alihaider/flexible-boolean

Flexible boolean validation rule supporting true/false strings and values

v1.0.3 2026-03-31 14:40 UTC

Requires

• php: >=7.4
• illuminate/support: ^8.0 || ^9.0 || ^10.0 || ^11.0 || ^12.0 || ^13.0

Requires (Dev)

• orchestra/testbench: ^8.0
• pestphp/pest: ^2.0
• phpunit/phpunit: ^10.0

MIT

• Ali Haider

README

A powerful and flexible boolean validation rule for Laravel that supports real-world API and frontend inputs like "true" and "false".

🚀 Why This Package Exists

Laravel's default boolean validation rule does NOT accept string values like:

• "true"
• "false"

However, in real-world applications (APIs, frontend forms, third-party integrations), boolean values are often sent as strings.

This package solves that problem by providing a flexible and reliable boolean validation rule.

✨ Features

• Supports:
  • true / false
  • "true" / "false"
  • 1 / 0
  • "1" / "0"
• Laravel validation rule
• Helper methods for conversion
• Fully testable and production ready

📦 Installation

Install via Composer:

composer require AliHaider/laravel-flexible-boolean

⚙️ Service Provider

Laravel supports auto-discovery, so no manual registration is required.

If you are using an older Laravel version or need to register manually, add the service provider:

// config/app.php

'providers' => [
    AliHaider\FlexibleBoolean\FlexibleBooleanRuleServiceProvider::class,
];

✅ Usage

1. Validation Rule

$request->validate([
    'is_active' => 'required|flexible_boolean'
]);

2. Using Rule Class

use AliHaider\FlexibleBoolean\FlexibleBooleanRule;

$request->validate([
    'is_active' => ['required', new FlexibleBooleanRule()],
]);

3. Convert Value to Boolean

use AliHaider\FlexibleBoolean\FlexibleBooleanRule;

FlexibleBooleanRule::toBoolean('true');  // true
FlexibleBooleanRule::toBoolean('false'); // false
FlexibleBooleanRule::toBoolean('1');     // true
FlexibleBooleanRule::toBoolean('0');     // false

⚖️ Comparison with Laravel Default

Feature	Laravel Default	This Package
Accept "true" string	❌ No	✅ Yes
Accept "false" string	❌ No	✅ Yes
Strict boolean validation	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
API-friendly	❌ Limited	✅ Fully

🧪 Example (Real-World API)

POST /api/user

{
    "is_active": "true"
}

Validation:

$request->validate([
    'is_active' => 'required|flexible_boolean'
]);