Simplify Relationship Queries with whereRelation()

Replace verbose whereHas() closures with whereRelation() and orWhereRelation() for clean single-column relationship queries.

Querying a model based on constraints on a related table usually requires wrapping whereHas() inside a closure:

// Traditional verbose syntax
$users = User::whereHas('posts', function ($query) {
    $query->where('status', 'published');
})->get();

For single-column checks, Laravel provides the whereRelation() shorthand.

Using whereRelation()

Pass the relationship name, column name, and value directly:

use App\Models\User;

// Concise whereRelation syntax
$users = User::whereRelation('posts', 'status', 'published')->get();

Comparison Operators

You can also pass comparison operators as the third argument:

use App\Models\Company;

// Find companies where subscription price is greater than 100
$companies = Company::whereRelation('subscription', 'price', '>', 100)->get();

Nested Dot Notation Relationships

whereRelation() also supports nested relationships using dot notation:

// Find authors whose posts have comments flagged as spam
$authors = User::whereRelation('posts.comments', 'is_spam', true)->get();

Summary

• Replaces verbose whereHas('relation', fn ($q) => $q->where(...)) closures with a single line.
• Supports standard comparison operators (=, >, <, LIKE).
• Works directly with nested relationships via dot notation (relation.nestedRelation).