Custom model properties aren't serialized when sending models to the queue in Laravel because only the model's attributes are intended to be persisted for queue processing, not arbitrary runtime properties. This design choice ensures reliability, consistency, and efficient serialization.
#Why Custom Properties Aren't Serialized 🚫
When Laravel prepares an Eloquent model to be passed to a queue (e.g., in a job class), it employs a mechanism that ensures the model can be correctly reconstructed on the worker side, potentially long after the job was dispatched.
#1. Persistence, Not Runtime State
The fundamental reason is that Eloquent models primarily represent rows in a database. The queueing mechanism is designed to only serialize the data that is essential for re-fetching or re-hydrating that database record.
- Serialized Data: Laravel serializes the model's primary key and, sometimes, its connection details.
- Reconstruction: When the job is processed by a worker, Laravel uses the serialized primary key to re-fetch the most current state of the model from the database.
Custom properties, on the other hand, are runtime state—they only exist in the specific PHP process that created them and are not part of the model's persistent database record.
#2. Efficiency and Data Integrity
Serializing the entire model, including custom properties, could introduce several problems:
- Increased Payload Size: If a custom property holds a large object or complex data structure, serializing it would unnecessarily inflate the size of the queue payload, slowing down queue performance and increasing storage/network overhead.
- Stale Data: If the custom property holds information derived from other models or external services, that data could become stale by the time the job is processed. By re-fetching the model, Laravel ensures the job operates on the most up-to-date persistent data.
#3. PHP's Serialization Rules
By default, PHP's serialize() function does serialize all public properties. However, Laravel's Eloquent models typically implement the __sleep() magic method (either directly or via traits) or use the Serializable interface to control exactly which properties are included in the serialization process.
Laravel deliberately limits the serialization to what's needed for re-hydration, effectively excluding non-attribute public properties by default for queued models.
#Solutions for Queueing Custom Data 🛠️
If you need to pass extra, non-persistent data to a queued job along with a model, there are more robust patterns to follow.
#1. Pass the Model and the Custom Data Separately
The clearest and most common solution is to pass the custom data as a separate property on your job class.
1use App\Models\User;
2use Illuminate\Bus\Queueable;
3use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldQueue;
4use Illuminate\Foundation\Bus\Dispatchable;
5
6class ProcessUserAction implements ShouldQueue
7{
8 use Dispatchable, Queueable;
9
10 public User $user;
11 public string $actionReason; // <--- The custom data
12
13 public function __construct(User $user, string $reason)
14 {
15 $this->user = $user; // Laravel will serialize and re-hydrate this model
16 $this->actionReason = $reason; // This string will be serialized directly
17 }
18
19 public function handle()
20 {
21 // $this->user is the fresh model from the DB
22 // $this->actionReason is the custom string we passed
23 $this->user->logAction($this->actionReason);
24 }
25}
In this pattern, the $actionReason is a direct property of the job object and is serialized normally by PHP, guaranteeing it's available when the job executes.
#2. Using Mutators/Accessors (for derived persistent data)
If the custom property is actually data that should be available on the model but is complex to derive on every access (e.g., a count of related records), consider Eloquent Accessors. While accessors themselves don't persist data, they are re-calculated when the model is re-hydrated, ensuring consistency.
#3. Model Serialization Customization (Advanced)
For highly specific use cases, you could implement the Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\QueueableEntity interface and the getQueueableId() and getQueueableConnection() methods directly on your model to take full control over how the model is prepared for the queue. However, this is rarely necessary and can introduce complexity.