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VersionVault (sthira-labs/version-vault)

VersionVault is a Laravel package for model versioning that is diff-first, snapshot-assisted, and relation-aware. It captures minimal diffs, supports nested relations (including pivot data), and can reconstruct or rollback historical state.

Features

• Diff-first storage with periodic snapshots
• Nested relations (single, collection, pivot)
• Deterministic changed paths for audits and UI diffs
• Rollback support with persisted changes
• Optional created-by tracking and user relation
• Morph map friendly (stores morph alias when configured)

Requirements

• PHP 8.1+
• Laravel 9+ (tested against Laravel 11 and 12 via orchestra/testbench)

Installation

Publish & Migrate

Publish the config and migrations, then run migrations:

To publish only the config:

To publish only the migrations:

Quick Start

Reconstruction Basics

Reconstruction is non-destructive by default: existing loaded relations on the template model are preserved, and only attributes present in the snapshot are applied. Relations not present in the snapshot remain untouched unless you enable attach_unloaded_relations or force_replace_relation.

reconstructVersion() always returns a ReconstructionResult DTO with:

• model (Model): the reconstructed model instance
• changedPaths (array): populated only when diff paths are enabled
• diff (array): populated only when diff paths are enabled

When with_diff_paths is enabled, many-relation operations include id-scoped paths:

• comments.added, comments.103.added
• comments.removed, comments.102.removed
• tags.attached, tags.7.attached
• tags.detached, tags.6.detached

Relation Tracking Modes

Each relation can be tracked in one of two modes:

• reference (default): only foreign keys are tracked; relation attributes are not snapshotted.
• snapshot: selected relation attributes (and nested relations/pivot data) are snapshotted.

Implicit rule (Option B):

• If a relation config includes attributes, relations, or pivot, it is treated as snapshot.
• Otherwise it defaults to reference.

To force snapshot explicitly, add mode: snapshot to the relation config.

Example: Reference Mode (FK-only)

Example: Snapshot Mode (full relation)

Reference Relations in Reconstruction

Reference relations are not hydrated from the snapshot. The foreign key is stored as a normal attribute, so you can eager load after reconstruction:

If you want FK-only tracking without listing the relation, you can track the FK attribute directly:

Snapshot Relations in Reconstruction

Snapshot relations are hydrated from stored data (or explicitly allowed via reconstruct_relations):

Configuration

Config file: config/version-vault.php

• snapshot_interval (int): store a full snapshot every N versions (default 10)
• store_empty (bool): allow storing a version even when no changes are detected (default false)
• debug (bool): enable structured debug logs (default false)
• debug_channel (string|null): log channel to use for debug logs (default null)
• migrations (bool): auto-load package migrations (default true)
• table_name (string): versions table name
• model (class-string): Version model class
• user_model (class-string|null): model used for Version::user() relation (defaults to auth.providers.users.model)
• reconstruct (array): default reconstruction options
• reconstruct.hydrate_loaded_relations_only (bool): only hydrate relations already loaded on the template model (default true)
• reconstruct.preserve_missing_attributes (bool): keep template attributes not present in the snapshot (default true)
• reconstruct.attach_unloaded_relations (bool): build relations even when not loaded (default false)
• reconstruct.force_replace_relation (bool): replace relation objects rather than update in-place (default false)
• reconstruct.with_diff_paths (bool): include diff + changed paths in reconstruction result (default false)
• reconstruct.reconstruct_relations (array|null): if set, only hydrate the listed relations
• reconstruct.prune_missing_many_relations (bool): for loaded hasMany/morphMany/belongsToMany, remove items not present in target version (default true). When false, missing items are kept; if explicit removed/detached ids exist, unrelated stale items are still dropped.
• bindings (array): override internal services (change detector, snapshot builder, resolver, manager, etc.)

Migration Note

Default relation tracking is now reference mode to avoid creating versions when related model attributes change but the foreign key does not. If you rely on deep relation snapshots, configure the relation with fields (implicit snapshot) or set mode: snapshot.

Version Records (created_by)

If an authenticated user exists, created_by is recorded on each version. You can also pass an explicit user id as the third argument to recordVersion, recordVersionIfChanged, or forceSnapshot — useful from queue jobs or system actors where Auth::id() is not available.

The Version model exposes a createdBy() relation that resolves via version-vault.user_model or falls back to auth.providers.users.model.

Snapshot & Diff Format

See docs/NEW_NODE_FORMAT.md for the exact snapshot/diff schema and examples.

Events

VersionVault dispatches lifecycle events you can listen to:

• SthiraLabs\VersionVault\Events\VersionRecording
• SthiraLabs\VersionVault\Events\VersionRecorded
• SthiraLabs\VersionVault\Events\VersionReconstructed
• SthiraLabs\VersionVault\Events\VersionRollback

Details and payloads are documented in docs/EVENTS.md.

Testing

Useful Commands

• Install package: composer require sthira-labs/version-vault
• Publish config: php artisan vendor:publish --provider="SthiraLabs\\VersionVault\\VersionVaultServiceProvider" --tag=config
• Publish migrations: php artisan vendor:publish --provider="SthiraLabs\\VersionVault\\VersionVaultServiceProvider" --tag=migrations
• Run migrations: php artisan migrate
• Run tests: composer test

Development

Local dev option: use the provided docker-compose / Makefile or Laravel Sail.

License

MIT