Differences from Blade

Edge keeps the Blade syntax for echoes, control structures, layouts, stacks, and components, so most Blade templates read the same way. The two engines are separate implementations, though. Edge has directives that Blade does not have, it treats some directives differently, and it does not implement the parts of Blade that depend on Laravel, such as authentication and the session.

This page compares Edge with the Blade compiler in Laravel 13.x. Read it when you port a template from Laravel, or when you write a template that must work with both engines.

Edge-Only Features

Edge adds these features on top of the Blade syntax:

• @scope(...) reads the named arguments that a component passes to a slot. See Scoped Slots.
• {{ $value or 'default' }} prints a fallback when the variable is not set. See Template Syntax.
• @js encodes a value as base64 and emits a JSON.parse(atob(...)) expression. See Template Syntax.
• renderWithContext() binds $this in a template to an object of your choice. See Extending Edge.
• renderEach() renders a partial for each item in an array. Blade provides the same behavior through @each.
• The #[Prop] attribute declares which properties receive tag attributes in a class component. See Components.

Behavior That Differs

Some directives exist in both engines but behave differently. Check these when you move a template between Blade and Edge.

Escaping Quotes

Blade escapes output with the e() helper, which encodes single quotes as well as double quotes. Edge's {{ }} encodes double quotes but not single quotes.

WARNING

In Edge, never print a value inside a single-quoted HTML attribute. Wrap every attribute in double quotes, or the value can close the attribute early. Templates that work in Blade can be unsafe in Edge.

The @json Output

Blade prints the result of json_encode() without escaping. Edge escapes it as HTML. The two engines therefore expect the directive in different places:

• In Edge, use @json inside an attribute, for example data-config="@json($config)".
• In Blade, use @json inside a <script> block.

WARNING

If you copy an @json call from a Blade <script> block into an Edge template, the escaped quotes break the JavaScript. Use @js in Edge for script values.

The @js Output

Blade's @js creates a JSON.parse('...') literal, or a plain string literal for a string value. Edge always emits JSON.parse(atob('...')) with a base64 payload. The rendered HTML differs, but the value that the browser receives is the same.

Loop Breaks and Continues

Blade accepts a number to break out of several nested loops. Edge does not. In Edge, the argument of @break and @continue is treated as a condition, so a number is a condition too.

WARNING

In Edge, @break(2) breaks the innermost loop, not two levels. Blade breaks two levels. Nested loops that rely on the multi-level form render different output in Edge without any error.

Use an explicit condition in each loop instead. A flag variable stops the outer loop, and @continue skips the rest of the outer iterations:

@php($stop = false)
@foreach ($groups as $group)
    @continue($stop)
    @foreach ($group as $item)
        @if ($item === 'stop')
            @php($stop = true)
            @break
        @endif
        {{ $item }}
    @endforeach
@endforeach

The $loop Variable

Blade defines $loop inside @foreach and @forelse, with values such as $loop->index and $loop->first. Edge does not define $loop. Use an explicit index instead:

@foreach ($items as $i => $item)
    <li class="{{ $i === 0 ? 'first' : '' }}">{{ $item }}</li>
@endforeach

Component Attributes

Blade binds tag attributes to the constructor parameters of a class component. Edge binds them to the properties that carry the #[Prop] attribute. Standalone, Edge passes the prop values to the constructor as named arguments, so each prop also needs a matching constructor parameter. See Components.

Compilation Cache

Blade writes compiled files to a cache path and compares a hash of the output on every compile. The default EdgeArrayCache does not keep files between requests, and it compiles each template again on every render. Use EdgeFileCache for a production application. See Compiled Template Cache.

Echo Handlers

Blade lets you register a handler for an object class with stringable(), so the handler decides how that object prints. Edge does not have this feature. Convert the value in your data before rendering, or call a method in the template.

Blade Directives That Edge Does Not Provide

Edge does not implement the following directives from Laravel 13.x. Each group lists the directives by purpose.

• Authentication and environment:
  • @auth, @guest, and their @else and @end forms
  • @env and @production
  • @can, @cannot, and @canany
• Errors, sessions, and context:
  • @error, @session, @context
  • @fragment and @endfragment
• Includes and components:
  • @includeWhen, @includeUnless, @includeFirst
  • @includeIsolated, @extendsFirst
  • @componentFirst and @aware
• Stacks and sections:
  • @prepend and @prependOnce
  • @hasStack, @sectionMissing, and @isset
• Injection and imports:
  • @inject and @use
• Translation:
  • @lang and @choice
• Helpers:
  • @csrf, @method, @dd, and @dump
  • @vite, @viteReactRefresh, and @fonts
  • @style

In a Windwalker application, Windwalker Core registers some of these names for you, for example @csrf, @can, @cannot, @lang, @choice, @dump, and @dd. Those directives belong to the Core package, so they are not available when you use Edge on its own.

Working Without a Missing Directive

Most missing directives have a plain PHP equivalent. Pass the value through your data or a global variable, and use an ordinary condition:

$edge->addGlobal('currentUser', $user);

@if ($currentUser !== null)
    <p>Hello, {{ $currentUser->name }}</p>
@endif

For a directive you use often, register your own directive with directive(). See Extending Edge.