How to use Laravel's policies and gates for vue js API authorization

Laravel's policies and gates are typically used for server-side authorization in the context of Laravel's backend. However, when building a Vue.js application that communicates with a Laravel API, you may want to implement a form of client-side authorization using Laravel's authorization logic.

Here's a general approach to achieve this:

1. Define Policies and Gates on the Laravel Backend:
   • Create a policy using php artisan make:policy MyPolicy.
   • Define the necessary methods in the policy (e.g., view, create, update, delete).
   • Register the policy in the AuthServiceProvider.

phpCopy code
// app/Policies/MyPolicy.php

public function view(User $user)
{
    return $user->hasPermission('view-something');
}

// AuthServiceProvider.php

protected $policies = [
    'App\Model' => 'App\Policies\MyPolicy',
];

2. Create API Endpoints in Laravel:
   • Create routes and controllers to handle the API requests.

phpCopy code
// routes/api.php

Route::middleware('auth:api')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/something', 'SomethingController@index');
});

3. Use Policies in Controllers:
   • In your controller, use the authorize method to check if the user is authorized to perform the action.

phpCopy code
// SomethingController.php

public function index()
{
    $this->authorize('view', Something::class);

    // Return data or perform action
}

4. Expose the Policies to Vue.js:
   • When rendering the initial Vue.js components, pass the necessary authorization information.

bladeCopy code
<!-- resources/views/something.blade.php -->

<script>
    window.auth = @json(['canView' => auth()->user()->can('view', Something::class)]);
</script>

5. Use Authorization in Vue.js Components:
   • In your Vue.js components, you can now use the authorization information.

javascriptCopy code
// MyComponent.vue

<template>
    <div v-if="canView">
        <!-- Content for authorized users -->
    </div>
    <div v-else>
        <!-- Content for unauthorized users -->
    </div>
</template>

<script>
export default {
    data() {
        return {
            canView: window.auth.canView,
        };
    },
};
</script>

This approach is basic and assumes you're comfortable exposing authorization details to the client. Always remember to perform proper backend authorization checks as well to ensure security.

Note: This approach involves server-side checks via Laravel policies and gates and then sending the authorization status to the client-side for rendering. This can be a good approach for simple cases, but for more complex scenarios or sensitive operations, it's recommended to perform the necessary checks on the server side before processing any request.