Validate Each Array Item with Different Rules Using Rule::forEach()

Validate Each Array Item with Different Rules Using Rule::forEach()

When validating nested arrays, sometimes every item needs its own validation logic.

For example, an API might receive:

[
    'companies' => [
        ['id' => 10],
        ['id' => 20],
        ['id' => 30],
    ],
]

You may need to validate every company ID while also applying additional rules based on that specific company.

Instead of keeping all the logic inside the controller, Laravel provides Rule::forEach().

Basic Usage

use Illuminate\Validation\Rule;
$request->validate([
    'companies.*.id' => Rule::forEach(function (string|null $value, string $attribute) {
        return [
            Rule::exists(Company::class, 'id'),
        ];
    }),
]);

The closure runs for each array item and receives:

• $value — the current item's value.
• $attribute — the fully expanded attribute name.

Add Dynamic Rules

The real benefit comes when the rules depend on the current value.

'companies.*.id' => Rule::forEach(function (string|null $value, string $attribute) {
    return [
        Rule::exists(Company::class, 'id'),
        new HasPermission('manage-company', $value),
    ];
}),

Now each company ID can be checked with its own permission logic.