Stop Repeating Expensive Logic in Laravel: Use once() the Right Way

In many Laravel applications, the same logic is often executed multiple times during a single request. This usually happens with database queries, configuration lookups, or helper functions that are reused across controllers, middleware, and views.

Laravel provides a clean and elegant solution for this problem: the once() helper.

❌ The Common Problem

Consider a helper function that fetches application settings:

function settings()
{
    return Setting::first();
}

If this function is called in multiple places within the same request, the database query runs every time — leading to unnecessary performance overhead.

✅ The Correct Solution Using `once()`

function settings()
{
    return once(function () {
        return Setting::first();
    });
}

🧪 Real-World Use Cases

User Role Lookup

function userRole()
{
    return once(fn () => auth()->user()?->role);
}

Vivek Mistry 👋