securing-collections

name	securing-collections
description	Secures API Platform collections with Doctrine extensions and link handlers. Use whenever the user mentions multi-tenant isolation, 'users must only see their own data', soft-delete filtering, scoping queries by organization or user, or validating parent ownership in nested URIs — even if they frame it as a security or privacy bug rather than a query concern.

Securing Collections

Two mechanisms restrict what data users can access at the query level.

Doctrine Extensions (Global Query Filters)

Extensions automatically modify every query for a resource class. Use them for:

• Multi-tenant isolation (filter by organization/user)
• Hiding soft-deleted records
• Any filter that must apply to ALL queries (item + collection)

ORM Extension

<?php
namespace App\Extension;

use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Extension\QueryCollectionExtensionInterface;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Extension\QueryItemExtensionInterface;
use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Orm\Util\QueryNameGeneratorInterface;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\Operation;
use Doctrine\ORM\QueryBuilder;

final class AccountExtension implements QueryCollectionExtensionInterface, QueryItemExtensionInterface
{
    public function __construct(private UserHelper $userHelper) {}

    public function applyToCollection(QueryBuilder $qb, QueryNameGeneratorInterface $queryNameGenerator, string $resourceClass, ?Operation $operation = null, array $context = []): void
    {
        $this->addWhere($qb, $resourceClass);
    }

    public function applyToItem(QueryBuilder $qb, QueryNameGeneratorInterface $queryNameGenerator, string $resourceClass, array $identifiers, ?Operation $operation = null, array $context = []): void
    {
        $this->addWhere($qb, $resourceClass);
    }

    private function addWhere(QueryBuilder $qb, string $resourceClass): void
    {
        if (Account::class !== $resourceClass) {
            return;
        }

        $user = $this->userHelper->getUser();
        if (!$user) {
            return;
        }

        $rootAlias = $qb->getRootAliases()[0];
        $qb->andWhere(sprintf('%s.organization = :org', $rootAlias))
           ->andWhere(sprintf('%s.isDeleted = :deleted', $rootAlias))
           ->setParameter('org', $user->getCurrentOrganization())
           ->setParameter('deleted', false);
    }
}

Extensions are auto-registered by Symfony's autowiring. No service tag needed.

MongoDB ODM Extension

Same structure as the ORM version; only the interfaces, the apply-method signatures, and the query API differ. Implement AggregationCollectionExtensionInterface / AggregationItemExtensionInterface (from ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Odm\Extension), and build the filter on a Doctrine\ODM\MongoDB\Aggregation\Builder instead of a QueryBuilder:

public function applyToCollection(Builder $aggregationBuilder, string $resourceClass, ?Operation $operation = null, array &$context = []): void
{
    $this->applyFilters($aggregationBuilder, $resourceClass);
}

// applyToItem adds `array $identifiers` after $resourceClass; both delegate here:
private function applyFilters(Builder $aggregationBuilder, string $resourceClass): void
{
    if (Account::class !== $resourceClass) {
        return;
    }
    $user = $this->userHelper->getUser();
    if (!$user) {
        return;
    }

    $aggregationBuilder->match()
        ->field('isDeleted')->equals(false)
        ->field('organization')->equals($user->getCurrentOrganization()->getId());
}

The ODM apply methods take string $resourceClass directly (no QueryNameGenerator) and receive $context by reference.

Link Handlers (Nested Resource Security)

Link handlers validate parent resource ownership for nested URIs like /accounts/{accountId}/mailboxes/{mailboxId}/messages.

