Laravel Validation: Don't Use "Numeric" For Phone Numbers

If you have a text input for a phone number, you may want to validate it as a decimal number. Let me show you why it's a bad idea and what to do instead.

I sometimes see validation rules like this:

return [
    'phone' => "required|numeric|size:11",
];

It assumes that the phone number is for one local country and is 11 digits long, with a format like this: 37011122222. That is a valid number, so numeric sounds like a good deal?

But it's a good choice only for a few cases.

• What if your project is international and accepts numbers from different countries?
• Even if the project is local, would you not accept a tourist visiting your country, to register with a foreign phone number?
• What if the phone number starts with a "0" digit?
• What if people want to enter their phone numbers in a different format? With dashes, spaces, and other separator symbols? Same number from the example above: (+370) 111 22222

Ok, I hope I convinced you that numeric is a bad idea. But what is the correct validation rule, then?

The Solution: Laravel Phone Package

There are multiple solutions, and no single "correct" validation exists. Usually, entering a phone number requires both front-end and back-end solutions, with a designer working on the best user experience for the input field.

But on the back end, I would generally advise using a specific package.

One of the most popular ones is this: Propaganistas/Laravel-Phone

It allows you to have a rule phone that you can configure separately.

return [
    'phone' => "required|phone",
 
    // Or even provide the country/countries:
    'mobile_phone' => "required|phone:US,UK",
];

If validation fails, you will get a proper error message like "The :attribute field must be a valid phone number."

You can find many more configuration options in the official package documentation.