Customizing Many-to-Many Pivot Table with a Dedicated Model

// app/Models/User.php
namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\BelongsToMany;

class User extends Model
{
    public function roles(): BelongsToMany
    {
        return $this->belongsToMany(Role::class)
                    ->using(RoleUser::class)
                    ->withPivot('assigned_by'); // Important: Specify pivot attributes
    }
}

// app/Models/Role.php
namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\BelongsToMany;

class Role extends Model
{
    public function users(): BelongsToMany
    {
        return $this->belongsToMany(User::class)
                    ->using(RoleUser::class)
                    ->withPivot('assigned_by');
    }
}

// app/Models/RoleUser.php (The Custom Pivot Model)
namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\Pivot;

class RoleUser extends Pivot
{
    protected $table = 'role_user'; // Specify the pivot table name

    // Define relationships to the parent models if needed
    public function user()
    {
        return $this->belongsTo(User::class);
    }

    public function role()
    {
        return $this->belongsTo(Role::class);
    }
}

// Usage Example
$user = User::find(1);
$role = Role::find(2);

// Attaching with pivot data
$user->roles()->attach($role->id, ['assigned_by' => auth()->id()]);

// Retrieving pivot data via the custom model
$pivotData = $user->roles()->first()->pivot; // This will be an instance of RoleUser
echo $pivotData->assigned_by;

// Retrieving via the custom model directly
$roleUser = RoleUser::where('user_id', $user->id)->where('role_id', $role->id)->first();
echo $roleUser->assigned_by;