Laravel 12 — Conditional Validation (required_if, nullable & more)

A complete guide and examples for using Laravel 12 conditional validation rules such as nullable, required_if, required_unless, required_with, required_without, required_with_all, required_without_all, exclude_if, and exclude_unless.

👉 Detailed article available here: Laravel 12 Conditional Validation required_if, nullable & more

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Table of Contents

• What Is Conditional Validation?
• Why Use It?
• Rules Covered & Examples
  • nullable
  • required_if
  • required_unless
  • required_with
  • required_without
  • required_with_all
  • required_without_all
  • exclude_if
  • exclude_unless
• Tips & Gotchas
• Related Blog
• License / Credits

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What Is Conditional Validation?

Conditional validation allows you to apply validation rules only when particular conditions are met (e.g. based on the value or presence of other fields). This makes your validation logic more dynamic and flexible in Laravel 12 applications.

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Why Use It?

• Cleaner Code — no repetitive if checks in controllers
• Better UX — only validate fields when needed
• Greater Flexibility — handle many scenarios with built-in rules
• Robust Applications — enforce business rules consistently

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Rules Covered & Examples

nullable

$request->validate([
    'phone_number' => 'nullable|digits:10',
]);