement SubdivisionContract They provide a strict name and ISO code.

Some drivers may return partial data. A lookup can still be successful even if only part of the geo payload is available.

Public API

Main public package entry points:

• Atldays\Geo\Facades\Geo
• Atldays\Geo\Facades\GeoManager
• Atldays\Geo\Contracts\GeoDataContract
• Atldays\Geo\Contracts\GeoDriver
• Atldays\Geo\Contracts\GeoDriverUpdatable
• Atldays\Geo\Contracts\UpdateResultContract

Testing

Run the standard test suite:

composer test

Run formatting checks:

composer format:test

Run live driver checks:

composer test:live

Live tests cover real providers and may require external credentials, especially for MaxMind.

License

The MIT License (MIT). Please see LICENSE.md for more information.