Working With Multiple Databases

Trongate v2 lets you define multiple database groups in config/database.php and access them all from any model file. No extra config. No connection juggling.

How It Works

Add groups to your config:

Each group key becomes a $this->key property in your models. The __get() method in the Model base class detects database group names and returns the right connection automatically.

Using Them

Each connection is lazy-loaded — no overhead for groups you don't use in a given request.

Model-Only Access

Accessing a secondary database from a controller gives you the default connection instead. If you need data from multiple databases, make a model method that handles it:

Common Patterns

• Read replicas: point a group to your read-only replica and use it for reporting queries
• Analytics pipeline: keep transactional data and analytics in separate databases
• Multi-tenant: use different database groups for different tenants
• Legacy data: connect to an existing database without migrating everything at once