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Overview

The Category model represents transaction categories in Cashify. Categories help organize transactions into types (income, expense, correction, transfer) with customizable colors and icons for visual identification.

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Properties

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id
integer
required
Unique identifier for the category
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user_id
integer
required
Foreign key referencing the user who owns this category
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name
string
required
Name of the category (e.g., “Groceries”, “Salary”, “Utilities”)
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type
enum
required
Type of the categoryAllowed values:
  • income - For income transactions
  • expense - For expense transactions
  • correction - For balance corrections
  • transfer - For transfers between accounts
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color
string
required
Color identifier for visual representationDefault: "gray"
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icon
string
required
Icon identifier for visual representationDefault: "image"
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created_at
timestamp
When the category was created
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updated_at
timestamp
When the category was last updated

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Fillable Attributes

The following attributes can be mass-assigned:
  • name
  • type
  • color
  • icon

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Public Properties

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$shade

The color shade value used for Tailwind CSS classes. Type: integer Default: 200 
$category->shade; // 200

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Relationships

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user()

Returns the user who owns this category. Type: BelongsTo Returns: Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\BelongsTo 
$category->user; // User model

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transactions()

Returns all transactions associated with this category. Type: HasMany Returns: Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Relations\HasMany 
$category->transactions; // Collection of Transaction models

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Color Methods

The Category model uses the HasColor trait, which provides color management functionality.

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getColorClassAttribute()

Returns the full Tailwind CSS class for the category’s color. Returns: string Shade: Uses the model’s $shade property (200) 
$category->color_class; // Returns: "bg-green-200"

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setColorAttribute()

Sets the color attribute for the category. Parameters: string $color 
$category->color = 'green';

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getColorAttribute()

Gets the color attribute value. Returns: string 
$color = $category->color; // "gray"

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getAvailableColors()

Returns an array of all available colors. Returns: array Static method 
$colors = Category::getAvailableColors();
// ['gray', 'orange', 'amber', 'yellow', 'lime', 'green', 'emerald', 
//  'teal', 'cyan', 'sky', 'blue', 'indigo', 'violet', 'purple', 
//  'fuchsia', 'pink', 'rose']

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getDefaultColor()

Returns the default color value. Returns: string Static method 
$defaultColor = Category::getDefaultColor(); // "gray"

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Database Indexes

The categories table has the following indexes for optimized queries:
  • name - For searching categories by name
  • type - For filtering by category type
  • user_id - For filtering by user
  • user_id, type - Composite index for user-type queries

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Cascade Deletion

Categories are automatically deleted when their associated user is deleted (cascade on delete).

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Traits

  • HasFactory - Enables model factories for testing
  • HasColor - Provides color management functionality with Tailwind CSS integration

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Example Usage

use App\Models\Category;

// Create a new expense category
$category = Category::create([
    'user_id' => 1,
    'name' => 'Groceries',
    'type' => 'expense',
    'color' => 'green',
    'icon' => 'shopping-cart',
]);

// Access the category's color class
$colorClass = $category->color_class; // "bg-green-200"

// Get all transactions for this category
$transactions = $category->transactions;

// Query categories by type
$expenseCategories = Category::where('type', 'expense')
    ->where('user_id', 1)
    ->orderBy('name')
    ->get();

// Get income categories
$incomeCategories = Category::where('user_id', 1)
    ->where('type', 'income')
    ->get();

// Get available colors for UI
$availableColors = Category::getAvailableColors();

// Count transactions per category
$categoryWithCount = Category::withCount('transactions')
    ->where('user_id', 1)
    ->get();

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