Tools: Why Fat Models Hurt Laravel Projects More Than You Think

🚨 What Makes a “Fat Model”? ## ❌ Hidden Costs of Fat Models ## 🧩 1. Logic Becomes Hard to Test ## 😰 2. Controllers Get Messier ## 🧠 3. Refactoring Becomes Risky ## 🧑‍💻 4. Team Collaboration Gets Harder ## ✅ What “Lean Models” Look Like Instead ## 📌 A Better Architecture for Laravel ## 🧱 1. Action / Service Classes ## 📤 2. Form Request Validation ## 🔐 3. Authorization Policies ## 🧪 4. Unit-Testable Logic ## 🤖 How Tools Like LaraCopilot Help ## 📌 When Fat Models Actually Work ## 🧠 Final Thought When building Laravel applications, Eloquent models are often the go-to place for logic. They’re convenient. They have access to everything. They seem like the right home for behavior. But that convenience hides a silent problem: models slowly become dumping grounds for complexity — and that costs you velocity, maintainability, and confidence. In this article, we’ll explore: ✅ Why “fat models” emerge in Laravel ✅ What harm they really do ✅ How to reorganize logic for long-lived apps ✅ How tools like LaraCopilot help enforce better structure At first, a Laravel model is simple: it maps a table, defines relationships, maybe a few scopes. But then you or your team start adding: ✔ Validation logic ✔ Authorization checks ✔ Business workflows ✔ Notifications ✔ External API calls It still works. You’ve saved time. This gradual creep is one of the biggest architectural traps Laravel teams fall into — and it rarely gets noticed until it’s painful. Here’s what happens when models take on too much responsibility: If your business logic depends on the model’s state and Eloquent interactions, your tests become: ✔ Slow ✔ Database-dependent ✔ Harder to isolate A seemingly simple rule now requires a full integration test — not a fast unit test. Once models handle workflows, controllers don’t just coordinate — they trigger logic. This increases coupling and makes behavior implicit rather than explicit. Controllers should delegate, not orchestrate side effects. Change a method in a fat model and you’re not sure what breaks: They all maybe depend on it. This is not accidental complexity — it’s implicit coupling by structure, not intent. Nothing kills onboarding faster than unclear patterns. If your models contain everything, developers spend more time figuring out where logic lives than how it works. ✔ Define relationships ✔ Provide query scopes ✔ Hold simple domain invariants ✘ Send emails ✘ Dispatch jobs ✘ Make decisions about workflow ✘ Validate inputs ✘ Authorize actions Those responsibilities belong elsewhere. This separation yields: ✔ Predictable structure ✔ Easier tests ✔ Safer refactors ✔ More readable teams Here’s a practical way to split responsibilities: Encapsulate workflows here: Keep controller validation out of models. Let dedicated policies handle permissions. Business rules go in encapsulated classes — easy to test without database. One big reason fat models evolve is lack of structural guidance: “Where does this go?” “This feels small — I’ll just put it here.” Tools like LaraCopilot generate Laravel code that: ✔ Respects architectural boundaries ✔ Produces segmented services instead of monolithic models ✔ Keeps controllers thin and models pure ✔ Encourages conventions over quick hacks When your tooling understands Laravel’s philosophy — not just the language — you save friction early — and debt later. Fat models aren’t always wrong. Prefer them when logic is: ✔ Inherently tied to the entity’s identity ✔ Stateless and simple ✔ Query or relationship oriented But once you hit decisions, side effects, or workflows — it’s time to refactor. Laravel makes it easy to place logic wherever you want. That’s a strength — until it becomes a liability. Avoiding fat models isn’t about purity. It’s about preserving your ability to change, refactor, and move fast without fear. If your Laravel app feels heavy or brittle, take a look at where your logic lives — not just how it works. Templates let you quickly answer FAQs or store snippets for re-use. Are you sure you want to hide this comment? It will become hidden in your post, but will still be visible via the comment's permalink. Hide child comments as well For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse CODE_BLOCK: final class RegisterUser { public function handle(array $data): User { $user = User::create($data); NotifyNewUser::dispatch($user); return $user; } } Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode CODE_BLOCK: final class RegisterUser { public function handle(array $data): User { $user = User::create($data); NotifyNewUser::dispatch($user); return $user; } } CODE_BLOCK: final class RegisterUser { public function handle(array $data): User { $user = User::create($data); NotifyNewUser::dispatch($user); return $user; } } - Queued listeners - Notifications