How to Handle Integrity Constraint Violation for Concurrent Duplicate Requests in Laravel API?

Updated: Mar 04, 2025

How to Handle Integrity Constraint Violation for Concurrent Duplicate Requests in Laravel API?

When building a Laravel API, it's essential to handle integrity constraint violations that can occur due to concurrent requests trying to modify the same data. Integrity constraint violations occur when an operation attempts to modify data in a way that violates a rule defined by the database. In Laravel, these violations are typically handled by exception classes that extend the Illuminate\Database\QueryException class.

To handle integrity constraint violations caused by concurrent requests, you can use Laravel's built-in transaction support. Transactions allow you to group multiple database statements into a single unit of work, ensuring that either all statements are executed successfully or none of them are. This can help prevent data inconsistencies caused by concurrent requests.

Here's an example of how to use transactions to handle integrity constraint violations in Laravel API:

  1. Wrap your database operations in a transaction:
DB::transaction(function () {
    // Your database operations here
});
  1. Implement error handling for integrity constraint violations:
DB::transaction(function () {
    try {
        // Your database operations here
    } catch (QueryException $e) {
        // Handle integrity constraint violation error here
        throw new Exception('Integrity constraint violation error', 409);
    }
});
  1. Handle the error response in your API route or controller:
Route::apiRoute('store')
    ->middleware('api')
    ->controller(YourController::class)
    ->responseFactory('store')
    ->middleware(function ($request, $next) {
        $this->middleware(function ($request, $next) {
            DB::transaction(function () use ($request) {
                try {
                    // Your database operations here
                } catch (Exception $e) {
                    return response()->json([
                        'message' => 'Integrity constraint violation error',
                        'error' => $e->getMessage(),
                    ], 409);
                }
            });

            return $next($request);
        });
    });

In the example above, when an integrity constraint violation error occurs, the API will return a 409 response with an error message. This way, you can provide a meaningful error message to the client and prevent data inconsistencies caused by concurrent requests.

It's important to note that using transactions can add some overhead to your API, so it's essential to use them judiciously and only when necessary. Additionally, you may want to consider implementing optimistic locking or other concurrency control mechanisms to further improve data consistency in your API.