Model relationships express your domain; load only what you need.
Commands
# Typical loading
Post::with(['author', 'tags'])->withCount('comments')->paginate(20);
# Constrained eager loading
User::with(['posts' => fn($q) => $q->latest()->where('published', true)])->find($id);
# Pivot ops (many-to-many)
$post->tags()->sync([1,2,3]); // atomic replace
$post->tags()->syncWithoutDetaching([4]);
# Chunking large reads
Order::where('status', 'open')->lazy()->each(fn($o) => ...);
Patterns
-
See
laravel:performance-eager-loadingfor N+1 detection and measurement -
Use
whereHas()/has()to filter by related existence -
Prefer
withCount,withSum,withMaxfor simple aggregates -
Apply global / local scopes for recurring constraints
-
Keep relationship names consistent and pluralized where appropriate