Reading & counting comments

Relations

$post->comments;          // every comment written on the post
$post->approvedComments;  // visible + approved top-level comments, ordered per config
$user->writtenComments;   // every comment authored by the user

$comment->actor;          // the model that wrote the comment (null for anonymous)
$comment->commentable;    // the model the comment was written on

The fluent query

Comments::query() returns a site-wide CommentQuery; Comments::for($subject) and Comments::byAuthor($author) return one already scoped — a read side that mirrors the write builder. Chain filters and ordering, then fetch:

use RoundlyConsulting\Comments\Facades\Comments;

Comments::for($post)->approved()->newest()->paginate(20);
Comments::for($post)->visible()->rootsOnly()->withReplies()->get(); // public replies only
Comments::for($post)->pending()->count();
Comments::byAuthor($user)->get();
Comments::query()->hidden()->newest()->get();   // site-wide, every subject

withReplies() follows the query’s visibility: on a visible() query (in either order) only visible + approved replies load, at every level; without visible() every reply loads, for a moderation view.

Method	Purpose
`for($subject) / byAuthor($author)`	Scope the query — they also chain onto Comments::query().
`approved() / pending() / hidden()`	Filter by moderation status.
`visible()`	Visible flag on AND status approved.
`rootsOnly()`	Top-level comments only.
`withReplies()`	Eager-load nested replies up to max_depth — only visible + approved ones on a visible() query, every reply otherwise.
`newest() / oldest()`	Order by created_at.
`orderByLikesDesc() / orderByTrending()`	Rank by likes — see Likes & ranking.
`mostReported() / reportedMoreThan() / withReportCounts()`	Moderation queues — see Reporting & auto-moderation.
`get() / paginate($perPage = 15) / count()`	Fetch, paginate or count the matches.
`approveAll() / hideAll() / deleteAll()`	Bulk moderation — see Moderation.
`tap($callback) / query()`	Refine or take the underlying Eloquent builder.

Escape hatches

When the built-in filters aren’t enough, tap() hands you the underlying Eloquent builder and query() returns it:

Comments::for($post)
    ->visible()
    ->tap(fn ($query) => $query->where('created_at', '>=', now()->subWeek()))
    ->get();

$builder = Comments::for($post)->approved()->query(); // the underlying Builder<Comment>

Comment counts

Show “X comments” on list pages without counting per row. Both helpers set a comments_count attribute:

$post->loadCommentCount();        // sets $post->comments_count

Post::withCommentCounts()->get(); // adds comments_count without N+1

comments_count is what the public sees: every visible + approved comment on the subject, replies included — the same rows as Comment::visible(). Pending, hidden and visible(false) comments are never counted.

Comment attributes

$comment->comment;     // the body (stored in the `comment` column)
$comment->status;      // CommentStatus enum
$comment->visible;     // bool
$comment->parent_id;   // ?int — null for top-level comments
$comment->locked_at;   // ?Carbon — set when the thread under this comment is locked
$comment->mentions;    // CommentMention rows

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