Manipulate Model Attributes On-the-Fly with Eloquent Accessors & Mutators

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

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Casts\Attribute;

class User extends Model
{
    // ... other model properties and methods ...

    /**
     * Get the user's first name.
     *
     * @return \Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Casts\Attribute
     */
    protected function firstName(): Attribute
    {
        return Attribute::make(
            get: fn (string $value) => ucfirst($value),
            set: fn (string $value) => strtolower($value),
        );
    }

    /**
     * Accessor for full_name attribute.
     *
     * @return \Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Casts\Attribute
     */
    protected function fullName(): Attribute
    {
        return Attribute::make(
            get: fn () => "{$this->first_name} {$this->last_name}",
        );
    }

    /**
     * Mutator for password attribute (hashing before saving).
     * Note: This is a simpler example; Laravel handles password hashing usually.
     *
     * @return \Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Casts\Attribute
     */
    protected function password(): Attribute
    {
        return Attribute::make(
            set: fn (string $value) => bcrypt($value),
        );
    }
}

// Usage example in a Controller/Route:
$user = User::find(1);
echo $user->first_name; // Automatically capitalized (accessor)
echo $user->full_name;  // Computed on the fly (accessor)

$user->first_name = 'JOHN'; // Automatically lowercased before saving (mutator)
$user->password = 'newpassword'; // Automatically hashed before saving (mutator)
$user->save();