README

A Laravel package for creating ephemeral (non-persistent) user instances. Perfect for handling anonymous users, session-based users, or any scenario where you need a User object without database persistence.

Features

• 🚫 Prevent Accidental Persistence - Ephemeral users throw exceptions when save attempts are made
• 📝 Automatic Logging - Track code paths that attempt to persist ephemeral users
• 🔧 Configurable Behavior - Choose between throwing exceptions or silently preventing saves
• 🎯 Type Safe - Full type hinting and interface support
• 📦 Easy Integration - Simple trait-based implementation

Installation

Add the package to your Laravel application:

composer require kylearch/ephemeral-users

Publish the configuration file (optional):

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=ephemeral-users-config

Usage

Basic Setup

Implement the interface and use the trait in your User model:

use KyleArch\EphemeralUsers\Contracts\EphemeralUser as EphemeralUserContract;
use KyleArch\EphemeralUsers\Concerns\HasEphemeralState;

class User extends Authenticatable implements EphemeralUserContract
{
    use HasEphemeralState;

    // Your existing User model code...
}

Creating Ephemeral Users

// Create an ephemeral user instance
$ephemeralUser = User::ephemeral([
    'id' => 'session-abc123',
    'email' => 'anonymous@example.com',
    'name' => 'Anonymous User',
]);

// Check if a user is ephemeral
if ($ephemeralUser->isEphemeral()) {
    // Handle ephemeral user logic
}

// Get the ephemeral identifier
$identifier = $ephemeralUser->getEphemeralIdentifier(); // 'session-abc123'

Persistence Protection

Attempting to save an ephemeral user will:

1. Log the attempt (if logging is enabled)
2. Throw an EphemeralPersistenceException (if configured)
3. Prevent the save operation

$ephemeralUser = User::ephemeral(['id' => 'test']);

try {
    $ephemeralUser->save(); // Throws EphemeralPersistenceException
} catch (EphemeralPersistenceException $e) {
    // Handle the exception
    $user = $e->getEphemeralUser();
}

Configuration

The package supports the following configuration options:

return [
    // Throw exception on persist attempts (default: true)
    'throw_on_persist' => env('EPHEMERAL_THROW_ON_PERSIST', true),

    // Log persist attempts (default: true)
    'log_attempts' => env('EPHEMERAL_LOG_PERSIST', true),

    // Log channel to use
    'log_channel' => env('EPHEMERAL_LOG_CHANNEL', 'stack'),

    // Log level for persist attempts
    'log_level' => env('EPHEMERAL_LOG_LEVEL', 'warning'),
];

Use Cases

• Anonymous Users: Handle session-based users without database records
• Testing: Create test users without database persistence
• API Integration: Represent external users without local persistence
• Guest Checkout: Allow guest users with full User object interface
• Sample/Demo Flows: Enable trial experiences without account creation

License

MIT