✨ Summary

I propose adding a withExtra() method to Laravel’s Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\JsonResource class. This method would allow developers to append additional top-level data to a resource response in a clean, expressive, and reusable way — without overriding the existing with() method or manually modifying the array in toArray().

💡 Motivation

While Laravel already supports attaching data via the with() method, its behavior is limited:

• It only applies when the resource is the outermost resource.
• It places data inside a meta key, which is ideal for metadata, but not for enriching the resource directly.

There are many cases where developers want to add more fields to the top level of a resource’s JSON structure. This could include:

• Runtime-calculated properties
• Related but non-relationship-based data
• Data based on authentication context
• Feature flags, tokens, etc.

📦 Example Use Case

Let’s say we're returning a UserResource. By default, it includes basic data. In some responses, we want to include permissions and a JWT token at the top level.

✅ Controller

public function show(Request $request, User $user): JsonResponse
{
    return UserResource::make($user)
        ->withExtra([
            'permissions' => $user->getPermissions(),
            'token' => $request->user()?->createToken('access')->plainTextToken,
        ])
        ->toResponse($request);
}

✅ Resource

class UserResource extends JsonResource
{
    public function toArray($request): array
    {
        return [
            'id'    => $this->id,
            'name'  => $this->name,
            'email' => $this->email,
        ];
    }
}

📤 Expected JSON Output

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "Jane Doe",
  "email": "[email protected]",
  "permissions": ["read", "write"],
  "token": "abc123..."
}

🤔 Why Not Use with()?

The existing with() method works well for metadata — but it’s not suitable for inline data injection:

🛠 Implementation Summary

To implement this behavior, the following minimal additions are proposed to JsonResource:

1. Add an $extra property

protected array $extra = [];

2. Add the withExtra() method

public function withExtra(array $extra): static
{
    $this->extra = array_merge($this->extra, $extra);

    return $this;
}

3. Update the resolve() method

public function resolve($request = null)
{
    $data = $this->toArray(
        $request = $request ?: Container::getInstance()->make('request')
    );

    if ($data instanceof Arrayable) {
        $data = $data->toArray();
    } elseif ($data instanceof JsonSerializable) {
        $data = $data->jsonSerialize();
    }

    return $this->filter(array_merge((array) $data, $this->extra));
}

✅ Benefits

• ✅ Cleaner developer experience
• ✅ Less boilerplate
• ✅ Works consistently even when nested
• ✅ No breaking changes — fully opt-in