Efficient Laravel Slug Generation: Unique, Sleek, and No Looping 🚀

GenerateUniqueSlug.php

<?php

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\HasFactory;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;

class Blog extends Model
{
    use HasFactory;

    protected $guarded = [];
    public static function boot()
    {
        parent::boot();

        static::creating(function ($post) {
            // When creating a new post, automatically generate a unique slug
            $post->slug = static::generateUniqueSlug($post->title);
        });
    }

    protected static function generateUniqueSlug($title)
    {
        // Generate a base slug from the post title
        $slug = str($title)->slug();

        // Check if a post with the same slug doesn't already exist
        if (static::whereSlug($slug)->doesntExist()) {
            // If no existing post has the same slug, return the base slug
            return $slug;
        }

        // Find the maximum numeric suffix for slugs with the same base
        $max = static::query()
            ->where('slug', 'like', $slug . '-%')
            ->max(DB::raw('CAST(SUBSTRING_INDEX(slug, "-", -1) AS SIGNED)'));

        // If there are no slugs with the same base, or the max value is null, append '-2'
        if ($max === null) {
            return $slug . '-2';
        }

        // Append the next numeric suffix to the base slug
        return $slug . '-' . ($max + 1);
    }
}

better version 🤯 by @eusonlito

<?php

protected static function generateUniqueSlug(string $title): string
{
    $slug = str_slug($title);

    if (static::query()->where('slug', $slug)->doesntExist()) {
        return $slug;
    }

    $last = static::query()
        ->selectRaw('CAST(REPLACE(`slug`, ?, "") AS UNSIGNED) `last`', [$slug.'-'])
        ->whereRaw('REPLACE(`slug`, ?, "") REGEXP "\-[0-9]+$"', [$slug])
        ->orderBy('last', 'DESC')
        ->value('last');

    return $slug.'-'.($last + 1);
}