Bypassing $fillable Safely with forceFill() in Laravel

July 2, 2025

Bypassing $fillable Safely with forceFill() in Laravel

Ever used create() in Laravel and noticed some fields like role or status didn’t save? That’s because Laravel’s mass assignment protection silently ignores non-whitelisted attributes.

🔐 What Is Mass Assignment?

Mass assignment lets you set multiple model attributes in one go, e.g.:

User::create([
  'name' => 'John',
  'email' => '[email protected]',
  'role' => 'admin', // This won’t get saved if not fillable
]);

🛡️ Two Ways to Control Fillable Fields

1. $fillable (Whitelist)

protected $fillable = ['name', 'email'];

Only listed fields are allowed for mass assignment.

2. $guarded (Blacklist)

protected $guarded = ['role'];

Everything is fillable except the blacklisted attributes.

⚡ Enter forceFill()

When you trust your data source (e.g., from an internal service, seeder, or job), you can bypass fillable/guarded protection using:

$user = new User;

$user->forceFill([
  'name' => 'John',
  'email' => '[email protected]',
  'role' => 'admin',  // Will be assigned regardless of $fillable
])->save();

No need to adjust your $fillable or $guarded, and it's safe when used properly.

✔️ When to Use Each

  • ✅ $fillable: For trusted user input (forms, APIs).
  • ✅ $guarded: When many fields are fillable except a few.
  • ✅ forceFill(): For backend logic with trusted data.

Using create() without understanding mass assignment may result in “missing fields” — use the right tool for the job. Laravel is powerful when used with understanding.

Blog

React Native 0.80 & ExecuTorch: A Powerful Leap into Offline AI for Mobile Apps

Jul 28, 2025

🚀 What’s New in React Native 0.80? The React Native 0.80 release marks a pivotal moment in mobile development. This update not only enhances...

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) – Core Concepts

Aug 09, 2025

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is a modern software development approach that divides an application into units called Objects that interact with...

ECMAScript 2025 Detailed Update Guide for Frontend Developers

Jul 06, 2025

🔍 ECMAScript 2025 – Detailed Feature Guide All new ECMAScript 2025 features with code examples and explanation of their importance for front...

Stop Copy-Pasting Code! Learn How to Use Traits in Laravel the Right Way

Jul 01, 2025

🚫 Stop Copy-Pasting Code! Ever duplicated slug logic or logging across multiple models? Laravel's Traits got your back. 1. What’s a Trait?...

Task Reminder with Laravel & MongoDB

Jun 30, 2025

📌 Building a Task Reminder App This guide shows how to set up a Laravel app using MongoDB to implement a task reminder system with authentication,...

The Difference Between Redux, Context & React Components in State Management

Aug 06, 2025

When building applications with React, there’s always a need to manage data that changes based on user interaction or from fetching external r...

The Ultimate Managed Hosting Platform