How to Send Notification via Database in Laravel

In Laravel, you send notifications via the database by creating a notification class with the database channel and storing notification data in the database. Use php artisan notifications:table to create the notifications table, then call notify() on the user model to send the notification.

Syntax

To send a notification via the database in Laravel, you create a notification class that uses the database channel. The notification data is stored as JSON in the notifications table.

Key parts:

• via(): Defines the channels, include 'database'.
• toDatabase(): Returns the array of data saved in the database.
• notify(): Called on the user or notifiable model to send the notification.

php

php artisan notifications:table
php artisan migrate

// Notification class example
use Illuminate\Notifications\Notification;

class InvoicePaid extends Notification
{
    public function via($notifiable)
    {
        return ['database'];
    }

    public function toDatabase($notifiable)
    {
        return [
            'invoice_id' => 1234,
            'amount' => 2500,
            'message' => 'Your invoice has been paid.',
        ];
    }
}

// Sending notification
$user->notify(new InvoicePaid());

Example

This example shows how to create a notification that stores data in the database and how to send it to a user.

php

<?php

namespace App\Notifications;

use Illuminate\Notifications\Notification;

class InvoicePaid extends Notification
{
    public function via($notifiable)
    {
        return ['database'];
    }

    public function toDatabase($notifiable)
    {
        return [
            'invoice_id' => 5678,
            'amount' => 1500,
            'message' => 'Your invoice #5678 has been paid successfully.',
        ];
    }
}

// In a controller or route
use App\Models\User;
use App\Notifications\InvoicePaid;

$user = User::find(1);
$user->notify(new InvoicePaid());

// To retrieve notifications
$notifications = $user->notifications;
foreach ($notifications as $notification) {
    echo $notification->data['message'] . "\n";
}

Output

Your invoice #5678 has been paid successfully.

Common Pitfalls

• Not running php artisan notifications:table and migrating, so the notifications table does not exist.
• Forgetting to include 'database' in the via() method.
• Not returning an array in toDatabase() method; it must be an array to store as JSON.
• Trying to notify a model that does not use the Notifiable trait.

php

// Wrong: Missing 'database' channel
public function via($notifiable)
{
    return ['mail']; // database channel missing
}

// Right: Include 'database'
public function via($notifiable)
{
    return ['database'];
}

// Wrong: Returning string instead of array
public function toDatabase($notifiable)
{
    return 'Invoice paid'; // should be array
}

// Right: Return array
public function toDatabase($notifiable)
{
    return ['message' => 'Invoice paid'];
}

Quick Reference

Steps to send database notifications in Laravel:

• Run php artisan notifications:table and php artisan migrate to create the notifications table.
• Create a notification class with php artisan make:notification.
• In the notification, use via() to include 'database' channel.
• Define toDatabase() to return the data array.
• Call notify() on the user or notifiable model.

Key Takeaways

Always run the notifications migration to create the database table before sending notifications.

Include 'database' in the via() method to store notifications in the database.

Return an array from toDatabase() with the data you want to save.

Use the Notifiable trait on models to enable notifications.

Retrieve notifications from the user model using the notifications relationship.