---
title: "Liking, unliking & toggling — Likes for Laravel | Roundly"
description: "Idempotent like, unlike and toggle through the Likes facade or the model trait, returning the is-liked-now state, plus bulk likeMany()."
url: https://roundly-consulting.com/open-source/docs/likes-for-laravel/liking
language: en
---

[All packages](https://roundly-consulting.com/open-source.md)

[Likes for Laravel](https://roundly-consulting.com/open-source/docs/likes-for-laravel.md)

# Liking, unliking & toggling

All three verbs are idempotent and return a boolean meaning “is liked now” — like() returns true, unlike() returns false and toggle() returns the resulting state. The facade acts as the signed-in user unless you name an actor:

```php
use RoundlyConsulting\Likes\Facades\Likes;

Likes::like($post);                 // true  — ensure liked (no-op if already liked)
Likes::unlike($post);               // false — ensure not liked (no-op if not liked)
Likes::toggle($post);               // true on like, false on unlike

Likes::actor($user)->like($post);   // as any actor instead of the signed-in user
```

## The trait shorthand

GivesLikes offers the same verbs on the actor — $user->like($post) is Likes::actor($user)->like($post):

```php
$post = Post::find(1);
$user = auth()->user();

$user->like($post);        // true  — ensure liked (no-op if already liked)
$user->unlike($post);      // false — ensure not liked (no-op if not liked)
$user->toggleLike($post);  // true on like, false on unlike
```

Re-liking restores a previously removed like instead of creating a duplicate row, so each actor keeps a single record per likeable and reaction type. A unique index on the table enforces it, so this also holds under concurrency: a double-click, a second tab or a retried request can never create a second row, and only the request that actually changed something fires Liked / Unliked. Idempotent no-ops write nothing and dispatch no events, so a double-tapped button can’t inflate counts or notifications.

## Reaction types

Pick a reaction type with as() — or pass it as the second argument of a trait verb. Without one, default\_reaction is used (see Typed reactions):

```php
Likes::as('love')->like($post);
Likes::actor($user)->as('love')->toggle($post);

$user->like($post, 'love');          // the trait takes the type as a second argument
$user->unlike($post, 'love');
```

## In a controller

Because toggle() returns the new state, a heart button needs one call:

```php
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use RoundlyConsulting\Likes\Facades\Likes;

final class TogglePostLike
{
    public function __invoke(Request $request, Post $post): array
    {
        $liked = Likes::actor($request->user())->toggle($post);

        return ['liked' => $liked, 'count' => Likes::for($post)->count()];
    }
}
```

## Bulk operations

Like or unlike many models at once — handy for imports and “favourite all”:

```php
Likes::likeMany([$post, $comment]);                    // as the resolved actor
Likes::actor($team)->as('love')->unlikeMany([$post]);

$user->likeMany([$post, $comment, $photo]);            // the trait shorthand
$user->unlikeMany([$post, $comment]);
$user->likeMany(Post::whereKey($ids)->get(), 'love');  // any iterable of models, optional type
```

Bulk calls return nothing. They run the same idempotent like or unlike per item, so already-liked items are skipped and each changed item fires its own events.

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