Configuration

Laravel Client Validation publishes a single configuration file, config/client-validation.php, that controls how the browser bundle is loaded and how validation behaves by default.

Publishing and editing config#

If you skipped the installer, publish the configuration manually:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=client-validation-config

Then edit the generated file in your application.

Core runtime options#

Use these settings to decide when validation runs and whether server-backed rules are allowed.

return [
    'auto_include_assets' => true,
    'enable_ajax_validation' => true,
    'ajax_timeout' => 5000,
    'route_prefix' => 'client-validation',
    'validation_mode' => 'blur',
    'debounce_ms' => 300,
];

Recommended defaults#

• Keep validation_mode at blur for most text fields.
• Switch to input or live only when feedback needs to be immediate.
• Leave enable_ajax_validation enabled if you use unique, exists, password, or other server-side rules.

Rate limiting and caching#

AJAX validation is throttled and cached to avoid spamming the backend while the user types.

'rate_limit' => [
    'max_attempts' => 60,
    'decay_seconds' => 60,
],

'cache' => [
    'enabled' => true,
    'ttl' => 300,
    'max_size' => 1000,
],

Use a lower debounce or lower rate limit only when you have confirmed the validation endpoint can tolerate the extra traffic.

Error templates and field styling#

The package can add and remove CSS classes automatically when a field passes or fails validation.

'error_template' => [
    'enabled' => true,
    'container_class' => 'validation-error text-red-500 text-sm mt-1',
    'show_on' => ['fail'],
    'position' => 'after',
],

'field_styling' => [
    'enabled' => true,
    'valid_class' => 'is-valid border-green-500',
    'invalid_class' => 'is-invalid border-red-500',
],

This is a good place to align the generated classes with your Tailwind, Bootstrap, or bespoke utility classes.

Default messages and attributes#

Message placeholders are merged with per-form messages, so keep the config file focused on cross-application defaults.

'messages' => [
    'required' => 'The :attribute field is required.',
    'email' => 'The :attribute must be a valid email address.',
],

'attributes' => [
    'password_confirmation' => 'password confirmation',
],

Rule capability lists#

The configuration file also keeps track of which rules are treated as fully client-side and which rules should always use the server.

'client_side_rules' => [
    'required', 'email', 'min', 'max', 'between', 'confirmed',
],

'server_side_rules' => [
    'unique', 'exists', 'password', 'current_password', 'encoding',
],

Only adjust those lists when you are extending the package itself and you fully understand how the parser and browser runtime treat the rule.

Example environment overrides#

CLIENT_VALIDATION_AUTO_INCLUDE=true
CLIENT_VALIDATION_ENABLE_AJAX=true
CLIENT_VALIDATION_AJAX_TIMEOUT=7000
CLIENT_VALIDATION_RATE_LIMIT=30
CLIENT_VALIDATION_RATE_DECAY=60
CLIENT_VALIDATION_MODE=blur
CLIENT_VALIDATION_DEBOUNCE=250

Related pages#

• See usage for directive-level overrides.
• See validation rules for rule behavior and remote fallback.
• See troubleshooting when configuration and runtime behavior drift apart.