How to create a route that matches a specific request header in Laravel?

To create a route that matches a specific request header in Laravel, you can use the middleware method in your route definition. Here's an example:

Route::get('/', function () {
    // Your route logic here
})->middleware('checkHeader');

In this example, we are using the middleware method to apply the checkHeader middleware to the route. The checkHeader middleware is responsible for checking the specific request header.

Next, you need to create the middleware itself. You can generate a new middleware using the following command:

php artisan make:middleware CheckHeader

This will create a new CheckHeader middleware class in the app/Http/Middleware directory.

Open the newly created middleware class and modify the handle method to check for the specific request header. Here's an example:

namespace App\Http\Middleware;

use Closure;

class CheckHeader
{
    public function handle($request, Closure $next)
    {
        if ($request->header('your_header_name') === 'your_header_value') {
            return $next($request);
        }
        
        abort(403, 'Unauthorized');
    }
}

In this example, we are checking if the value of the your_header_name header matches the expected your_header_value. If it matches, the middleware will allow the request to proceed. Otherwise, it will return a 403 Unauthorized response.

Finally, don't forget to register your middleware in the app/Http/Kernel.php file. Add the following line to the $routeMiddleware array:

'checkHeader' => \App\Http\Middleware\CheckHeader::class,

With these steps, you have created a route that matches a specific request header using middleware in Laravel.