How can I use multiple middlewares on the same route name in Laravel 9?

Question

I want my /dashboard page to be a different panel in 2 different user types. And return to home screen if not logged in. I created 2 middlewares to check if logged in user is "employer" or "employee". Whatever I do, I can't seem to make it work, it's been 2 days. I created middlewares and routes by following some very sketchy tutorials, it may hurt your eyes, be aware.

My route:

Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
    return view('welcome');
})->name('welcome');


Route::prefix('admin')->middleware([\App\Http\Middleware\isEmployer::class])->group( function () {
    Route::get("/dashboard", function (){
        return view("employer.dashboard");
    })->name("dashboard");
});


Route::prefix('store')->middleware([\App\Http\Middleware\isEmployee::class])->group( function(){
    Route::get("/dashboard", function (){
       return view("employee.dashboard");
    })->name("dashboard");
});

isEmployee middleware:

<?php

namespace App\Http\Middleware;

use Closure;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth;

class isEmployee
{
    public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next)
    {
        if(Auth::user())
        {
            if (Auth::user()->role == "employee")
            {
                return $next($request);
            }
        }

        return response()->view('welcome');
    }
}

isEmployer middleware :

<?php

namespace App\Http\Middleware;

use Closure;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth;

class isEmployer
{
    public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next)
    {
        if(Auth::user())
        {
            if (Auth::user()->role == "employer")
            {
                return $next($request);
            }
        }

        return response()->view('welcome');
    }
}

What I want to achieve is:

if not logged in : return welcome view

if logged in as employer : return employer.dashboard view

if logged in as employee : return employee.dashboard view

Answer 1

Let's start from some refactoring:

1. Make your routes/web.php a bit more readable:

   Route::view('/dashboard', 'welcome')->name('welcome');
   
   Route::prefix('admin')->name('admin.')->middleware('role:employer')->group(function() {
       Route::view('/dashboard', 'employer.dashboard')->name("dashboard");
   });
   
   Route::prefix('store')->name('store.')->middleware('role:employee')->group(function() {
       Route::view('/dashboard', 'employee.dashboard')->name("dashboard");
   });
   

2. Now let's create a middleware that will check not only for one role, but for any role you give as a parameter:

   <?php
   
   namespace App\Http\Middleware;
   
   use Closure;
   use Illuminate\Http\Request;
   use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth;
   
   class HasRole
   {
       public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next, string $role)
       {
           if (Auth::user()?->role != $role) {
               return redirect()->route('welcome');
           }
   
           return $next($request);
       }
   }
   

3. Now, create an alias in your app/Http/Kernel.php so you could use it like i wrote it in routes file role:<role_here>:

   protected $routeMiddleware = [
       // ...
       'role' => \App\Http\Middleware\HasRole::class,
   ];
   
   

Now for your question - how to use multiple middlewares for one route. It is simple:

$route->middleware(['middleware1', 'middleware2']);

You may attach them to groups or single routes:

Route::prefix('some_group')->middleware(['middleware1', 'middleware2'])->group(function() {
    Route::view("some.view")->middleware('middleware3')->name("some.view");
});

You can read more info about Laravel's middlewares here, and understand what responsibility chain is (pattern which middleware implements) under the hood. Also take a look at SOLID principles, mainly at DRY one. Have a good day =)