Version

Query Builder Data Source

Use Laravel's Query Builder as the data source for your DataTables. The Yajra\DataTables\QueryDataTable class handles the conversion of your Query Builder into a DataTables-compatible response.

Quick Start

use Yajra\DataTables\Facades\DataTables;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 
Route::get('user-data', function() {
    $query = DB::table('users');
 
    return DataTables::query($query)->toJson();
});

Adding Custom Columns

Add computed columns with closures:

use Yajra\DataTables\Facades\DataTables;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 
Route::get('user-data', function() {
    $query = DB::table('users');
 
    return DataTables::query($query)
        ->addColumn('full_name', function ($row) {
            return $row->first_name . ' ' . $row->last_name;
        })
        ->addColumn('action', function ($row) {
            return '<button>Edit</button>';
        })
        ->toJson();
});

[!NOTE] Added columns are computed and not part of the database, so search and sort are disabled by default. Use editColumn if you need search/sort functionality.

Filtering

Filter results in your query before passing to DataTables:

use Yajra\DataTables\Facades\DataTables;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 
Route::get('user-data', function() {
    $query = DB::table('users')
        ->where('active', true)
        ->where('email_verified_at', '!=', null);
 
    return DataTables::query($query)->toJson();
});

With Join Statements

Join related tables when building your query:

use Yajra\DataTables\Facades\DataTables;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 
Route::get('user-data', function() {
    $query = DB::table('users')
        ->join('posts', 'users.id', '=', 'posts.user_id')
        ->select('users.*', DB::raw('COUNT(posts.id) as post_count'))
        ->groupBy('users.id');
 
    return DataTables::query($query)->toJson();
});

When to Use Query Builder

Use Case	Recommendation
Complex JOINs	✅ Perfect for Query Builder
Raw SQL	✅ Great for custom queries
Large datasets	✅ Efficient server-side processing
Simple CRUD tables	Consider Eloquent