Taggable

Add this trait to an Eloquent model for lightweight, free-form tagging. Tags are stored as a JSON array on a single column of the model itself — no pivot tables, tag models, or extra relationships. Reach for it when you just want a flat list of string tags per row, plus a few helpers to query and mutate them.

Usage

Add a JSON tags column, cast it to array, make it fillable, and use the trait:

use Redot\Traits\Taggable;

class Post extends Model
{
    use Taggable;

    protected $fillable = ['title', 'body', 'tags'];
    protected $casts = ['tags' => 'array'];
}

To store tags under a different column, set protected static string $tagsAttribute = 'labels'; on the model.

What the trait gives you

• tagged scope — filter rows that contain any of the given tags (OR semantics). Accepts a single tag, an array, or null (a no-op, handy for optional filters).
• tags() — every distinct tag used across all rows, returned as a value => value map that drops straight into a select's options.
• attachTag — add one or more tags to a row and save immediately.
• detachTag — remove one or more tags from a row and save immediately.
• syncTags — replace the entire tag set (or pass null to clear) and save immediately.

Examples

Querying by tag

Post::tagged('laravel')->get();
Post::tagged(['laravel', 'php'])->get();
Post::tagged(request('tag'))->get(); // null is ignored

Feeding a tag select from existing tags

return view('posts.create', [
    'tags' => Post::tags(),
]);

<x-select name="tags[]" :title="__('Tags')" :options="$tags"
    :value="old('tags', $post?->tags)" tags multiple />

Saving tags through mass assignment

Because the column is fillable and array-cast, submitted tags save without any trait method:

Post::create($request->validate([
    'title' => 'required|string',
    'tags'  => 'nullable|array',
]));

Use the mutator helpers when you need to change tags imperatively:

$post->attachTag('laravel', 'php');
$post->detachTag('draft');
$post->syncTags(['laravel', 'php']);

Notes

• No tag entity. Tags are plain strings — no normalization, related table, or referential integrity.
• The mutators save the model. attachTag/detachTag/syncTags each call save(), so other dirty attributes persist and model events fire.
• tagged is OR, not AND — a row matches if it has any requested tag.
• tags() reads the whole table — consider caching on very large tables.

Related

• UserAuditable — commonly used on the same models.