How to assign a user ID to a guard in Laravel

1. Ensure Guard is Defined in auth.php

In config/auth.php, make sure the college guard is properly configured:

'guards' => [
    'college' => [
        'driver' => 'session',
        'provider' => 'colleges', // Must match the provider below
    ],
],

'providers' => [
    'colleges' => [
        'driver' => 'eloquent',
        'model' => App\Models\College::class, // Update with your College model
    ],
],

2. Log In User with Guard

To manually authenticate a user under the college guard, use:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth;
use App\Models\College;

$user = College::find(1); // Replace 1 with the user ID you want to assign

if ($user) {
    Auth::guard('college')->login($user);
}

3. Retrieve Logged-in User

Once authenticated, you can retrieve the user ID using:

$userId = Auth::guard(‘college’)->user()->id;

4. Logout the User

To log out the user from the college guard:

Auth::guard(‘college’)->logout();

5. Middleware for Protecting Routes (Optional)

If you want to protect routes so that only college users can access them, define middleware in routes/web.php:

Route::middleware(['auth:college'])->group(function () {
    Route::get('/college-dashboard', function () {
        return "Welcome, College User!";
    });
});

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