Adding a Global Middleware: 3 Ways

If you want to define a global Middleware for all API routes, for example, there are three "levels" where you can set it:

Option 1. In the routes file.

// routes/api.php
Route::middleware(YourMiddleware::class)->group(function() {
   // .., all API routes
})

Option 2. In the routes service provider.

// app/Providers/RouteServiceProvider.php
public function boot()
{
    $this->configureRateLimiting();
 
    $this->routes(function () {
        Route::middleware(['api', YourMiddleware::class])
            // ...

Option 3. In the global middleware kernel file.

// app/Http/Kernel.php: add to the 'api' group
protected $middlewareGroups = [
    'api' => [
        // \Laravel\Sanctum\Http\Middleware\EnsureFrontendRequestsAreStateful::class,
        'throttle:api',
        \Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\SubstituteBindings::class,
        YourMiddleware::class,
    ],
];