How to implement guide with php 8.1 and laravel 9: advanced patterns in middleware for api rate limiting
I've been struggling with this for a few days now and could really use some help. I'm working with an scenario with rate limiting in my Laravel 9 application using PHP 8.1. I've set up a middleware to limit API requests, but it seems that the limit isn't being properly enforced. I have the following middleware that checks the rate limit: ```php namespace App\Http\Middleware; use Closure; use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Cache; class RateLimitMiddleware { private $maxAttempts = 5; private $decayMinutes = 1; public function handle($request, Closure $next) { $key = 'rate_limit:' . $request->ip(); $attempts = Cache::get($key, 0); if ($attempts >= $this->maxAttempts) { return response()->json(['behavior' => 'Too Many Requests'], 429); } Cache::put($key, $attempts + 1, now()->addMinutes($this->decayMinutes)); return $next($request); } } ``` I registered this middleware in `Kernel.php` under `api` middleware group. However, when testing with Postman, I can make several requests without being throttled. I'm sending requests rapidly, and I expected to receive a 429 response after the fifth request, but it doesn't happen until I wait for the decay period. I've also confirmed that the middleware is being applied by checking the logs. When I print the value of `$attempts`, it shows the correct count, but I still don't understand why it isn't blocking further requests as expected. Here’s how I’ve set it up in `api.php`: ```php Route::middleware(['RateLimitMiddleware'])->group(function () { Route::get('/test', [TestController::class, 'index']); }); ``` I've tried clearing the cache using `php artisan cache:clear`, but that didn't solve the question. It's also worth mentioning that I'm using Redis as the cache driver, and I’ve checked that it’s set up correctly in my `.env` file. I would appreciate any insights into why the rate limiting is not functioning as intended, or if there's something I might have overlooked in the configuration. This is part of a larger application I'm building. I'd really appreciate any guidance on this.