Quick Tip: A Cleaner Way to Apply Custom Eloquent Builders in Laravel

There are times when the built-in scope methods (scopeActive, scopeLatest, etc.) aren’t enough — especially when your model starts to accumulate lots of complex query logic.

A common way to keep things clean is by creating a custom Eloquent\Builder class and telling your model to use it, like this:


use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;

class TicketEloquentBuilder extends Builder
{
    // Your query scopes goes here...
}

Then in your model:


use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Ticket extends Model
{
    /**
    *  Override parent Eloquent\Builder class
    */
    public function newEloquentBuilder($query)
    {
        return new TicketEloquentBuilder($query);
    }
}

It works — but it feels a little messy. You have to override a method, and it isn’t immediately obvious that the model is using a custom builder.

📌 The cleaner (and more elegant) way: PHP Attributes

Laravel now supports a much more elegant approach using the UseEloquentBuilder attribute.

No more method overriding. No cluttered model. Just this:


use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Attributes\UseEloquentBuilder;

#[UseEloquentBuilder(TicketEloquentBuilder::class)]
class Ticket extends Model
{
    // That's it — no need to override anything 👌🏽
}

Much cleaner, more readable, and instantly clear what builder your model is using.

🎯 When to use this?

This approach shines when:

✔ You’re encapsulating reusable query logic (active, pending, filtered, by role, etc.)

✔ You want a dedicated class for complex query functionality

✔ You value explicit, clean, and attribute-based Laravel features

Of course, it’s not required — it’s simply another elegant tool Laravel gives you. Use it when it improves clarity and consistency.

📌 The cleaner (and more elegant) way: PHP Attributes

🎯 When to use this?

Marvin Quezon