User Management API

This project is a simple RESTful API built with Laravel and SQLite, providing endpoints for managing users. It allows for creating, reading, updating, and deleting users, while utilizing Laravel's built-in functionality for validation, error handling, and database migrations.

Table of Contents

1. Features
2. Requirements
3. Installation
4. API Endpoints
5. Testing the API with cURL

Features

• User management: CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) functionality for users.
• Input validation: Validates data before it is saved or updated.
• Error handling: Handles and logs errors in a structured manner.
• Database migration: Auto-generates database schema with Laravel migrations.
• SQLite: In-memory or file-based database for lightweight and simple setup.

Requirements

• PHP 8.x or higher
• Composer
• Laravel 10.x or higher
• SQLite or any other supported database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.)
• cURL (for testing API endpoints)

Installation

Follow the steps below to get the project running:

Step 1: Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/user-management-api.git
cd user-management-api

Step 2: Install dependencies

Run the following command to install Laravel dependencies:

composer install

Step 3: Set up the .env file

Copy the example environment file and update the necessary variables:

cp .env.example .env

Make sure to configure the database settings in .env to use SQLite:

DB_CONNECTION=sqlite
DB_DATABASE=/absolute/path/to/database/database.sqlite

Create the SQLite database file:

touch database/database.sqlite

Step 4: Generate the application key

php artisan key:generate

Step 5: Run migrations

To create the necessary tables in the database, run:

php artisan migrate

Step 6: Serve the application

You can run the application locally using Laravel’s development server:

php artisan serve

The application will now be running at http://127.0.0.1:8000.

API Endpoints

Here are the main API endpoints for managing users:

POST /api/users

Create a new user.

• Request Body (JSON):

  {
    "name": "John Doe",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "password": "secret",
    "role": "user"
  }

• Response:

  • 201 Created: User created successfully.

GET /api/users

Retrieve a list of all users.

• Response:
  • 200 OK: List of users.

GET /api/users/{id}

Retrieve a specific user by ID.

• Response:
  • 200 OK: User found.
  • 404 Not Found: User not found.

PUT /api/users/{id}

Update a specific user by ID.

• Request Body (JSON):

  {
    "name": "John Updated",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "password": "newpassword",
    "role": "admin"
  }

• Response:

  • 200 OK: User updated successfully.
  • 404 Not Found: User not found.

DELETE /api/users/{id}

Delete a specific user by ID.

• Response:
  • 204 No Content: User deleted successfully.
  • 404 Not Found: User not found.

Testing the API with cURL

You can test the API endpoints using cURL:

Create a User (POST)

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/users \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name": "John Doe", "email": "[email protected]", "password": "secret", "role": "user"}'

Get All Users (GET)

curl -X GET http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/users

Get a Specific User by ID (GET)

curl -X GET http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/users/1

Update a User (PUT)

curl -X PUT http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/users/1 \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name": "John Updated", "email": "[email protected]", "password": "newpassword", "role": "admin"}'

Delete a User (DELETE)

curl -X DELETE http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/users/1