Extract Cookie Domain from URL — Don’t Hardcode It

Sending cookies to an API? Don’t hardcode the domain. Extract it from the URL instead.

The Problem

// ❌ Hardcoded domain — breaks when URL changes
$cookieJar->setCookie(new SetCookie([
    'Name' => 'session',
    'Value' => $token,
    'Domain' => 'api.example.com',
]));

Hardcoded domains break the moment someone changes the base URL in config, or you switch between staging and production environments.

The Fix

// ✅ Extract domain dynamically
$baseUrl = config('services.api.base_url');
$domain = parse_url($baseUrl, PHP_URL_HOST);

$cookieJar->setCookie(new SetCookie([
    'Name' => 'session',
    'Value' => $token,
    'Domain' => $domain,
]));

parse_url() with PHP_URL_HOST gives you just the hostname — no protocol, no path, no port. Clean and environment-agnostic.

Takeaway

Any time you need a domain, host, or path from a URL — use parse_url(). It handles edge cases (ports, trailing slashes, query strings) that string manipulation misses.