Blade @can Directive Should Provide Access to Denial Message

[aarreedd]

When using authorization gates or policies in Laravel, we often return a Response::deny('Some message') to provide a user-friendly reason for rejection. However, the @can directive in Blade does not expose this message, making it challenging to display meaningful feedback.

Example

use Illuminate\Auth\Access\Response;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Gate;

Gate::define('edit-settings', function (User $user) {
    return $user->isAdmin
        ? Response::allow()
        : Response::deny('You must be an administrator.');
});

Currently, in Blade, we can check for permission but cannot retrieve the denial message:

@can('edit-settings')
    <p>You can edit settings.</p>
@else
    <x-alert>{{$message}}</x-alert> {{-- ❌ No way to get the message --}}
@endcan

Workaround

A workaround is to manually call Gate::inspect() to fetch the response:

@php
    $response = Gate::inspect('edit-settings');
@endphp

@if ($response->allowed())
    <p>You can edit settings.</p>
@else
    <x-alert>{{ $response->message() }}</x-alert>
@endif

Proposed Solution

Enhance the @can directive to provide access to the denial message. Possible implementations:

@can('edit-settings', [], $message)
    <p>You can edit settings.</p>
@else
    <x-alert>{{ $message }}</x-alert>
@endcan

OR

@canWithMessage('edit-settings', $message)
    <p>You can edit settings.</p>
@else
    <x-alert>{{ $message }}</x-alert>
@endcanWithMessage

Would love to hear thoughts on this!

[shaedrich]

Another possibility:

@can('edit-settings')
    <p>You can edit settings.</p>
@deny($message)
    <x-alert>{{$message}}</x-alert> {{-- ❌ No way to get the message --}}
@endcan

[aarreedd]

Definitely better syntax

[Sophist-UK]

Is this something that can be handled using a Blade Custom If?

[chris-ware]

It definitely is. I've added a custom inspect directive in my apps now for this exact purpose.

[aarreedd]

Can you share the code?

[chris-ware]

I don't have it to hand, but it was modified from the @session blade helper, injecting a $inspect variable into that blade tag.