Global Configuration

Grape allows you to configure global default behaviors that apply across all validators in your application.

use Potager\Grape\Grape;

// Configure global behaviors during bootstrap
Grape::$defaultStrict = true;
Grape::$defaultRequired = true;
Grape::$convertEmptyStringsToNull = true;

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Behavior Properties

$defaultStrict

Controls whether validators enforce strict type checking by default.

• Default: false (Loose mode: casts scalar numbers/strings automatically)
• When true: Validators will only accept exact native types without automatic type coercion.

use Potager\Grape\Grape;

Grape::$defaultStrict = true;

// String validator now requires a native string by default
$validator = Grape::string();
$validator->validate(123); // Throws ValidationException (strict mode active)

$defaultRequired

Controls whether schema fields are required by default.

• Default: false (Fields are optional by default unless ->required() is called)
• When true: All fields in schemas become mandatory unless explicitly marked as optional.

use Potager\Grape\Grape;

Grape::$defaultRequired = true;

$validator = Grape::schema([
    "username" => Grape::string(), // Required by default!
]);

$defaultNullable

Controls whether fields accept null values by default.

• Default: false (Fields reject null unless ->nullable() is called)
• When true: All fields permit null values by default.

use Potager\Grape\Grape;

Grape::$defaultNullable = true;

$validator = Grape::string();
$validator->validate(null); // Passes validation

$convertEmptyStringsToNull

Automatically sanitizes empty strings "" into null values before validation rules run. This is particularly helpful when processing HTML form submissions.

• Default: false
• When true: Empty string inputs "" are mutated to null.

use Potager\Grape\Grape;

Grape::$convertEmptyStringsToNull = true;

$validator = Grape::string()->nullable();
$result = $validator->validate(""); // Returns null

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Boolean-Like Values

You can also globally customize which strings and numbers are interpreted as boolean true (truthy) or false (falsy):

use Potager\Grape\Grape;

// Add multilingual terms
Grape::addTruthy(['oui', 'si', 'vrai', 'active']);
Grape::addFalsy(['non', 'faux', 'inactive']);

// Replace all truthy/falsy values
Grape::setTruthy(['yes', 'true', 1]);
Grape::setFalsy(['no', 'false', 0]);

// Reset to framework defaults
Grape::resetBooleanValues();