Authorization Generators

Purpose and Scope

This document covers the policy generator command (make:policy) provided by the Hypervel/Devtool package. Policies are authorization classes that organize authorization logic around a particular model or resource, containing methods that determine whether a user can perform specific actions.

For event-based model lifecycle hooks, see Observer Generation. For general code generation patterns, see Code Generation System.

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Policy Generator Overview

The PolicyCommand class generates authorization policy classes that contain methods for determining user permissions. The generator supports two modes:

1. Model-based policies - Generate policies with standard CRUD authorization methods tied to a specific model
2. Plain policies - Generate empty policy classes for custom authorization logic

The command is registered as make:policy and extends the GeneratorCommand base class from Hyperf.

Sources: src/Generator/PolicyCommand.php1-89

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Command Options and Flags

The make:policy command accepts the following options:

Option	Short	Type	Description	Default Behavior
--model	-m	Optional	The model class that the policy applies to	Infers model name from policy class name
--guard	-g	Optional	The authentication guard configuration to use	Uses auth.defaults.guard from configuration

Usage Examples

Sources: src/Generator/PolicyCommand.php82-88

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Generated Policy Structure

Model-Based Policy (Full)

When the --model option is provided, the generator creates a policy class with seven standard authorization methods:

Each method receives the authenticated user as the first parameter. Methods that operate on a specific model instance receive the model as the second parameter.

Method	Parameters	Return Type	Purpose
viewAny	User $user	bool	Determine if user can view any models
view	User $user, Model $model	bool	Determine if user can view a specific model
create	User $user	bool	Determine if user can create models
update	User $user, Model $model	bool	Determine if user can update a specific model
delete	User $user, Model $model	bool	Determine if user can delete a specific model
restore	User $user, Model $model	bool	Determine if user can restore a soft-deleted model
forceDelete	User $user, Model $model	bool	Determine if user can permanently delete a model

All methods return false by default, requiring explicit authorization logic to be added.

Sources: src/Generator/stubs/policy.stub1-67

Plain Policy

When no --model option is provided, the generator creates a minimal policy class:

• Contains only a constructor method
• Imports the user model namespace
• Suitable for policies that don't follow standard CRUD patterns

Sources: src/Generator/stubs/policy.plain.stub1-18

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Placeholder Replacement System

The policy generator performs complex placeholder replacement to inject model and user information into the generated class:

Model Name Inference

If the --model option is not provided, the generator attempts to infer the model name from the policy class name:

1. Extract the final segment of the policy class namespace path
2. Remove the "Policy" suffix using Str::before($className, 'Policy')
3. Capitalize the result using Str::ucfirst()

For example, PostPolicy infers the model name Post.

Sources: src/Generator/PolicyCommand.php31-38

User Model Resolution

The generator resolves the user model class through the authentication configuration chain:

The method userProviderModel() implements this resolution logic:

1. Determine the authentication guard (from --guard option or default)
2. Lookup the provider for that guard in auth.guards.{guard}.provider
3. Retrieve the model class from auth.providers.{provider}.model
4. Fall back to App\Models\User if no model is configured

If the specified guard is not defined, a LogicException is thrown with a descriptive error message.

Sources: src/Generator/PolicyCommand.php54-66

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Stub Selection Logic

The generator selects between two stub templates based on the presence of the --model option:

The stub path resolution follows this priority:

1. Custom stub path from configuration: getConfig()['stub']
2. Default stubs based on --model option:
   • With --model: src/Generator/stubs/policy.stub
   • Without --model: src/Generator/stubs/policy.plain.stub

Sources: src/Generator/PolicyCommand.php68-75

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Configuration and Customization

Default Namespace

Generated policies are placed in the App\Policies namespace by default. This can be overridden through configuration:

The getDefaultNamespace() method checks configuration before returning the default:

Sources: src/Generator/PolicyCommand.php77-80

Model Namespace Configuration

The model_namespace configuration key determines where the generator looks for model classes. The default is App\Models, but this can be customized to support different project structures:

Sources: src/Generator/PolicyCommand.php40

Custom Stub Templates

Custom stub templates can be specified through the configuration system. This allows teams to:

• Add custom methods to all generated policies
• Include additional imports or traits
• Modify the default authorization logic
• Add documentation or code style preferences

Sources: src/Generator/PolicyCommand.php70

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Code-Level Integration

Class Hierarchy

The PolicyCommand class extends GeneratorCommand and overrides four key methods to implement policy-specific generation logic:

Method	Purpose	Lines
replaceClass()	Performs model and user model placeholder replacement	31-52
getStub()	Selects appropriate stub template based on options	68-75
getDefaultNamespace()	Returns the default policy namespace	77-80
getOptions()	Defines command-line options	82-88
userProviderModel()	Resolves user model from auth configuration	54-66

Sources: src/Generator/PolicyCommand.php14-89

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Placeholder Reference

The following placeholders are replaced during policy generation:

Placeholder	Example Value	Description
%NAMESPACE%	App\Policies	The namespace for the policy class
%CLASS%	PostPolicy	The policy class name
%NAMESPACED_MODEL%	App\Models\Post	Fully qualified model class name
%NAMESPACED_USER_MODEL%	App\Models\User	Fully qualified user model class name
%USER%	User	User model class basename
%MODEL%	Post	Target model class basename
%MODEL_VARIABLE%	post	Camelcase variable name for model instance

These placeholders are replaced during the replaceClass() method execution, which first calls the parent implementation for standard placeholders (%NAMESPACE%, %CLASS%) and then performs policy-specific replacements.

Sources: src/Generator/PolicyCommand.php47-51 src/Generator/stubs/policy.stub5-23