MongoDB ODM Link Handler

<?php
namespace App\Extension;

use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Odm\State\LinksHandlerInterface;
use Doctrine\ODM\MongoDB\Aggregation\Builder;
use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\AccessDeniedHttpException;
use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\NotFoundHttpException;

class MessageLinkHandler implements LinksHandlerInterface
{
    public function __construct(
        private readonly UserHelper $userHelper,
        private readonly MailboxRepository $mailboxRepository,
    ) {}

    public function handleLinks(Builder $aggregationBuilder, array $uriVariables, array $context): void
    {
        $user = $this->userHelper->getUser() ?? throw new AccessDeniedHttpException();

        // Validate parent resource exists
        $mailbox = $this->mailboxRepository->find($uriVariables['mailboxId'])
            ?? throw new NotFoundHttpException();

        // Validate parent belongs to correct account
        if ($mailbox->account->getId() !== ($uriVariables['accountId'] ?? null)) {
            throw new NotFoundHttpException();
        }

        // Validate user has access to this resource tree
        if ($mailbox->organization?->getId() !== $user->getCurrentOrganization()?->getId()) {
            throw new AccessDeniedHttpException();
        }

        // Apply query filters
        $aggregationBuilder->match()
            ->field('isDeleted')->equals(false)
            ->field('mailbox')->equals($mailbox);

        // Filter individual item if ID provided
        if (isset($uriVariables['id'])) {
            $aggregationBuilder->match()
                ->field('id')->equals($uriVariables['id']);
        }
    }
}

Assigning to Resource

use ApiPlatform\Doctrine\Odm\State\Options;

#[ApiResource(
    operations: [
        new Get(
            uriTemplate: '/accounts/{accountId}/mailboxes/{mailboxId}/messages/{id}',
            uriVariables: ['accountId', 'mailboxId', 'id'],
            stateOptions: new Options(
                handleLinks: MessageLinkHandler::class,
                documentClass: Message::class,
            ),
        ),
    ]
)]

When to Use Which

Pattern	Use Case
Extension	Global filters: multi-tenant isolation, soft-delete, applies to ALL queries for a resource
Link Handler	Nested resources: validate parent ownership, scope child queries to parent
security attribute	Per-operation checks on already-fetched objects: security: 'object.user == user'

These mechanisms stack: an extension filters the query, a link handler scopes it to the parent, and security validates the final object.

Laravel (Eloquent)

The two mechanisms exist on Laravel too, but there are no Doctrine extensions. The global-query-filter equivalent is ApiPlatform\Laravel\Eloquent\Extension\QueryExtensionInterface — one apply() method covering both item and collection (the Eloquent providers run it for every query):

<?php
namespace App\Extension;

use ApiPlatform\Laravel\Eloquent\Extension\QueryExtensionInterface;
use ApiPlatform\Metadata\Operation;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;

final class AccountExtension implements QueryExtensionInterface
{
    public function __construct(private readonly UserHelper $userHelper) {}

    public function apply(Builder $builder, array $uriVariables, Operation $operation, $context = []): Builder
    {
        if (Account::class !== $operation->getClass() || !($user = $this->userHelper->getUser())) {
            return $builder;
        }

        return $builder
            ->where('organization_id', $user->getCurrentOrganization()->id)
            ->where('is_deleted', false);
    }
}

Tag it so the providers pick it up by binding to the QueryExtensionInterface tag in a service provider ($this->app->tag([AccountExtension::class], QueryExtensionInterface::class)); there is no Symfony autowiring.

For nested-resource ownership, implement ApiPlatform\Laravel\Eloquent\State\LinksHandlerInterface — handleLinks(Builder $builder, array $uriVariables, array $context): Builder — returning the scoped builder (it operates on an Eloquent Builder, not an aggregation pipeline). Assign it with the Eloquent Options:

use ApiPlatform\Laravel\Eloquent\State\Options;

new Get(
    uriTemplate: '/accounts/{accountId}/messages/{id}',
    uriVariables: ['accountId', 'id'],
    stateOptions: new Options(handleLinks: MessageLinkHandler::class, modelClass: Message::class),
)

Note Eloquent Options uses modelClass: (not documentClass:/entityClass:). Per-operation security expressions and Laravel policies (viewAny/view/ create/update/delete, or an explicit policy: on an operation) layer on top — see the operations skill's Laravel section.