File Facade in Laravel: Unofficial Documentation

• Unveiling Laravel’s File Facade
• Available Methods Under File Facade
  • Existence & File State
  • File Reading & Data Extraction
  • Integrity, Hashing & Comparisons
  • Writing & Text Modifications
  • File & Directory Manipulation
  • Pattern Matching & Listings
  • Conditional Logic & Extensibility
  • Facade & Testing Tools
• Code Examples Using The File Facade
• Why the File Facade Deserves Your Attention
• Want the Full Breakdown?

Unveiling Laravel’s File Facade

The File facade anchored in the Illuminate\Support\Facades\File namespace is a powerful yet understated part of Laravel’s ecosystem. Unlike the well‑documented Storage facade, its API is less often spotlighted, but it offers a treasure trove of file and directory operations that are perfect for daily dev workflows.

Available Methods Under File Facade

Existence & File State

• exists(string $path) / missing(string $path) – Confirm presence or absence of a file.
• isReadable(string $path), isWritable(string $path), isFile(string $file), isDirectory(string $directory), isEmptyDirectory(string $directory, bool $ignoreDotFiles = false) – State checks to avoid surprises.

File Reading & Data Extraction

• get(string $path, bool $lock = false) – Read file content with optional locking.
• json(string $path, int $flags, bool $lock = false) – Read & decode JSON straight off disk.
• lines(string $path) → returns a LazyCollection – Iterate files line‑by‑line without slurping into memory.

Integrity, Hashing & Comparisons

• hash(string $path, string $algorithm = 'md5') – Compute file hash (MD5 default).
• hasSameHash(string $firstFile, string $secondFile) – Instantly compare file content equality via hash.

Writing & Text Modifications

• put(string $path, string $contents, bool $lock = false) – Write to file with optional lock.
• replace(string $path, string $content, int|null $mode = null) – Overwrite entire file.
• replaceInFile(array|string $search, array|string $replace, string $path) – Inline search-and-replace.
• prepend(string $path, string $data), append(string $path, string $data, bool $lock = false) – Add content at the start or end of a file.
• chmod(string $path, int|null $mode = null) – Change file permissions.

File & Directory Manipulation

• delete(string|array $paths), move(string $path, string $target), copy(string $path, string $target) – CRUD essentials for files.

• link(string $target, string $link), relativeLink(string $target, string $link) – Create absolute or relative symlinks.

• Directory operations:

  • ensureDirectoryExists(string $path, int $mode = 0755, bool $recursive = true)
  • makeDirectory(string $path, int $mode = 0755, bool $recursive = false, bool $force = false)
  • moveDirectory(string $from, string $to, bool $overwrite = false)
  • copyDirectory(string $directory, string $destination, int|null $options = null)
  • deleteDirectory(string $directory, bool $preserve = false)
  • deleteDirectories(string $directory)
  • cleanDirectory(string $directory) – All the tools to safely create, copy, move, clean up, or delete directories.

Pattern Matching & Listings

• glob(string $pattern, int $flags) – Pattern-based search.
• files(string $directory, bool $hidden = false) / allFiles(string $directory, bool $hidden = false) – List files, optionally including hidden ones.
• directories(string $directory) – List subdirectories.

Conditional Logic & Extensibility

• when(...), unless(...) – Conditional workflows on file operations.

• Laravel macro system support:

  • macro(...), mixin(...), hasMacro(...), flushMacros() – Add or manage custom behavior at runtime.

Facade & Testing Tools

Methods inherited from the base Facade class:

• resolved(), spy(), partialMock(), shouldReceive(), expects(), swap(), isFake(), getFacadeRoot(), getFacadeAccessor(), resolveFacadeInstance() – useful in testing and mocking.

Code Examples Using The File Facade

// Stream file safely
File::lines($path)->each(fn($line) => process($line));
 
// Lock‑safe write
File::put($path, $contents, true);
 
// Parse JSON
$data = File::json($configFile, JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR, true);
 
// Inline replacements
File::replaceInFile('TODO', 'DONE', $filePath);
 
// Directory management
File::ensureDirectoryExists($dirPath);
File::cleanDirectory($dirPath);
 
// Symlinks
File::link($targetFile, $symlink);
 
// Custom macro
File::macro('duplicateAndDelete', function ($path) {
    File::copy($path, $path.'.dup');
    File::delete($path);
});

Why the File Facade Deserves Your Attention

Want the Full Breakdown?

Head over to the official Laravel API docs for the File facade to explore everything in detail:

Illuminate\Support\Facades\File – Laravel API (v12.x)