Solving N+1 Queries in Laravel 11 with chaperone()

At Laracon US 2024, one of the key features announced for Laravel 11 was Chaperone Eloquent Relations, designed to solve the common N+1 query issue that affects application performance.

This feature introduces a new chaperone() method to Laravel's Eloquent ORM, allowing related models to be automatically linked back to their parent models after the relationship query runs. Essentially, the chaperone() method optimizes database queries by ensuring that relationships are efficiently loaded, reducing the need for additional queries when accessing related data.

How It Works

Previously, querying related data in large datasets could result in multiple unnecessary queries, particularly when looping over related models. For instance, retrieving a user’s posts and then accessing the user for each post could trigger redundant queries.

Example without chaperone():

1$users = User::with('posts')->get();
2 
3foreach ($users as $user) {
4    foreach ($user->posts as $post) {
5        echo $post->user->name;
6    }
7}

With the new chaperone() method, you can now write:

1public function posts(): HasMany {
2    return $this->hasMany(Post::class)->chaperone();
3}

This ensures that related models (like posts) are loaded in an optimized query, preventing performance degradation.

Why This Matters

The chaperone() method is a significant improvement for applications dealing with complex data relationships, particularly in high-performance environments. By solving the N+1 problem, this feature helps Laravel apps scale better and respond faster.

In combination with other Laravel 11 features, such as deferred background tasks and flexible caching, Chaperone makes Laravel even more efficient for building modern, scalable web applications.