The N+1 Audit: From 100+ Queries to 2

Laravel's API Resources are elegant -- define toArray() and the framework handles serialization. They also make it dangerously easy to hide database queries inside transformation logic.

The Problem

Loading 50 contacts triggered 100+ database queries. The culprit was inside ContactResource::toArray():

'next_appointment' => $this->getNextAppointment(),

That method ran 1-2 queries per contact to find their next appointment. Multiply by 50 contacts and you're at 100+ queries for a single API call.

The same pattern appeared elsewhere:

• AppointmentResource queried the currently-reading book per appointment for reading-type events
• Blade templates called Book::getCurrentlyReading() once per day column -- 7 identical queries on the week view

The Fix: Preload, Don't Query Per-Item

For contacts, I bulk-fetched all next appointments in the controller and stored them in a static property:

// Controller: 2 queries for ALL contacts
ContactResource::preloadNextAppointments($contacts, $user->timezone);

// Resource: just a lookup, zero queries
'next_appointment' => self::$nextAppointments[$this->id] ?? null,

For the book lookup, same idea -- resolve it once in the controller, set it as a static on AppointmentResource. For Blade, pass the book from the controller instead of each partial querying independently.

The Safety Net

The most important fix was one line:

Model::preventLazyLoading(! $this->app->environment('production'));

Now any accidental lazy load throws an exception in development. N+1s are impossible to miss going forward.

Results

Takeaway

Never query inside toArray(). API Resources should format data that's already loaded. If you need computed data, preload it in the controller. And turn on preventLazyLoading -- it's the single best prevention measure and it costs nothing.